Page 10 of Guarded

Everyone dug in immediately. Summer looked up at her, baby Hudson expertly cradled in one arm. “Here, you better take your turn holding him now, while Zoe’s busy stuffing her face,” she teased, and stood to offer Hudson to her.

Briar blocked the immediate impulse to decline and step back. Babies were cute enough. Well, some of them. But they were also terrifyingly tiny and fragile. She’d held Libby and Sam a few times when they were small, though not often, and every single time she’d felt awkward and scared she might drop them. But now that she was about to be a mother herself she had a hard deadline to overcome that anxiety by and lots to learn before her due date, so she might as well get moving on both.

“Okay.” She reached for Hudson, wrapped in his little receiving blanket. She frowned in concentration as she carefully handled the transfer from Summer’s practiced arms. She slid a hand under his little head, her other forearm beneath his back, and cradled him close. The baby didn’t so much as twitch, sound asleep.

Briar studied his sweet little face. Jeez, he was tiny. And warm. He fit right in the crook of her arm. And he was so damn sweet in sleep, the little crescents of his auburn eyelashes forming shadows on the tops of his cheeks…

“Aww, look at you,” Carmella said. “You’re smitten.”

Briar flushed and stood there holding the baby while the women all watched her with fond, teasing smiles. But he was so cuddly. He even smelled good. “I am.”

“See? You’re a natural,” Taya said, giving her a big smile.

It sure felt good, holding him. Satisfying in a way she couldn’t describe. Would it be even more intense to hold her own baby in a few months?

Her turn didn’t last long. Marisol took Hudson next, leaving Briar to resume serving the food and then begin the cleanup. As the shower wrapped up everyone carried the dishes into the kitchen and took a turn cuddling Hudson before leaving.

Briar stayed behind to help Taya finish tidying up. The moment Taya locked the door behind the last guest she turned toward Briar, Hudson in her arms, and lifted a dark eyebrow, her dark curls spilling over one shoulder. “All right, what’s the deal?”

Briar blinked at her. “Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me. You didn’t touch the wine or the coffee, even though you’re a known caffeine addict, and you willingly held my child for longer than a minute. You even enjoyed it.” She cocked her head, ran an assessing gaze over Briar’s middle. “Are you…?”

Shit. For a civilian, Taya was too damn observant. It was on the tip of Briar’s tongue to deny it, but she adored and trusted Taya, and she didn’t see the point in lying to her. Taya would see straight through it. “Yeah.”

Those pretty gray eyes widened in surprise, white showing all around the irises. “You are? Oh my God, congratulations!” She broke into a joyous smile and crossed to her.

Briar couldn’t help but grin as Taya gave her a one-armed hug, careful not to squash Hudson between them. “Thanks. But don’t tell anyone. I just found out and told Matt last night. He doesn’t want anyone to know until after the first trimester. It’s early yet, and after what he went through with Lisa, he wants to wait, because…”

Taya lowered her arm and stepped back, her face somber now. “I understand. How did he take it?”

“He’s happy. Really happy.” Remembering his reaction put a warm glow in the center of her chest.

“Aww, he’s going to be a fantastic daddy.”

“He is.”

Taya tilted her head to study her. “And what about you? Are you excited?”

She shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal of it. But yeah, she was. “A little. It still feels surreal though.”

“Nervous?”

Briar chuckled. “Maybe a tiny bit.”

Taya grinned. “I know how hard it was for you to admit that, so thank you for your honesty.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know me too well.”

“True.”

“So you won’t tell anyone?”

“Of course not. Except for Nathan. You can’t make me keep it a secret from him.”

“All right, but you have to make him swear he won’t tell anyone.”

“I will. I’ll make him cross his heart and hope to die, stick a needle in his eye and all that if he tells.”

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