Page 51 of No Limits

“Yeah, but you still went out and bought a test. Don't you remember our conversation years ago?” My heart flutters at the fact thathedoes.

“Of course I do. You’re right. I’m sorry, I should have told you. It wasn't an intentional thing, Lochlyn, you have to trust me. I was so sure it was nothing and I was just being crazy.”

“Maybe I should be apologizing for being so absent for the better part of this year.” The tone all but breaks me in half. He sounds so destroyed and dejected, like me not telling him was his own fault. Which it was not in any way.

“Oh babe, no, please don't do that to yourself. It hadnothingto do with that. Really, I was just in my own world. I’m sorry. And maybe on some level, I thought that if it was real, I wanted to surprise you. Obviously, I kind of blew that by screaming like there was an axe murderer in the shower.” I run a hand along his jaw, scratching under his stubble.

He turns and kisses my palm, leaning into my touch and meeting my eyes. “We should probably get you to the doctor.”

“Yeah, probably.” I pull in a deep breath and let it out slowly to try to calm my racing pulse.

“What are the rules? I know there’s supposed to be things you can and can't eat, or do, or whatever.”

“I guess we have no choice except to get on the computer.”

“Are we going to trust the internet with our baby?” He slides a hand up to rest over my stomach. My breath stalls in my lungs.Our baby.

My eyes water and my lip trembles. Lochlyn’s large strong hands cup my face and pull it to his so we’re forehead to forehead.

“Hey, no limits. You can be scared, Shay. That’s normal and expected, but we can do this. If I have faith in anybody to be able to do this, it’s us. And bythis,I mean all of it, getting married, the baby, opening the store. Life.” One hand lets go and stretches out, as though reaching to beyond what we can even dream.

“How do you have so much confidence in us?”

“Because I know who we are. And because I love you more than life itself and will do anything I have to for you. To keep you safe, happy, loved. You will always be the most important aspect of my life. Always. I will love our child,children, however it plays out. But I will only have them becauseyougave them to me. It’s one thing I will never be able to truly pay you back for.”

How is it that every word he says is what I need to hear? How is it always so lyrical and perfect? It’s like he’s singing a song that only I can hear and one that floats directly to my heart, down into my soul.

“First thing tomorrow, I’ll call my OBGYN and let them know.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” When he plays with my hair, pulling a curl straight, his fingers trailing down my back, my whole body relaxes and slumps into him.

My eyes struggle to stay open as it puts me into an almost hypnotized state.

“Do you want to sleep instead of eat?”

“Maybe just rest a little bit.” Tiredness laces my words and makes them slur together, my eyelids drooping more and more with every pass of his fingers.

The next thing I know, a buzzer is going off somewhere in the distance and I’m being laid back on the couch.

I move to get up, but Lochlyn shushes me and runs his hand over the crown of my head.

“Just rest, baby girl. Your body needs it.” His voice sounds so far away.

One of my hands curls under my head while the other wraps down to my stomach.

Chapter 22

I’mnotexperiencingthenerves I've heard about and read about that many women have on their wedding day. There are no flutters, not a single shred of doubt. Nothing but overwhelming joy flowing through me. My face feels like it will crack in half from the smile I've had planted on it since I woke up this morning.

The only downfall to this otherwise perfect day? I’m exhausted. And it’s not even noon. I slept like a rock last night, but this tiny peanut of a baby is sucking the life out of me. Literally.

Chelsea stayed with me last night and Lochlyn slept at her house with Wes. Although we’re having a relatively small wedding, are pregnant, and have felt married for years, we’re doing some of the more traditional things. Even though it’s only been about eighteen hours, I miss him.

The way Lochlyn altered his work ethic hasn’t changed since that morning I returned home from Chelsea’s. Even she can see the difference in him and in us. One of the biggest changes he made is that he told work and his bands that if there’s an emergency that involves a contract he wrote up, they're to leave a message, and if it involves anything else, not to call him. He says everybody was understanding, especially the guys from Rolling Thunder, who he’s become quite friendly with. They even admitted to taking advantage of his kindness and called him, even though they knew they shouldn't have.

With all the time together, we were able to make everything perfect before our wedding. We’re better than ever, which is good since now we have a baby on the way. Thankfully, I was able to get into the doctor, and he took the morning off to come with me. He held my hand the entire time. There was not a single second my hand was not clasped in his.

We had a quick ultrasound to check viability and the second we saw the tiny gummy bear, he cupped my cheek and pressed a long, sweet kiss on my forehead before resting his against mine and whispering, “I love you.”

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