“Hey, little peanut. You decided to make your presence known, huh?”
Grayson’s eyes lifted to mine. “Can you feel her moving yet?”
I swallowed hard. He said . . . her. He said her! He said her!
My heart dropped as I shook my head. “Not yet. My mom said it will feel almost like a little rumble of gas or feel like butterflies.”
Glancing back down to my stomach, Grayson started kissing all over my stomach. Before I knew what was happening, I was lying in bed and softly calling out his name as I lost myself to his lovemaking.
Grayson whispered my name as he poured himself into me. “Thank you, Meg. Thank you for loving me.”
My fingers moved lightly across his skin as I let this moment settle into my heart. “Grayson,” was all I could say as my emotions took ahold of my throat.
Before he rolled off of me, he looked into my eyes. “I made a decision about the job.”
My happy feeling quickly vanished. I loved that Grayson loved being a cop, but after my whole kidnapping incident and the baby, I now lived in constant fear something would happen to him.
Trying to keep my voice neutral sounding, I asked, “What did you decide?”
When he leaned down and whispered it in my ear, a single tear slowly made its way down my cheek while I wrapped my arms tightly around him.
Grayson
Late October
STANDING IN FRONT of the house, I rubbed the back of my neck to relieve the tension.
“Looks good,” Noah said from beside me.
My eyes traveled over the two-story house as I agreed by simply nodding my head. I wasn’t sure how we did it, but we got the house built and finished in time.
Letting out a sigh, I said, “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d jump up and down for joy.”
Leaning down, I opened up the cooler and reached in for a beer and a soda. Handing it to Noah, I laughed. “Here, drink this and you’ll feel better.”
Noah grabbed the soda and damn near drank it in one gulp.
“Is little Hope keeping you up still?”
Noah’s eyes lit up. Any mention of his almost three-month-old daughter, Hope Alaina, and he was flying high. Grace had given birth to Hope on August second with everyone waiting patiently in the waiting room. This little family was growing bigger by the day.
“She was sleeping through the night, but the last two she’s been waking up in the middle of the night. Grace is so busy with Homecoming mums that I’ve let her sleep and I’ve gotten up with Hope.”
With a crooked smile, I shook my head. “That must be such hell for you.”
Noah laughed. “Dude, I cannot wait for you to experience this. I can’t even put fatherhood into words. I’d never be able to describe how amazing it is.”
“Thinking more?”
Noah tipped the soda back and finished it off. Dropping the empty can into the bag, he shook his head. “I don’t think so. Grace and I talked about it; we kind of like having just the three of us. Besides, she has so many cousins, it’s unreal!”
Throwing my head back, I laughed. “She sure does.”
We stared at the house for another few minutes before I blew out a breath and started making my way to the front door.
“Meagan is going to love it, Gray,” Noah said as we walked into the foyer. Straight ahead was a staircase that winded up to the second floor. To the left was a formal living room, and to the right was my office. I’d taken a job with the Texas Department of Public Safety as a training coordinator at their tactical training center in Fredericksburg. My job was to train all incoming recruits both mentally and physically. Each recruit school lasted about twenty-six weeks. I loved my new job. And, Meagan had peace of mind I wasn’t in any danger to get shot at every single day when I walked out the door.
Walking down the hall, we went into the formal dining room that opened right up into the massive kitchen. The open floor plan had the breakfast area on the other side of the kitchen with a huge family room that would be perfect for having family over. The massive sandstone fireplace was the main focal point of the room.
The master bedroom was downstairs, along with a huge master bath. I had decided to add a fireplace that could be seen in both the bedroom as well as the bathroom. Meagan had loved the idea. Upstairs were three bedrooms, a playroom, and a media room I threw in at the last minute above the garage. Meagan hadn’t really been able to see the house that much since she had been put on bed rest shortly after Grace had Hope. She hadn’t seen it at all the last month. When she started having early contractions, the doctor thought it best for her to take it easy the rest of the pregnancy.
Noah walked out onto the massive deck that overlooked the hill country. The Llano River flowed peacefully through the canyon. “You tell Meg about the media room yet?”
“Nope.”