Page 201 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

I grinned. Goddess, I loved this man.

“What?”

“A ba-na-na-naaaa,” he said with a straight face.

That one took a second too long for me to understand, and I’d blame the early morning for my hesitation, but when I finally got it, I let out a full-body laugh that made him chuckle with me.

“I love that one!” I continued laughing, repeating the punch line again for effect, and starting the giggles all over again. I felt the love of my life kiss my stomach, before he gave a big sigh and sat up.

“Let’s go make breakfast.”

We changed and walked downstairs, where he pulled out eggs and other accompaniments for breakfast. As I scrambled some eggs in a bowl, I kept noticing small smiles appear on his face as he chopped up some ham and onions.

“You look excited,” I mentioned when another soft smile graced his face.

“Bells said you were going to get an ultrasound done today. Of course, I’m excited to see our pup.”

I had to look away before I started crying at how sweetly he answered me. Some days I wondered if I was dreaming, and I would wake up to find all of this was a figment of my imagination, and I was still in that room with Nickolas.

“You should go wake her up. Breakfast is almost ready,” I told him.

“Already sent her a text. She’s getting Adam ready.” When I started giggling, he blushed. “Don’t judge me. I don’t like being late to things,” he defended.

“You’re adorable,” I cooed.

We ate breakfast quickly and then headed to the hospital. As Chris got into the driver’s side and closed the door, he frowned and started sniffing. He turned his head toward the back and then smiled, nodding toward the back and grinning at me.

“What’s that look for?” Bells asked.

“Your scent’s changed,” he mentioned, and I leaned into the backseat to check. Sure enough, there was an added smell of coconut over her apple blossom scent. Bells paled but took a deep breath and looked out the window, lost in thought. I thought things were starting to feel real for her.

Half an hour later, we were sitting in the waiting room of the clinic. Bells was looking nervous and sad, and I could guess what was going through her mind, as she kept looking over at where I was cuddled into Chris. Despite her stubborn determination to let Cade live his life without her, she was sad and petrified of doing this alone.

“Hey, Bells?” I asked.

“What’s up?”

“I’m nervous. Can you and Adam go into the appointment with us, and I’ll go in with you? Tit for tat?”

The relief on her face was brief but significant before she patted my shoulder.

“Sounds like a deal. I’ll be right there with you.”

“Thanks, Bells.”

Chris gave my hand a little squeeze. We talked about this last night. I didn’t need her there per se, but I knew she was too proud to ask me to come in with her. I didn’t want her to go through all of this alone. This was a good way to ensure she felt supported and kept her pride intact.

“Salonen, Violet?” One of the nurses called out.

We all stood up and she didn’t say anything when she noticed four people following her. I saw her holding Bells’ folder and remembered we had back-to-back appointments. This might be a little trickier.

“Can we have our appointments together? She’s my sister.” I pointed to the file in her hands, and Bells gave her a little wave.

“I think that’ll work if you both consent. The doctor might even appreciate not having to run around between rooms,” the nurse chuckled.

“I consent,” I said, with Chris nodding by my side.

“Samesies,” Bells added.

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