Page 93 of Love Me Forever

I leaned into him, soaking in all that masculine energy he exuded.

"I also like the one with the kid on the moon. It kind of makes you dream big, doesn't it?"

"Most definitely," he said.

My hands were shaking a bit when he told the sales associate to bring us both paintings.

"Why are you shaking, babe? Are you cold?" he asked.

"No. No reason."

Honestly, I was a bit emotional because these were the first things we'd bought for our baby. It felt real and at the same time surreal. This was happening. My baby would be spoiled from the day he or she was born. Actually, from before that too. It was more than I could've dreamed of.

"You sure you don't want anything else? Look around you."

"Well, since we do have two paintings, we could buy a third one. A trifecta."

"Do you want something for yourself?"

"I haven't found anything yet, but what about that?" I pointed to another picture. It was next to one depicting a small child dressed as a doctor, but I thought that was too on the nose. Besides, it had a syringe, which I thought was sort of scary for a child. It definitely scared me. The one I was pointing at had a hammock hanging between two thick trees in a forest, and a teddy bear was wearing a hat and sunglasses. It was relaxing.

"Definitely looks good," Travis said.

I could tell from his voice that he was simply agreeing with me. He wanted to make me happy. That was it. My heart felt like it was filling my entire rib cage.

"We'll take those three," he said, paying quickly.

As soon as the sales associate handed them over, he put an arm around my back again, as if he was afraid to let go of me. My baby and I were in great hands, and I couldn't be happier.

A tiny voice in my mind warned me not to get used to this, to the warmth and comfort of a family, to the love of a man. These things never lasted for me. But deep down I hoped that even if things between Travis and me went sour at some point, he'd still be here for the baby, and so would his family. It would crush me to know that I wasn't part of his family, and even worse if he eventually married someone else, but at least my baby would be loved.

Oh dear, my eyes were misty. I tried to surreptitiously wipe them as we arrived at his car, but Travis caught on.

"Babe, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" he asked, looking from my right eye to my left one, then back to the right one.

I shook my head.

"You're crying." He sounded alarmed and completely shocked.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly sure why."

"What do you mean, you're not sure why?"

"My brain started on a very weird downward spiral, and it's not stopping. I'm not sure what to do."

“What spiral?”

I shook my head vehemently. No way in hell was I telling him what was on my mind. "I think my hormones are totally haywire. Dr. Taylor did say it might happen eventually."

"What can I do?" Travis asked. "Anything, just tell me."

"Why do you keep saying that? One of these days, I'm going to ask for something outrageous, I just know it. My brain is cooking up something."

"And I'll be right here to fulfill it."

"I'm starting to believe you."

"You’d better," he growled.

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