Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“What? Why not?”
“Because I meant what I said. I’m not leaving you.”
“You’re going to have to leave me sometimes,” she sasses.
“Probably, but I just got you back in my arms, so it won’t be anytime soon.”
“You should go,” she argues. “It’s your dad’s birthday.”
“Only if you go with me. And trust me when I tell you that they’re champing at the bit to meet you. We’re a close family, one that you and our baby are now a part of.” I run my hand along the underside of her belly. “Be prepared for my mom to spoil you. I swear she’s closer to my sisters-in-law than her own sons, and she barely goes a few days without seeing my niece and nephew. She’s beyond excited to have another grandbaby to dote on.”
When I notice Paige’s eyes have turned glassy, I palm the side of her face. “What’s wrong?” I try to think about what I said that would have upset her, but I come up blank. “Talk to me, please.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, tears filling her eyes and spilling over. “It just made me think about how my mom will never get to meet my baby, and my dad…well, he’s barely a dad, so I have zero expectations of him being a hands-on grandpa.”
“Your mom might not be here, but she’s looking down at you, and fuck your dad. He doesn’t deserve to have you or our baby in his life.”
I swipe a tear that’s resting on her cheek, then lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. “Come to Dallas with me, Princess,” I murmur against her lips. “My family is going to love you. Hell, I’m almost positive they already do, and if you let them in, they can be your family too.”
“Okay,” she agrees softly. “I’ll go to Dallas with you.”
“Hey, Paige, what’s this?”
I lift up the big black book from the table when she pokes her head out of the kitchen, where she’s making us breakfast and coffee before she heads to work, and I go back to my hotel to shower and get dressed and then meet her at the office to discuss the Kingston Hotel Collection.
“That’s my scrapbook,” she says, disappearing and then reappearing with a tray of food and coffees. “I started it when I found out I was pregnant.”
She sets the tray down and hands me my coffee. We both take a sip, and once she’s done, she grabs the book and sets it in her lap. “My mom and I used to scrapbook.”
“You’d make one everywhere you went, a new page for every adventure,” I recall. When she looks at me in confusion, I add, “You told me about them in England. You guys have never been snowboarding, so one day, when you’re not pregnant, I’m going to take you.”
I shoot her a playful wink, and she shakes her head.
“You remembered.”
“Of course,” I scoff. “I remember everything you tell me.”
She points to a bunch of thick books on her bookshelf. “I still have them all, the scrapbooks…and when I’m missing my mom, I look through them to remember the magic.”
She opens up the book in her lap, and the first picture is of three pregnancy tests—two positive and one negative. “That one’s mine,” she says with a laugh, pointing at one of the positive tests. “Ana and Kira took tests with me. I was freaking out, and even though I already knew I was pregnant, I was hoping I was wrong.”
She frowns, and I pull her into my arms.
“I wish I could’ve been there.”
“If you had been, I don’t think I would’ve been as nervous as I was,” she admits. “I had thrown away your number and had no way to find you, and the thought of raising our baby alone was devastating.”
“I get it. I’ve always wanted to be a dad, to have a family like the one I grew up in, but I always saw it happening a certain way.”
“Do you feel like you’ve been robbed of that?” she asks softly.
“No.” I lift her chin and look into her eyes that hold so much emotion. “Because it would mean it wasn’t with you, and I’m so glad that what we did in London ended with a baby. It’s just further proof that our time in London wasn’t meant to be over.”
“Maybe,” she murmurs. “But it also means everything else is up in the air.”
“Everything else will be figured out,” I remind her.
“So, who else is pregnant?” I ask, pointing to the other positive test.
“Kira,” Paige says with a laugh. “She’s due four weeks after me.”
“That’s nice you have someone to be pregnant with.”
“Yes.” She grins. “Honestly though, I’ve been so busy at work that we haven’t had a whole lot of girl time. I should text her and Ana to hang out soon. Ana’s throwing a barbecue this weekend, but I’ll be in Dallas with you.”