Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I almost choke on my bite of meatloaf, and not because it sucks—it’s fucking delicious. No, it’s because she referred to me as her husband. Fucking finally, I feel like we’re making progress. In the past month we’ve lived together, I fall a little more for her every day.
“I’m glad.” I wink at her, and she giggles, and just like that, she steals another piece of my heart. We talk while we eat and it’s the perfect dinner at home, just the two of us.
“I’ll clean up,” I tell her once we’re finished. “Go take a hot bath or shower or whatever, and you and I have a date with a rom-com and all the snacks you can eat. I even have the heating pad on the couch. I found it in the bathroom when I was cleaning.”
“Maddox, really?” she asks, smiling and blushing at the same time.
“I can’t pretend to know how it feels, but I have a mother, and grew up with Forrest pretty much raising Emerson, so I know it can be hell.”
“Is all of this in the How to Make My Wife Melt into a Puddle handbook?” she asks.
“No, this is the ‘I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I want to be there for you,’ Maddox edition.” I tap my temple. “Go on. I’ll clean up and meet you in the living room.”
“Thank you for this, for dinner, and… everything.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” She turns to leave, and I quickly clean up dinner and pack away the leftovers. Thirty minutes later, she steps into the living room to find me lying on the couch. I pat the spot in front of me, and she barely hesitates before she lies down. I wrap the blanket around her and pull her to my chest. “You need the heating pad?” I ask her.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Here.” I hand her the remote. “Pick something.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
“We could be watching paint dry, and I’d be thrilled because you’re in my arms, Brogan.”
She chuckles. “Okay, well, how about this new series?” She motions to the screen. “Briar mentioned that she and Forrest started it and it’s really good.”
“Perfect.”
She starts the show, and I snuggle her closer. I move my hand to her belly and slowly creep my hand under her shirt, and rub soothing circles on her abdomen. At least I hope they're soothing. Honestly, I’m out of my depth here, but she’s not stopping me, so it must not be hurting her even if it’s not helping.
We watch two episodes when she has to get up to use the restroom. “Do you want a snack?” I ask her.
“What are my options?” I rattle off everything I bought for her today and her eyes grow wide. “You bought all of my favorites.”
“I know.” I grin.
“How about some cherry cordial ice cream?”
“You got it.” I climb off the couch, out of my comfortable cocoon, and make us both a big bowl, and I’m ready for her when she gets back.
“Thank you,” she says, sitting right next to me on the couch, and covering both of our legs with the blanket.
“So, my parents want to meet you.” I feel bad putting them off as long as I have, but if she’s not ready, they’re just going to have to keep waiting. These aren’t normal circumstances, and I want her to be ready.
She nods. “I was wondering when this conversation was going to happen.”
“They’ve been patiently waiting, according to my mom.” I laugh.
“When?”
“Whenever you feel up to it.”
“Next weekend?”
I try hard to hide my surprise. She’s in this. She might not be able to admit it out loud, but she wants this to work between us as much as I do. I can feel it. “Sure, Mom wants to make us dinner, so I’ll tell her to choose a day, and we’ll go from there.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.” The sincerity of my tone is evident. This means the world to me. I hate that I didn’t get to meet her father, but I’d like to think he would approve of me, of us. How could he not? I adore his daughter.
She tilts her head to the side to study me. “Together.”
I’m sure my smile is blinding. “Together.” We finish our ice cream in silence, but we keep sharing these looks. Ones that have hope growing inside me. We’re going to do this. I know the woman sitting next to me is my future. I can see it, and every day that I spend with her, she takes another little piece of me to call her own.
“Another episode?” she asks as she takes my empty bowl with hers, and places them on the end table.
“Definitely.” She stands and nods for me to lie down, and not one to pass up an opportunity to have her in my arms, I do and wait for her to take her spot in front of me. Again, I wrap the blanket around us and snuggle her close.