Page 152 of Unexpected Forever
He’s also six-three and looks like he should be a bouncer in a club rather than a man dealing with kids.
Nate and I thought we were being pranked until he picked up a crying Lucy and started singing a lullaby. She immediately went quiet and stared at Julian with wide eyes.
We hired him on the spot.
I nod at my reflection, grab my bag, and head downstairs, searching for the loves of my life. I still have forty-five minutes before I need to leave, and I want to soak in all the baby snuggles I can.
Some days, I can’t believe this is my life.
“Nate? Where are you?”
No response.
I follow the faint sounds of a morning show into the living room and stop in front of the sofa.
My heart flips in my chest and my ovaries explode.
Nate’s stretched out, fast asleep, and wearing nothing but gray sweatpants and a burp cloth draped over one shoulder.
In the middle of his chest, directly over his heart, lies our baby girl, Lucy. Her little legs are pulled up to her chest, causing her diaper-clad butt to stick out. Her little hand curls into a tiny fist against Nate’s broad chest.
She sleeping as soundly as her daddy, her mouth forming an O.
Tears make my vision blurry. I haven’t even left yet and the pull in my gut is almost unbearable.
I’m going to miss the hell out of both of them.
After my water broke in the gazebo, Lucy showed up eight hours later. Nate was by my side the entire time. He fed me ice chips and didn’t complain when I crushed his hand during contractions.
And I fell in love with him all over again when he cried holding a five-minute-old Lucy.
That girl already has her daddy wrapped around her tiny finger.
As soon as we were able, Lucy and I moved to Cape Sands permanently, living with Nate in his beautiful seaside home.
I miss Madison Ridge more than I thought I would, but I talk to someone in my family almost daily, and Darcy has become a great friend to me.
I’m excited about my job and starting a new chapter in my life.
I gingerly pick up Lucy off Nate’s chest, and when I rub circles on the smooth skin of her back, she curls into my shoulder with a soft sigh. I inhale her fresh baby scent before placing her in the bassinet set up in the living room.
A pair of arms wrap around my waist.
“Hey, Firefly.”
Nate’s deep, sleep-laden voice in my ear sets off a host of sparks, all landing right between my legs.
“Hello, handsome.”
He rests his chin on my shoulder, looking down at Lucy. “God, she is just so beautiful. Just like her mother.”
I grin and tilt my head, giving him better access to my neck, where he drops kisses on it.
“Hey, come with me for a minute,” he says, stepping away from me.
“But–”
“She’ll be fine.”
