Page 50 of Moore to Love

“I could use help with mine, too,” Jude chimed in.

“Same with me,” Rigden added.

“Do you know how to do business plans?” Ethan wanted to know since he’d been talking about opening another tattoo shop.

“As her husband, I get first dibs on her skills.” I smiled down at her. “Right, baby?”

“Sure,” she readily agreed. “But there’s another project we need to work on first.”

My brows drew together as I racked my brain, trying to figure out what she could be talking about. “There is?”

“Yup.” She took my hand and placed it on her belly. “I’m pregnant.”

My breath caught in my chest. “You’re going to have my baby?”

“We’re going to get a baby sister?” Madison squealed, jumping up and down.

“Or a brother,” Benjamin chimed in with a grin.

“Another grandchild,” my mom cried, clapping her hands.

Her mom murmured, “Such wonderful news.”

“Holy shit, guys. Congratulations.” Rigden clapped me on the back before hugging Ellie.

Everyone else took their turn wishing us well with the pregnancy. Once they finished, I pulled my wife close and murmured, “I can’t believe you were able to keep this a secret from me until today.”

“Since announcing pregnancies is a thing in your family, I thought it was the perfect time to share the news with you,” Ellie teased, bringing up the fiasco that had happened last May when my little brother got his bachelor’s degree.

“Yeah, this is a hell of a lot less shocking.” I shook my head with a chuckle. “How far along are you?”

“Only five weeks.” Ellie rested her hand over mine and squeezed. “I know I probably should’ve waited to tell everybody since it’s early days yet, but I couldn’t resist.”

“The way you did it was perfect, baby. And it’s not as though keeping a secret this big is even possible with my family,” I reminded her.

“I know.” Her lips curved into a satisfied smile. “That’s one of the things I like best about them. Your family might be nosy and loud, but everyone is there for each other when you need them.”

My dad brushed a kiss against her cheek. “That’s what family is all about.”

“I’ve got the kids,” my mom assured us as she guided Benjamin and Madison over to Dad’s car. “You two take your time. It’ll be a little bit before everything is ready for the party.”

“Maybe I can add something about the baby on the cake,” her mom muttered as she followed her dad over to their rental.

“I’ll take Duke for a walk,” Benjamin offered before he climbed into the back seat.

Since she had me around to help with the puppy, Ellie had finally caved when Benjamin had asked for about the hundredth time if we could adopt Duke. Thad hadn’t been happy about it since the puppy had been one more reason the kids preferred our house over his. But at least realizing how badly he’d fucked up with Ellie had prompted him to work on being a better father to Benjamin and Madison. It also helped that his new girlfriend was a lot nicer than his last. And he’d told his parents to keep their opinions about her to themselves if they weren’t happy about it.

Ellie waited until we were alone to ask, “You’re happy about the news, right?”

“Fucking thrilled, baby.” I captured her mouth in a deep kiss, pouring all my emotion into it.

When I finally lifted my head again, she pressed her fingers against her swollen lips with a sigh. “Good, because for a second there, I thought you looked a little disappointed when I told you that I was pregnant.”

“Remember when we first had lunch from Trattoria in my office?”

“Um, yeah. Of course.” Her cheeks filled with heat—which was so damn adorable considering how long we’d been together. “Considering what we did on your desk afterward, I’m never going to forget that day.”

“I just remembered a thought I had way back then about how, with Benjamin and Madison being two years apart, maybe you’d have a third who had the same gap as Logan and I do,” I explained.

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