He smiled at his nickname from her and leaned across the table, his lips only a breath away. “And I love you a hell of a lot more than that, Mrs. Ooooooodder.”
As he pressed his lips to hers, Audrey’s eyes fell shut as her mouth moved with his. She felt completely whole. As if nothing else could touch her.
That was, until her phone rang.
Slowly they parted and looked down at her phone to see that it was the doctor. Sucking in a deep breath, she looked at Tate but he was staring at the phone. Reaching for it, his hand still cupping her face, he hit answer and then the speaker button.
Looking at her, he said, “Hello?”
“Can I please speak with Audrey Odder?”
“This is she,” she said breathlessly, and Tate moved his thumb along her jaw soothingly.
“Oh, hey! Okay, so your levels are well past five hundred! You’re pregnant!”
Tears were streaming down her face before the doctor even finished talking. Her heart felt as if it was pounding so hard it was going to break her ribs. She felt as if she were flying or dreaming. Was this really happening?
“Really?”
“Yes! Congratulations!”
A sob left her lips as she covered her face, crying into her hands. She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby. Tate’s baby. Dropping her hands, she looked across the table and met Tate’s tearful gaze.
“We are having a baby.”
Dropping the phone, Tate pushed the chair back and came around, pulling her out of her chair. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he kissed her hard as he picked her up off the ground, holding her as his mouth moved with hers. Pulling back, his eyes bored into hers as his lips curved in the biggest smile she had ever seen. She knew her smile was probably bigger.
She had prayed and wished for a baby for the last four Christmases, and finally, she was pregnant. She decided she didn’t need anything else on that list because she was loved by the two most amazing people in the world and was also pregnant.
What more could she ever want?
“Audrey is pregnant!”
Erik Titov looked over at his wife and smiled. She looked gorgeous, as always. Wearing black tights with a long purple sweater, her dirty-blond hair was down along her shoulders, her makeup done nicely, while her purple lipstick shone on her lips. She looked delectable, and he couldn’t wait to get her home. Yeah, his family was in town, but surely they wouldn’t hear too much.
They were on their way to his benefit where they would give over one hundred disadvantaged kids hockey equipment and Christmas presents. It was one of his favorite benefits, and he was excited to see the faces of the kids as they opened all the things that he and Piper had personally picked out for each of them. Hearing that his best bud and his wife were expecting, though, took his excitement up another level.
“Really?”
“Yup!” she basically cheered as she typed wildly on her phone. “She is nervous she might miscarry, but surely she’ll be good, right?”
He nodded. “Let’s hope so. They both want this really bad.”
“They do,” she said with a nod. “Even though yesterday we were talking, and I told her she was being selfish. I was worried she would be mad, but she wasn’t. Thank God. I really need to get a filter sometimes.”
“I love your no-filter ass.”
She smacked him playfully as they pulled into the arena. Shutting the car off, he got out and helped her out before slamming her door, pulling her into the crook of his arm.
“You look hot tonight,” he told her, giving her an exaggerated wink. “I think I need you to put out when we get home.”
She giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist. “With your mom and dad at the house? Please.”
“We’ve done it before.”
Her face turned red, and he knew it wasn’t from the cold. “Maybe.”
“No maybe about it,” he decided. “I’m going to do you against their door.”
She gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”