Page 3 of Bae

“I love you too, baby.” His lips pressed to the tip of my nose, and I sighed.

I started to wiggle so he would untangle his limbs from mine. He made a sound of protest, and I glanced up. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“I have to pee.”

This baby wasn’t even that big yet, but it didn’t matter. Apparently, my bladder was like the size of an acorn, because peeing was like my new hobby.

“Hold it,” he commanded.

I gasped and opened my mouth to yell at him. How dare he tell a pregnant woman she couldn’t pee!

I would kick him the minute he gave me my legs back.

Before I could do anything, he lifted the covers and disappeared. I screeched because of the way he moved quickly down my body and settled between my legs.

Entirely hidden beneath the covers, I felt his two very large hands span my middle and gently caress my rounded belly. He did this every morning, even before I started showing and my belly was flat.

I smiled and closed my eyes.

“Hey there, Pickle,” he told my stomach.

I grinned up at the ceiling, still amused he called her that. It wasn’t exactly original, but a girl didn’t get to choose the type of cravings she got when pregnant. Mine was pickles. All the time. Every day. So yeah… Romeo dubbed our daughter “Pickle.”

To be fair, he started calling her that before we even knew it was a girl. He’d been convinced this baby was going to be a boy, so when we found out (we didn’t have to wait for the ultrasound at twenty weeks thanks to a new blood test they could do now)hewas actually ashe, my eyes went directly to my husband.

Not one ounce. Not one ounce of disappointment this wasn’t a son. When he looked at me, I swear I saw his entire heart in his blue eyes, and it shimmered with tears. He’d never admit to the tears, but I saw them, and really, I didn’t need to tell anyone.

He loved our daughter just as much as I did and, honestly, more than I ever thought a father could (you know, ‘cause my father wasn’t exactly award winning).

“It’s time to start putting some meat on those bones,” he told her, then paused. “Does she have bones yet, Smalls?”

“I think it’s a little early for that. She still has quite a while to grow,” I said, thoughtful. I should probably look that up, because really, I had no idea.

Beneath the blanket, Romeo grunted. I felt him pat my stomach. “Yeah, get on that. Well, what I mean is take your time, Pickle. You don’t have to be that big, ‘cause Daddy is big enough for the both of us.”

“What about me?” I chimed in.

“I’m trying to talk to my daughter here, Rim,” he scolded. Then lower and not to me, he said, “I’ll have a talk with her about Daddy-Pickle time.”

I giggled.

I felt him kiss my belly again. I wasn’t really showing that much; my stomach was just more rounded out than usual, so his entire one hand covered the bump for another long moment before he tossed back the blankets and sprang out.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt. His body was tanned, toned, and just as smooth as the day I met him in the library.

“Can I go pee now?” I inquired, trying to sound surly, but not achieving it at all. I was way to charmed by him to be surly.

He lunged forward but didn’t give me any of his body weight. Instead, his arms took it all as he hovered over me. “Failing half my classes was the smartest thing I ever did.”

I rolled my eyes. “That is not something to be proud of, Roman Anderson.”

“It brought me you, didn’t it?”

I didn’t want to tell him it definitely was a good thing he was failing, so instead, I reached up and fastened my lips to his. When I finally pulled back, he grinned down at me like he knew I was trying to avoid telling him he was right.

It was maddening.

But also appealing.

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