Page 72 of Love Me Ever After
“You’re serious? You want to do this?”
“Emily Berry, I love you more than anything else.” I blinked back unexpected tears of my own. “When I didn’t know where you were, I panicked, I thought you’d changed your mind about us, that you were going to dump me, and I’d have to find somewhere else to live.”
Ems chuckled. “I think we’re going to have to do that anyway. Not sure Sara’s ready to live with a baby yet.”
“Whatever you want, Ems. We’ll do it. Buy a house together, get married, have more kids.”
“Whoa, one step at a time there.” She placed a hand on my chest. “I’m still getting used to the idea of one child, let alone more.”
Snaking a hand around the back of her neck, I drew her towards me. My lips crashed against hers, savouring how she tasted. A million emotions flooded through me, the overwhelming one being love. The kiss deepened, my cock growing uncomfortably hard. I paused, nibbling along her jawline until I hit the sweet spot by her ear.
“Can we, well, you know…”
She pushed me away. “Probably. But I want to wait until I’ve seen a doctor, to be sure everything’s okay.”
I mock pouted at her. “Prick tease.”
“It’s probably what got us into trouble in the first place,” she joked.
I took her chin between my finger and thumb, turning her to face me. “You could never be a tease, Ems. You’re everything to me. I should have realised it sooner.”
Her face broke into a smile. “I love you, Mason.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, my lips descended on her again, kissing her so thoroughly until she was almost gasping for breath.
“I don’t care I wasn’t the first to know about you being pregnant, it’s the best news I could have had.” I broke our kiss and stared deeply into her eyes again. “I only wish you would have told me sooner.”
“I tried.” She sighed. “But interviews and time differences caused their own issues.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that any longer,” I insisted. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you two anyway.”
A sense of completeness settled over me. This was where I was meant to be. With Ems and our child.
Whatever happened with work, I honestly didn’t care as much as I once would have. With everything that had happened in the past, the future looked a hell of a lot brighter than I could ever have expected.
Any challenges the next few months and years would bring I was ready for, with Ems by my side, loving me ever after.
32
Epilogue - Ems
6 monthslater
“Whose idea was it to move house when I’m seven months pregnant?” I struggled through the doorway of our new place, a large box in my hands.
“Because we couldn’t stay at the last one any longer. Noel’s brother is moving into my old room and Sara’s new girl at Blossom is moving into yours.” Mason grabbed the box out of my grasp, running a protective hand over my stomach as he squeezed past. “Seriously, babe, I thought your nesting instinct would have kicked in by now.”
I poked my tongue out at him. He might have been right about the nesting instinct. The moment we’d arrived at the house yesterday, I’d directed the movers rigorously, making sure everything was in the exact place I wanted it.
Our baby girl kicked out and I felt the familiar reaction from my bladder. I could barely drink a tiny glass of water without needing the bathroom. Heading upstairs, I couldn’t stop my smile growing wider.
The house was on the same estate Darcy and Fraser lived in. In a normal housing market, there wouldn’t have been a hope in hell we would have been able to secure it. Three-bedroomed semi-detached houses in Ealynn Sands sold before anyone even knew they were on the market. Which is what had happened to us. Fraser had discovered the current owners were considering a move and flagged it to Mason and me, knowing we were looking for somewhere more permanent to bring up our daughter. A few discreet viewings and several conversations later, we’d put down the deposit and played the waiting game until we could move in. In all honesty, I was grateful we were moving in before my due date. There was no way I would have been able to handle all the stressandgive birth.
Darcy had gone into labour at the start of the week and after almost seven hours, their baby boy, Levi, arrived. We were already joking that their son and our daughter would be best friends and get married in the future. Over the past few months, Darcy and I had grown close, obviously with something so massive in common. Although I was several months behind her in the journey, we were able to share a lot of support and information. Mum had also been a fountain of knowledge. She had been to visit twice since I’d told her she was going to be a grandmother. Today, she was bringing Theo with her, ready to introduce her forty-year-old boyfriend to her twenty-eight-year-old pregnant daughter. We were closer than we’d ever been.
Coming out of the bathroom, I literally bumped into Mason. It wasn’t hard to do these days with my huge stomach.
“Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the second bedroom, which we’d decided would make the best nursery. He paused at the door and told me to close my eyes.
