Page 76 of A Package Deal

“Right there. We’ll be able to see it from the kitchen window and from the living room.”

I handed the birdhouse to Em and hoisted Georgia on my shoulders. We walked over to the tree and Em helped Georgia loop the rope over a sturdy branch. We stood back and admired it while I held on to my girls.

“Think your dad would have approved?” I asked Em.

There were tears in her eyes as she smiled up at the robin’s-egg-blue birdhouse, fashioned exactly like the one she’d made with her own father. “Absolutely.”

I kept one hand on Georgia and squeezed Em’s hand with the other. “I’ll get some bird seed this week and a bird-watching book.”

Em snorted with laughter. “A bird-watching book? Is this what happens when you hit forty?”

I gaped at her, absolutely loving her fiery spirit but pretending to be offended. “You’ll be forty one day too, lady, and you’ll thank me for getting the book. Just you watch.”

“Oh yes, thank you so much for identifying the double-breasted warbler bird,” she deadpanned.

I tilted my head up to see an upside-down Georgia. “Hold on tight. We’re about to chase your mama.”

And chase we did, galloping after the slight woman while Georgia laughed her head off and nearly choked me to death with her grip. When I finally gave up and all of us were out of breath, I saw Mom standing on our new porch just watching us, a wistful smile on her face.

We fed the crew pizza and finally kicked Mom and Colson out when the sun went down. Em gave Georgia a bath while I put sheets on our beds. Georgia’s bedroom was down the hall from us and already painted a pretty pink. Most of the other rooms weren’t painted and some didn’t even have drywall yet. Technically, the house wasn’t done, but we’d finished enough to move into it before Christmas. Together, we read a story to Georgia and kissed her goodnight. She had her goat-dog under one arm and the sparkly unicorn under the other. One day she’d outgrow the stuffed animals, but I’d burned that vision into my memory banks forever.

Holding my wife’s hand, I pulled her down the hall to our bedroom. I pushed open the door and let her take it in.

“What—? Warrick, what did you do?” Her hand went to her mouth, her diamond wedding ring sparkling in the candlelight. I’d placed white candles around the room, hopefully to make even the moving boxes look romantic. But it was the red rose petals strewn across our bed that caught her attention. Dad had never failed to get Mom roses for every occasion when we were growing up and I figured that old man knew something smart about women.

“What I would have done on our wedding night if things had been different. What I wanted to do, even then. You deserve first-class treatment, Em.” I tugged her inside and gently shut the door behind us. My grin was flat-out predatory and I wasn’t going to apologize for it. “We’re all alone finally, wife.”

Em tipped her head to the side and eyed me up and down. “Keep calling me wife and I’ll do naughty things to you…husband.”

The clothes flew off in record time, and I before I could blink, I had Em splayed out on our bed, naked and panting underneath me. I hitched up one knee and slid inside her heat, dropping my forehead to hers and wondering if I’d ever felt something so perfect.

“I love you, my beautiful wife,” I whispered, pulling back enough to stare deep into her pretty blue eyes.

“And I love you. So much, husband.” She bucked her hips and I complied, starting a slow rhythm that quickly built out of control. Words were impossible and that was okay by us. Our bodies could do all the talking.

When she began to thrash and I felt her tightening around me, I dropped my mouth to hers and swallowed her cries, both of us falling over the edge together, entwined, connected in every way. I tried to take my weight off of her, but Em didn’t let me. She was a strong little thing and I loved that about her. She held me tight, her legs and arms holding me in place until our breathing returned to normal. Then she slid her fingers through my hair, making goose bumps break out along my skin. She tugged and I lifted my head.

She licked her lips and I watched that movement like I was actually ready for round two when we both knew I needed a few more minutes at best.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

“If it’s about that pony Georgia wants, we gotta build a barn first.”

Em laughed softly. “No. Not that. And no ponies until she’s ready for the chores that come along with having one.”

I nodded in agreement with that. “Just say it, then.”

She licked her lips again and that made me nervous. “I’m pregnant.”

The world stopped spinning and time paused. The breath left my body, and when I tried to drag in more oxygen, a new life, a new vision, a new world opened up in my brain.

“Say something,” she whispered, clearly nervous when I was having an out-of-body experience that could only be described as cataclysmic. But in a good way.

We’d talked about the possibility, of course. And considering we weren’t using birth control, it was bound to happen at some point, but then again, I wasn’t getting any younger and we hadn’t had the most consistent alone time while living in Mom’s house. I figured that would be down the road if it happened at all.

I shook my head, trying to shake out some actual words to describe what I was feeling. None came.

“Are you mad?” Em’s face had drained of color.

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