Page 42 of Forever Mine

His jaw is pulled tight. It’s almost like he’s barely hanging on. “Yes. More than anything, yes.”

I shake my head, unsure. “Beau…”

He cuts me off. “I saw you, baby. I saw you holding LJ. Don’t lie to me… don’t lie to yourself and say you’re not ready.”

I jut my chin at him. “I told you I was ready… it’s you that I’m not sure is ready. Two weeks ago, you were doing everything you could to make sure we didn’t get pregnant. Two weeks ago, I thought you never wanted kids.”

He rams his hand through his hair, causing it to stick up everywhere. “Two weeks ago, I was an idiot. Seeing you with LJ in your arms… I want that. I want you to hold our baby in your arms, and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“You sure about this… you want a baby?”

He comes over to me and puts his hands at my waist. “I want your baby.”

I go to my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck. “I want that too, Beau.”

Excitement fills his face, and he picks me up, swinging me around in his arms. I’m laughing until he stops swinging and lets me slide down his body. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I’m tugging at his shirt. “We should start now.”

He lifts his arms above his head. “I agree.”

As soon as his shirt is off, my lips are on his chest. Between kisses, I tell him, “Seeing you with LJ had the same effect on me, Beau. You look good holding a baby.”

He lifts me up and tosses me onto the bed before pulling at my shorts. “I need you, Nat.”

I reach down between us and wrap my hand around his girth. I try to stroke him through the material of his pants, and he grunts as I tug on him. “Yes, you do,” I tell him.

He leans down to kiss me. “I’m going to put a baby in you, Nat.”

I laugh because I know it doesn’t happen like that. It will take a while to conceive, but I’m more than willing to start now. “Yes.”

We make love, and I feel ready for whatever life throws at us because we can handle anything… as long as we’re together.

Epilogue

Beau

Ican’t stop smiling.

It’s so bad that even during the weekly meeting that I’m sitting in, my brothers just keep looking at me and shaking their heads. After they’ve each taken their turns, I finally ask the question. “What? What are you all shaking your heads about?”

Huddy leans forward. “I’m just happy for you, man. It’s about time is all.”

Ford smirks. “Yeah, it’s nice seeing you smiling.”

Austin slaps his hand on the table and then waves it up and down at me. “This is definitely better than when you were smiling about all those fuckin’ spreadsheets you were pushing on us.”

I hold the papers up in my hand. “Well, don’t you worry. I still have spreadsheets, I’m just waiting my turn.”

I try to get the topic of conversation off me. “Anyone heard from Lucas? How are LJ and Issi doing?”

It’s been a few weeks since LJ was born, and Lucas is still working from home. Ford leans back in his chair, fiddling a pen between his fingers. “Lilian, Ollie, and I went to see them last night. They’re all doing well.”

I clasp my hands together on the table in front of me. I can’t help but smile as I look around at my brothers. We went through a lot growing up, and I never would have imagined that we would be where we are right now. Our company is thriving. Our brother is back from the military, everyone is getting married and talking about kids. Well, everyone but Austin. I look over at him, and he’s looking down at the paper in front of him with a grim look on his face.

“Austin?”

He lifts his head, and instantly there’s a smile on his face. It’s not a real one; it’s the one he uses when he’s trying to make the world think he’s okay. In most cases, no one knows, but I can tell something is off with him. He starts to speak, and it’s a stutter before he gets his words formed. “Yeah, my turn? The distillery is going great. Online orders are up this month, and we’ve been super busy. I may have to hire a few more hands soon, but it’s a good problem to have.”

I wait for him to continue. I wait for some joke or some off the wall inappropriate comment, but it never comes. He’s staring back at me, and the more I look at him, the more his fake smile drops from his face.

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