Page 57 of Mending Scars

I was exhausted by the time we got home, so I told Ryker that I was going to take a nap. He had some fitness plans to finish, so he headed to our home office to work on them.

I’d just laid down in Ryker’s bed and turned on my side when I felt a jolt in my stomach.

Oh my God, is that?

Rolling onto my back, I placed my hand over the spot where I felt the movement. A few seconds later, I felt the twitching in my stomach again.

“Ryker!” I yelled out excitedly. “Come here! Hurry!”

I heard his footsteps pounding before he rushed into the room. “What is it? Is everything okay?”

I giggled. “Everything’s fine. Come here.” I patted the bed next to me.

He gave me a confused look as he sat down next me. I grabbed his hand and placed it on my belly where I’d felt the baby kick.

Ryker started to speak, “Wha—”

“Shh. Just wait,” I whispered as I held his hand to my abdomen.

He looked down at my stomach. About a minute passed and I was about to give up and take his hand off when the baby finally moved again.

“Did you feel that?” I asked excitedly, unable to stop my lips from spreading into a huge grin.

Raising his eyes to mine, he gave me that beautiful smile of his and nodded.

I placed my hands outside his so that I could feel the baby kick again. “Isn’t it amazing?”

We both stared down at my stomach in wonder for several seconds before Ryker answered, “You’re amazing.”

I looked up to see Ryker gazing at me. He kept his hand on my stomach and cupped my cheek with his other as he leaned in and kissed me.

He continued pressing kisses down my chest to my stomach. Lifting my shirt, he placed one last kiss in the center of my pregnant belly.

The baby kicked again. “I think he or she likes that,” I said.

“Oh, yeah?” He raised an eyebrow as the side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin.

I smiled down at him and ran my fingers through his hair. “Yeah.”

Keeping his eyes fixated on mine, Ryker kissed the middle of my stomach again, then all around my abdomen. The baby kicked a couple of times throughout, and each time made the smile on my face spread wider. “I was wondering when the baby would start moving. I was going to ask Dr. Wallace about it at my appointment next week.”

Ryker sat up next to me. “It’s next week already? We find out the sex of the baby at this one, right?”

I nodded. “I can’t wait. I’m dying to know what we’re having.”

“Me neither.” He placed a hand on my stomach. “I think it’s a boy.”

I looked down at his hand. “I don’t care either way. I just want to start buying cute baby outfits already.”

Ryker chuckled. “We can go right after the appointment. Start looking at cribs, get some clothes and other baby shit.”

“Baby shit, huh?” I laughed.

“I don’t know what things babies need, okay? Give me a break here.”

“I have a general idea, but maybe you should ask Ethan,” I suggested. “I’m sure he remembers what they had to buy for Tristan. Plus, Molly is pregnant again so it’s probably on his mind anyway.”

His brows furrowed. He didn’t seem to like that idea. “Maybe.” He took his hand from my stomach and rose off the bed. “Get some rest, Warrior.”

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