Page 117 of The Passion

“Yes. We’re pregnant!” he screams out at the top of his lungs as he starts to release me from the tight hold he had on me.

Everything is starting to sink in now.

“We’re having a baby.” My hands gently settle on my stomach, and Flynn’s big strong hands settle on top of mine.

“We’re really having a baby.” His hands pull away, and he slowly lowers me to the bed again, lifting my nightgown up and placing his lips on my stomach in the most gentle and sweet way. “Hello in there, little one. Settle in and grow nice and strong. We can’t wait to meet you.” And it’s then I realize he is crying happy tears too, like I have been for the last few minutes.

Crawling onto the bed, Flynn lies down with his arms open wide, and I know exactly where I want to be.

Lying down beside him, I rest my head on his chest and just listen to his heart beating as we both come to terms with the big news.

And in my usual form, as soon as the shock starts to wear off, my mind is already racing.

I lift my head up to look at him. “You know we can’t tell anyone for a while, like no one.” Seeing him smirk, I can tell it’s going in one ear and out the other. “I mean it, Flynn, not even Nic.”

“But he’s not just anyone.” He looks at me with his big puppy-dog eyes. “I bet you will tell Harper.”

“No. Please, I’m too scared. You know this is going to be a high-risk pregnancy. We need to keep it to ourselves until we are out of danger.” I’m already feeling anxious and trying not to let too much excitement creep in.

“I understand, but as long as you know I’m about to wrap you in bubble wrap for the next nine months. And don’t you even dare say one word about me being overprotective, because you know what I’m like, and shit just got real here. Now I have two of you to keep safe, and that’s next-level.”

“Oh Lord, help me,” I reply sarcastically, but I know deep down it is just another thing about my husband that makes me feel loved.

I sigh dramatically. “So I’m guessing sex is off the table for nine months then, if I’m not allowed to do anything strenuous.” I try so hard not to laugh at the look on his face at my words.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not get too rash here. We all know that sex is safe in pregnancy because no man would want a second child if he had to go through that drought again.” He snags me under my armpits and drags me up so I’m lying completely on top of him.

“In fact, that sounds like a perfect way to celebrate our amazing news. What do you say, Mrs. Taylor?” His hands areroaming over my body on top of the silk nightgown. “Want to get naked with me?”

“Not a chance, Mr. Taylor, not until I’ve seen a doctor.” As much as I would love to have hot wild sex right now, I’m too scared, and he’s just going to have to deal with that.

“Give me your phone, I’m calling your doctor now and getting the first appointment this morning.” He is joking, but I’m sure part of him is serious.

“You’re crazy.” I’m giggling now as the first ray of hope that I might become a mum is starting to settle inside me.

“Yep, crazy in love with you.” And that sounds just perfect to me.

9 Months Later

FLYNN

Nobody warned me what it’s like to be the husband during childbirth.

I don’t cope when Felisha stubs her toe. How am I supposed to sit here while she’s screaming because we have a baby with a head as big as a basketball and she’s trying to push it out of a hole that is only fit for a tennis ball? I just want to grab the doctor and tell her to do something to take her pain away, but Felisha was adamant she wanted to try with as little drugs as possible because it’s better for the baby. I don’t know where she read some of the shit she has told me, but that is not right, and seeing her in so much pain can’t be good for the baby.

Getting a break between contractions, she grabs my arm, her nails digging in so I can feel the pain that she’s obviously feeling.

“What if I don’t give you a boy? Promise me you will still love a girl.” The sheer panic in her eyes almost breaks me.

“We have been over this, beautiful. I don’t care what sex the baby is. I just want our baby out of you so the pain stops and for both of you to be okay. That’s why we didn’t find out the gender, because I don’t care.” Leaning down, I kiss her on the forehead and wipe her hair back from her sweaty face.

“I couldn’t take it if you didn’t love her.” The trauma of her father is stuck inside her still, and I’m not sure she will ever lose that.

“If I’m being honest then I hope we get a girl who is just like you. Strong, beautiful, and stubborn as fuck. So, I can tell the world every day how proud I am of everything she achieves and that she takes just after her mother.” The tears are welling in her eyes as the next contraction starts, and the moment is gone.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, at how it will be the biggest fuck-you to her father if we have a girl and Kentwall Estates will again be passed down to a woman when the time comes. Not that we have heard from him since the day he left, and that’s just the way we like it, but this birth will be all over the media, and he is bound to see it.

“Okay, Felisha, it’s time to start pushing.” Our doctor looks at me and gives me a nod to say she needs me to help Felisha get through these last few minutes.

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