Page 19 of Winter Frost

“Are those?” He grabs them and reads the clear word across each.Pregnant.

“Were you planning to tell me?”

“I was trying to figure it out. I literally just took the tests before I fell asleep on the sofa.”

He pulls me into his arms. “We’re getting married whether you like it or not. I’ve got your sexy ass right where I want you.”

“In a small apartment?”

“No, trapped in my arms forever,” he whispers. “And now I’m never letting you go.”

“You promise?”

“Yes,” he says. I feel him take my hand in his and then the gentle cool feeling of a ring on my finger. I look up at him, mouth wide open and then down at the stone on my finger. “Like I said, you’re marrying me. I’m too old for you, and I’m sure you deserve someone better, but I’m too selfish to stop loving you.”

“That’s good because I don’t ever want you to stop. I love you too, Evan.”

“When do you finish your assignment?”

“Luckily, it’s just a short one. One more week.”

“Do you have another assignment?”

“Actually, I received a call from Dr. Johnson asking if I would return to the clinic for two days a week, and I said yes.”

“So you’ll be working close to home.” I love hearing the sound of that.

“Yes, so I’ll see you in a week or so.” I’m hoping that he wants me to come and live with him. I haven’t moved out of myapartment completely, but I’d love to spend every night in his arms. Missing him is all I’ve done since we’ve been apart.

He scoffs. “In a week? I have no damn intention of leaving until we leave together.”

“You’re staying.” I don’t think my smile can get any bigger. I know it can’t because my cheeks actually hurt.

“Of course. I don’t want to miss any more damn time apart again.”

I jump into his arms and kiss his face. “I love the beard by the way. It’s my sexy lumberjack.”

“I’ll keep it then, my sexy nurse.” He kisses me with a rough, possessive zeal before pinning me on the sofa, reminding me that I belong to him for the rest of our lives.

Epilogue

Evan

I held our two-month-old in my arms and my heart beamed with joy. He was big and strong, growing faster than I remembered babies did. We had his six-week check up and they said he was in the ninety-ninth percentile. The little guy wasn’t so little. He was going to be just like me. Everything about him was exactly like me. From his hair down to his furrowed brow.

The doorbell rang, and it was the FedEx driver, dropping off an envelope for Jacqueline. She was preparing dinner. The sender is what floored me.Langer DNA Laboratories.

“Jacqueline Arden Sager, my wife. A FedEx arrived for you.” A stiffness in my chest arose, but then I remembered that she worked at the new clinic, and it could be for a patient or something.

I handed her the envelope. “Oh.” She looks at it and then says, “This is for you.”

“What?”

“Look, I know you’ve been through a lot over the years. I love you with all of my heart and soul, but when you learned that Noelle and Autumn weren’t yours it sent you to the hospital.”

“Did you…”

“I would never cheat,” she declares, looking insulted.

---