Page 90 of Finding Forever

“Oh?” The host still looked puzzled.

“It’s my second name,” Cade elaborated with an easy chuckle. “Fern likes it.”

“Right, of course.” Mike Holmes nodded, his smile back. He glanced down at his notes, before continuing, “So what happened that first night?”

Fern blushed and shook her head, lowering her eyes to their linked fingers.

“That’s personal, Mike,” Cade inserted smoothly and Mike, along with the audience, chuckled as if on cue. Inferring, quite correctly, what they refused to speak of.

“Right. And were you in contact after that?”

“Not at all,” Fern said. “But when Cade and his father showed up at my stepfather’s home two months later, and we saw each other again…”

“I’d been thinking about her non-stop since that night,” Cade inserted quietly and Fern slanted him a swift, amused glance, knowing he’d mostly been cringing at the memory of the bad sex. “It felt like a bizarre dream seeing her there again.”

“You got married the very next day,” the host pointed out. “How did that come to pass?”

“Two reasons,” Fern said and now Cade was the one who side-eyed her, looking alarmed because she was going off-book. This time she squeezedhishand, hoping he’d understand that itwas a plea for him to trust her. “We saw each other and the sparks were still there, as powerful as the night we’d met. And… well, I’d been trying to find a way to contact him rather urgently since that night but our interlude had ended without us exchanging any personal information. He didn’t have my full name, and as you can imagine, it’s not very easy just finding contact details online for a man like Cade Hawthorne. But I was desperate to speak with him, because I’m pregnant, you see? And when we saw each other again, and realized that we still had all thesefeelingsfor each other—added to my pregnancy?—we knew the only next step for us was marriage.”

The audience—more captivated by their story than she’d ever imagined they would be, along with Mike Holmes—gasped in unison to her revelation.

“You’re pregnant?” Mike Holmes repeated. Fern imagined that not many things shocked or surprised this man, but she could see that her words had absolutely thrown him for a loop and he glanced up at his teleprompter, then down at the cards in his hands. Before eyeing the camera wryly and making a big show of tossing the cards up in the air.

Fern, as well as Cade, whose lips had tightened—his only outward show of disapproval at what she’d done—laughed at the dramatic gesture.

“And I take it this is your official announcement then?” Mike asked and Fern kept her eyes on the host’s face, while trying to ignore the way her husband’s grip had tightened to the point of pain around her hand.

“Only Cade’s family knew. So yes, this would be our first public announcement.”

“Congratulations!” the host proclaimed, while the audience applauded enthusiastically. “Do you know what you’re having?”

Fern canted her head genuinely befuddled by the question before replying without thinking, “A baby, Mike.”

The audience hooted in appreciation and Fern went bright red as she belatedly understood what the man had meant by the question and recognized that her response must have seemed facetious. Not that Mike Holmes or his audience seemed to mind.

The host eased over her awkwardness like the consummate professional he was, by mugging for the camera and then angling his gaze toward Cade quizzically.

Fern sneaked a peek and was relieved to note that her husband’s eyes had sparked with reluctant amusement and a small, wry grin lifted his lips.

“We don’t know yet,” he clarified. “But, as I’m sure you’ve gleaned from Fern’s response, it doesn’t really matter to us.”

She appreciated Cade inferring that her gaffe had been intentional.

He reached into his back trouser pocket, and produced a brushed platinum credit card holder. Fern watched in utter shock as he opened it, and produced the most recent ultrasound image of her pregnancy. It had been carefully folded, and looked a little worn around the edges, as if it had been handled regularly. She hadn’t known he still had it, much less that he kept it on his person at all times.

He held it up in one capable hand, and Mike Holmes leaned forward to have a look, smiling brightly, before he indicated toward the camera.

“Do you mind if we—?” He allowed the question to taper off, his meaning clear and Fern and Cade exchanged uncertain glances before he shook his head. Fern knew him well enough by now to recognize that, while still not a hundred percent happy about the development, he was resigned to the fact that the cat was well and truly out of the bag.

“Zoom in so everyone can have a look, Gus,” Mike invited one of the cameramen and Cade held the grainy image up alittle longer, before carefully refolding it and putting it back in his credit card holder.

“I wish I could say that’s the cutest little blighter I’ve ever seen, Niall, but…” the host said with a regretful shake of his head and Cade chuckled warmly.

“I get it, but if this kid looks anything like their mum, I’ll be more than happy,” Cade said, and the audience once againaawed. He really had them eating out of his hand.

Who knew he could be so charming? Definitely not Fern.

“Niall and Fern, thank you so much for sharing your happy news onHolmes@Homefirst. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that I hope your wonderful, fairytale romance continues to go from strength to strength. Thank you for joining us tonight and sharing your inspirational love story with us.”

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