Page 23 of Can't Walk Away

“Are you sure?” he questions.

“I took four at home pregnancy tests, but I have an appointment scheduled tomorrow to see the doctor,” I say and then Jase’s lips are back on mine. His hand is still on my stomach though, in his own way he’s protecting our little one.

He lifts me up and my legs automatically wrap around his hips as he carries me into the house. My hunger is forgotten as a new hunger blossoms inside of me.

“We’re going to the doctor together tomorrow and we need to start planning our wedding. I want you tied to me in every single way, Chey,” he croons.

“I want that too, Jase. So much,” I whisper into his ear as he takes us to the bedroom after slipping on the engagement ring. It’s utterly perfect.

Epilogue

One

Jase

9 months later

I wake up before Cheyenne does and swing into Avery’s room when she is babbling over the baby monitor we keep in our room. She’s been an angel ever since she was born two months ago. We never found out what the sex of our child was, wanting it to be a surprise for everyone, including ourselves. Cheyenne almost caved, so she could decorate the nursery accordingly, then decided not to go through with it. Me, well I was along for the ride. All I wanted was Cheyenne and the baby to be healthy the whole way through and I got my wish.

Avery starts whining and I take her to the changing table and change her diaper. Cheyenne tries to only breastfeed but there’s times like this morning I enjoy spending one on one time with Avery. I finish changing her and make my way to the kitchen and heat up the breast milk Chey has in storage bags. I fill a bottle and check the temperature before making our way out on the front porch to our swing.

I get situated and Avery takes to the bottle like a champ. When she’s halfway through with her bottle I burp her. She lets out an adult size belch and I laugh. Looking down into Avery’s eyes that are green in color like my own, but with her mother’s fair skin and even lighter hair. She’s the perfect mix of us. When she finishes the last of her bottle, I burp her one last time and sit back and rock with just me and my baby girl.

With Avery being an early riser, her and I get to watch as the sun slowly comes up in the sky. When I look down she’s off in dreamland.

“Morning, Baby,” I hear Chey say from the doorway.

“Morning, Honey. Did you sleep good?” I ask her. She’s gorgeous morning, noon, and night. I knew when she was walking down the aisle to me in our small wedding that was held in Phil’s backyard that I was the luckiest man on earth.

“I did, but when I rolled over you weren’t there, I figured I’d find you two our here,” she says with a yawn as she comes over to sit beside me. I have one arm filled with our bundle of joy and my other arm wrapping Cheyenne into my side. We sit and rock until the sun is up and the neighbors are out and about.

“What do you say we head over to pops house today?” Cheyenne asks Avery as she sets her down in the bassinet we keep in the living room. Avery is staring up at her mother with open adoration, and I get it. Completely. I look at Chey every single day and I fall in love all over again.

“Honey, your dad is out of town,” I break the news to her. I know Phil told her, but it must have slipped her mind. She’s never quit working and only took the bare minimum time off before she was back to her clients. Some days we’re merely passing each other down the hall with our schedules, but we always make time for each other at the end of the night.

“Shoot, that’s this weekend?” she questions looking at me. Her hair has grown out since the early stages of her pregnancy and she has it in some crazy knot on top of her head. The makeup is scrubbed off from the night before, and she’s only wearing my shirt.

“Yeah, he left out yesterday. He’ll be home by Tuesday though,” I come over to her and bring her into my arms, where she belongs.

“Oh good. I’m glad he’s getting out. We seem to keep missing each other every week lately,” she grumbles. I know she’s excited to have her father back in her life. Phil busted his ass and proved to Cheyenne he wasn’t leaving her, and he’s stuck to his guns.

“Come back to bed, Chey,” I whisper huskily in her ear. When I looked down Avery was conked out asleep and I want Chey.

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