Page 67 of Found By You

“Sometimes,” I confess quietly. “I mean, anyone can be a father these days, but not everyone can be a dad. But I can do both. I’ve been working on my dad-joke game for many years now.”

His chest rumbles under my cheek as he laughs. “Oh, yeah? Let’s hear it.”

I lift my head to look at him, resting my chin on the back of my hand. “Okay, but be prepared to pee yourself,” I say, and he chuckles. “Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself?”

“Why?”

“It was two-tired.” I giggle.

Duke groans. “Ah, babe, that was bad.”

“It was not,” I say defensively with a pout. “Fine. Let’s hear you do a better dad joke.”

“All right, give me a second,” he says, forcing me to wait until he clears his throat. “I used to hate facial hair…but then it grew on me.”

I burst with a laugh that causes me to snort.

“Boom, right there. Best dad-joke maker around, baby.”

“That was awful,” I tease, laying my head on his chest. “How’d I get so lucky?”

The question lingers openly in the air between us. And I do. I feel so, so lucky in this moment to have found him.

Duke pushes my legs open with his knee as he braces himself over me. Hovering just above my lips, he whispers deeply, “I’m the lucky one.”

I slide my arms around his neck and kiss him with every ounce of my heart, because right now, it’s all his.

Twenty.

Duke

I caress Maci’s bare back as she lays naked on top of me, sleeping soundly. It’s Christmas morning, and I know I need to wake her so we can get ready for brunch, but it’s so hard to wake her when she’s like this—beautiful, peaceful, all mine.

I kiss the top of her head, and glide my palms to her plump ass, grabbing a greedy handful.

“Stop it,” she mumbles.

“Merry Christmas, angel,” I rasp.

She yawns, nuzzling her face into my chest. “Merry Christmas, stud muffin.”

I chuckle, causing her to bounce on my chest. Gently, I slide her to the side, and her adorable—albeit offended—pout has me grinning like a fool. “Don’t look at me like that.” I laugh. “I’ve gotta get something,” I say, climbing out of bed.

She peeks over the covers, watching me leave the bedroom and come right back with a white envelope in hand that holds what I’m hoping was a good idea to get her for a Christmas present—back before I knew we’d be in a relationship.

Let’s hope it’s still good.

I sit on the edge of the bed and hand her the envelope. “Merry Christmas.”

Maci sits up, holding the blanket at her chest in one hand and my gift in the other. “But…” She frowns. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“Good. Now, come on, open it.”

Narrowing her eyes at me with a play of a smile, she opens the envelope. She takes the paper out and reads. And when her head snaps up to me with tears welling in her eyes, I know I did good.

“There’s more,” I say, signaling for her to flip to the other two pages. “It’s a few days after you hit twenty weeks, but Dr. Sanderson said that’s fine. You’ve got an appointment at Hey, Baby – 3D/4D Ultrasounds in Helena on Valentine’s Day. It falls on a Friday, so I booked you a hotel for the weekend, and a pregnancy-friendly massage that Saturday. Everything is paid for, and I already talked to Peggy and the resort, so you’re clear. I couldn’t make dinner reservations this far out, but I’ll make sure to call when the date gets closer.”

“Duke, you—” She whimpers, tears streaming down her face as she throws herself at me.

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