The Knocked Up Plan

Nicole brings her hand to her mouth, pressing her fingers against her trembling lips. Her eyes widen, brimming with tears. My heart grows bigger in my chest.

“Every day, I fell a little deeper. For her mind, her soul, her body, and, most of all, her heart. Her wonderful, huge, amazing heart that cared for me, looked out for me, and has this endless well of love.” My throat swells with emotion as I profess my deepest feelings for the woman on the other side of the window. She is stunning with her beautiful round belly, the tears streaking down her lovely face, and her fingers pressed to the glass as if she’s trying to reach me. To touch me. But she already has. “Her love, you see—it’s limitless. And I want her to know I’m not just in love with the baby—I’m in love with the woman. Mad, passionate, she’s-the-one love.” I point to her, and she clasps her hands to her heart and mouths I love you, too. Nothing in the whole wide world can contain my grin as I finish, “I am wildly in love with the mother of my child, with the woman I took on the trapeze lesson, to the cupcake shop, on the geocaching date. With the love of my life. And that’s how you love a woman. With your whole heart. Thanks for tuning in.”

I turn off the mic, and Jason gives me a standing ovation as I leave the booth, yank open the door, and stand face-to-face with Nicole. I cup her cheeks in my hands. She is an open book. I can see how she feels written in her blue eyes. Her wet, tear-stained eyes.

“I love you so incredibly much.” I kiss her tears.

“And I love you so much,” she says, her voice breaking.

We are surrounded by clapping. Loud, ear-splitting whistles. But nothing could tear my gaze away from her. “I love you, and I love Papaya, and I want us to be a family. Do you?”

I hold a breath as I wait, but she doesn’t take more than a second to answer. Her shoulders rise, and she gasps. “So much, Ryder. So much. I want that more than anything.”

“Kiss her!”

The command comes from Cal, and as I glance briefly away from Nicole, I see my geometric boss, whose face is a circle of satisfaction amid the crowd. Seems everyone in the office heard what was going on, and the hallway by the studio is packed with our co-workers. They hoot, holler, and cheer us on.

As I dip my mouth to hers, someone else shouts, “It was you who knocked her up?”

I kiss Nicole, and give a thumbs-up affirmative to whoever asked.

As our lips touch, everyone else fades away. I have all I want right here in my arms. Sometimes you get more than you get, and you don’t stop kissing the girl.

Eventually we do, though. When I finally wrench apart from her, nearly everyone’s gone, but Cal’s still here.

He claps my back then extends a hand. “Congratulations. Nothing could make me happier than seeing this transformation in you.”

Nicole wraps her arm around me possessively. “He’s like a new man in some ways. But, if you ask me, he was always pretty amazing.”

I kiss her cheek, and a final thumbs-up from Cal is the last I see of him before he retreats down the hall.

We’re alone and she hands me a small box, like the one she gave me the day she told me she was pregnant.

“What’s this?”

“It’s what I was planning to give to you this morning, to tell you I feel the same. But you beat me to it.” She swats my shoulder.

“I still like your gifts.” I open the box and tug out a silver key chain. A sexy silhouette of a woman dangles from it.

She reaches for my hand and threads her fingers through mine. “The other week, I thought you had only fallen in love with the baby, and I wanted you to be part of his or her life so badly. I’m so glad you want that. But I came in here today, determined to ask for more. Because I’m greedy, and I want all of you. You made my knees weak the first time you kissed me, and you still do,” she says, and I feel ten feet tall. “When I’m with you, I feel that zing. That zing that I’ve never felt before.” She reaches for my hand and tugs it to her heart. “I feel it all the time with you. And I bought you this gift because I want you to have the baby and the woman.”

I slide my hand down her chest, splaying my palm over her belly. “You’re a package deal, Nicole. I want the whole package. And I want to spend the rest of my life making sure you always feel that zing.”

Her eyes shine with happiness, then they spark with mischief. “I kind of want to skip work the rest of the day.”

“Now, Nicole,” I say, playfully chiding her, “I’ve got a woman and a child to provide for. I can’t just go around skipping out on my responsibilities.”

“Such an upstanding man.” She brings her mouth to my ear. “It makes me want you even more.”

I’m honestly not sure how I make it through the next few hours until her doctor’s appointment. But somehow, I manage, and we both leave early.

Inside the exam room, the doctor blinks when she sees me. “Hello, I’m Dr. Robinson. And you are?”

I shake her hand. “I’m the one who made her your patient.”

Nicole laughs. “This is Ryder. He belongs to me.”

I look at my pregnant woman. “I’m hers.”

The doctor gives us a nod. “All righty, then. Let’s see how everything’s going with the mango.”

And the mango is just fine.





Epilogue





Nicole

We have epic sex that night.

Obviously.

A man doesn’t just tell a woman he’s wildly in love with her and then not send her soaring to the heavens.

Ryder sends me flying, all right.

I go off the cliff three or four times. Honestly, I lose track of how many orgasms I have, and that’s fine with me. The first time, he puts me on my hands and knees, and it’s to die for.

Next, he bends me over the edge of the bed, biting my ass before he drives into me again. Then, in the middle of the night, I wake up to find his traveling hands all over me, and with my skin sizzling, I beg him to kiss me between my legs.

He heeds the call. And after I scream his name, he moves behind me like we’re spoons, and we do it slow and tender, like the night I knew I’d fallen in love with the father of my child.

But it’s even better because he whispers in my ear as he makes love to me. He tells me he loves me. Tells me he’s crazy for me. Tells me he’ll always take care of me.

And really, that’s better than an orgasm.

But I still have one more.

Like I said, the second trimester rocks.



The next night, we have a ceremony of sorts. We take the baby contract, and we rip it up. At my living room table, we tear it into as many shreds as possible, and we toss it in the trash can.

“I’m all in,” Ryder says.

“You better be.” I tug his shirt, pulling him close to me.

“That’s a promise. In fact,” he says, lacing his fingers through mine, “what do you say we go shopping?”

“Shopping? Now? It’s late.”

He shakes his head then strokes my ring finger. “This weekend. Katherine’s. You got me two key chains. Seems I’m due to get you a ring.”

I shriek.

That weekend, I cry happy tears as I pick out a gorgeous diamond solitaire.

“It looks great with my two key chains.”

“A tadpole, a woman, and a ring,” I say.

He sweeps one hand over my stomach. “Good things come in threes.”