Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“Do you smell the orange blossoms tonight? I swear even though they’re abandoned, I can still smell the citrus when the breeze blows just right.” The sun is slowly setting, sinking behind the trees, making me love this land even more with the woman beside me.
“You always did love the orange trees. I can smell them, butterfly.” I don’t tell her they always reminded me of her when she was gone. I’d come out here, have a few beers, and think about what it’d be like to have her here beside me. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Tulsa Rose. I’m telling you we’re getting married. The sooner, the better. I don’t care about the logistics—in a courthouse, a church, inside or outside. All I care about at the end of the day is tying myself to you for all the years we have on this earth.” I slip the ring off my pinky finger, take her hand in mine, and slide on her mother’s ring, simple and dainty, so much like Tulsa. I knew this is what she would want.
“Oh God, Ledger, I love you.” The hand that was holding her up drops to her mouth, covering it as tears roll down her cheeks. I bring her hand up to my mouth to softly kiss where I placed her ring before I move her until she’s straddling my lap, hands cupping her face, attempting to swipe away the tears. But they keep coming. I can’t keep up.
“I love you, Tulsa Rose. I did back then, I did while you were away, and I’ll love you forever more.”
“I, um, have news of my own. It might not be anything big. It could be a false alarm, but, well, I’m late.” My eyes lower, and I breathe deeply. This is everything I’ve ever fucking wanted. Tulsa Rose in my arms, the possibility of our child in her belly. My hands grab her tank, pulling it up until the fabric is under her bare tits, nipples pebbling. There isn’t any finesse when my fingers unsnap the buttons of her shorts, and I finally feast my eyes on what I was after.
“My baby could be inside you right now?” I palm her lower belly, relishing this moment.
“Yeah. I picked up one of those early response tests while I was at the grocery store. I’m going to take it in the morning.” The look on my face when I focus on her mouth, watching as she tells me the real reason she went to the grocery store along with why she should wait, has her continuing, “The directions stated it would be best first thing in the morning.” She shrugs her shoulders. There’s no way either one of us will be sleeping tonight, not unless I take matters into my own hands.
“Then I guess the only way to make the time pass by quicker is to keep both of us busy.” I stand up, needing to prove to her how much I love her in the form of getting inside my future wife. She wraps her legs around my waist, hands going to my shoulders. The beers are forgotten, and so is dessert. I’m about to show Tulsa what it means to be mine in every way imaginable.
EPILOGUE
TULSA ROSE
Two Years Later
“Are you ready to cut your cake?” I ask our son, William Montgomery Sinclair, named after Montgomery and my maiden name. Ledger’s doing, stating that if we have a boy, he wants a piece of my brother with him always. This way, he did, and today, we’re celebrating his first birthday. Heather and Hank are here, still refusing to acknowledge that there’s something between them. They’re ridiculous. Her car is either at his bar, or his is at Heather’s. The cat is out of the bag. The only ones who need to catch up are them. Now, Nelle and Chase are another story entirely. They’re rock solid, married for a year now, and she’s got a slight waddle to her body as she carries my future niece or nephew. They want the gender to be a surprise, which is slowly eating me up inside. I want to buy all the cute things yet have to refrain. Beside them are Chase’s parents, visiting for the weekend, and Chase’s brother, Mack, sits off to the side. The only one missing is Judd. I’m sure he’ll stop by at one point or another. He handled the Ella situation. Went straight to her folks, which had them shocked with horror. They demanded she either straighten herself out or find a new place to live. She chose to leave town. It sucked for her parents, I’m sure. As for me, I celebrated right alongside with my girl tribe.
“Eyyy, Ma-ma!” He lifts his hands up for me to put him in his highchair, his booster seat we have set up on the pool deck. When I tell you I cried when he started pulling himself up on any surface and then proceeded to walk, I’m not exaggerating. I literally bawled. Ledger thought it was funny, which sent me into a tailspin. He pointed out that my hormones were a lot like when we first found out I was pregnant with William. The denial in thinking I wasn’t pregnant was real. Nursing a baby has your hormones all jacked up, not to mention it’s rare to get pregnant while nursing. The devious smile Ledger gave me once I calmed down from watching our son take his next step, literally and figuratively, should have told me everything, but damn. I’ve been tired even though I only work part-time. Heather watches William for me when she’s not at her own part-time job at Sinclair roofing. I should have known my own body, though, especially considering William weened himself off the boob a month earlier. The sweet whispers from my husband when he was buried deep inside me, pumping my body full of his cum, telling me how he couldn’t wait to see me pregnant again, to watch me nurse our child, and maybe this time, it would be a girl. Needless to say, it was Ledger this time who was prepared. A pregnancy test sat on the bathroom counter the next day, and the positive test was staring back at us. Two children under two. I’m not sure if this will be smart or uncoordinated chaos. The plus is, this time around, I’m pregnant while my best friend is, too. She and Chase are currently expecting twins. And I got my wish. They purchased my childhood home from us last year, set down roots, only they eloped on a whim instead of having a wedding.