An older gentleman walked up as Lucy ran into the hospital to get a wheelchair.
“Do I want to know?” he asked as he unbuttoned the dress.
With a shake of my head, I said, “Nope. You don’t.”
He laughed and said, “You’re done.”
Turning, I kissed him on the cheek and then jumped back into the car where I slid out of my dress and put my T-shirt on.
“Oh God. Here comes another one!” Adaline cried out as she lifted her hand up as if I was crazy enough to give her mine.
With a roll of my eyes, I slipped my sneakers on and jumped out right as Lucy and a hospital volunteer showed up with the wheelchair.
Just as Adaline sat down in it, Emmit came running up, with Malcolm behind him carrying Landon on his shoulders. My lower stomach pulled as I looked at him. Nothing was hotter than him with a child in his arms . . . on his shoulders . . . playing hide and seek.
His eyes caught mine as I smiled.
“You look flush, baby. Is everything okay?”
With a nod, I peeked over to Lucy who gave me a thumb’s up before I turned back to Malcolm. “I’ve never been better.”
As I made my way over to my handsome fiancé, I said a quick prayer that I hadn’t ruined my dress in my frantic state to get it off. Lucy gave me a hug and whispered she’d take care of the dress.
I was getting married in two months and I hoped like hell she got all the measurements she needed.
“Thank you,” I whispered in her ear.
“Thanks, Lucy! I owe you!” Adaline called out as she was pushed into the hospital.
Malcolm’s eyes bounced from Lucy, to her car, back to me. “Who was that and where is your car?”
Smiling up at Landon, I reached up and tickled his tummy as he laughed. “That was the seamstress who was doing alterations on my dress.”
“Okay. Why did she bring y’all to the hospital?”
Now that I thought about everything, I had to laugh. “I was getting alterations done on my dress and Adaline decided to hide the fact that she was having contractions until it was too late. She said I didn’t have time to change and there was no way I was going to let you see me in my dress.” With a shrug, I said, “So, Lucy drove and I changed, of course after I jumped out and asked a total stranger to unbutton my wedding dress.”
A look of pure shock flashed across Malcolm’s face.
“Never a dull moment with you, is there?”
Shaking my head, I said, “Nope. Are you okay with that?”
Leaning down, Landon put his hands on Malcolm’s head while he kissed me softly on the lips. “Perfectly okay with that. Now let’s go watch Adaline pop out a kid.”
Laughing, I hit him in the stomach as Landon started singing about being a big brother.
MY CHEST WAS TIGHT AS I watched Emmit hold his daughter, Hailey. The look of love on his face was amazing. I’d never seen him with tears in his eyes before, except for when that wine bottle fell on his toe. Pressing my lips together, I tried to push the memory and the laughter away.
“Emmit, she is beyond beautiful,” Paislie said as she looked adoringly at Hailey.
Beaming with pride, Emmit nodded his head, “She looks like her mother.”
Adaline grinned as Landon snuggled up next to her in the bed, fast asleep from all the excitement.
“Would you like to hold her?” Emmit asked Paislie.
Her face lit up as she nodded frantically. The moment he placed Hailey in her arms, I felt my entire body go stiff.
Holy shit.
I cannot deny it any longer.
Paislie’s eyes filled with tears as she rocked the baby softly in her arms. When she peeked up to look at me, she gave me the biggest most beautiful smile I’d ever seen.
Yep, there was no getting around this one. I wanted a baby. I wanted to see Paislie holding our baby.
The door opened and Ashley walked in demanding to see her niece. Paislie was still not too sure about Ashley and I couldn’t blame her for being bothered by how open Ashley was about the two of us. I’d been honest with her about my time with Ashley. It was clear from the smile on Ashley’s face that Paislie had nothing to worry about, she was very happy with her fiancé, Jon.
We stayed until it was clear Adaline was ready to pass out. Paislie wrapped her arm around my waist as we made our way to the elevator.
“So, two more months and we’re going to be hitched.”
Laughing, I pulled her closer to me. “Two more months.”
Paislie stopped and looked at me. “You know, I believe you still owe me a few—” Looking around to make sure no one heard her, she turned back to me and gave me a seductive look. Everything in that moment disappeared and I saw nothing but Paislie. “Orgasms,” she whispered. My eyes quickly scanned the area as I grabbed her and pulled her around the corner.
Giggling, she asked, “Where are we going?”
I found the door I was looking for and pushed it open. I nudged Paislie into the cleaning closet and shut the door.
“Are we going to do some cleaning?” she asked with a naughty smile. “I have fond memories of doing laundry with you.”