Page 66 of 5+Us Makes Seven

“I don’t care,” Carter said. “Answer the question.”

“With them listening?” I asked.

“Why not?”

My eyes fell to his as my hand cupped his cheek.

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll move in with you.”

“Then we’ll take everything else one step at a time,” he said.

Twenty-one

Carter

I was elated. Natasha was back and she was carrying my child. I cleaned the kids up from their snack and put them to bed, making sure Natasha stayed resting on the couch. She looked exhausted, which was normal for the stage of pregnancy she was in. Luckily, she had me. I had encountered every twist and turn there was to encounter with my late wife when we were having our children, which meant I could help her through the uncertainty and the questions she would have later on down the road.

And once I had the kids down for bed, I picked up her backpack and helped her off the couch.

“Come on. Let’s go pick out your room,” I said.

I walked her through the house and kept tossing doors open. But with every room she found there was something wrong with it. It was too big or it was too small. ‘Shouldn’t this be the nursery?’ or ‘It won’t have enough room for my furniture’. We made our way upstairs and I shied her away from the room across the hall from the kids. Her place here was no longer to run after my kids and be a nanny.

Her place was resting and being with us in any capacity she wanted.

We got down to the end of the hallway and I had no other rooms to show her. But her eyes were settled on the door to my room.

I grinned down at her as she looked up at me, her eyes filled with questions as they twinkled with the light of the hallway. I reached behind her and shut off the light so the kids could sleep easier, then I threw open the door to my bedroom.

“What do you think about this room?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, “it is a bit big.”

“What else?” I asked as I led her in.

“The bed is massive. So it’ll probably be more comfortable than the other beds.”

“And the closet space is to die for,” I said as I shut the door.

“The walk-in closet is nice. But only one side of it is taken up, which is odd.”

“Or convenient, depending on how you look at it.”

“The bathroom is my favorite from the rest of the ones in the house,” she said. “I love the walk-in shower and the double sinks. But do you know what my favorite feature of it is?”

I dropped her backpack at the entrance of the closet before I turned my body towards her.

“What's that?” I asked.

“There’s a certain someone that comes with the room.”

I strode for her and took her in my arms. I pulled her against me, listening to her gasp. I could feel the pressure of her tightening stomach. Her belly button that would grow and morph as the child within her became healthy and strong. I danced my lips against hers, feeling how her body caved into mine.

I settled her back down onto the bed as our noses danced together.

“I think that certain someone enjoys having you here, too,” I said.

“I think I’ll take this room,” Natasha said with a whisper.

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