Page 113 of One Unexpected Gift

She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her shoulder. Reaching for his hand, she curled her fingers around his.

“You’re the best father Gabby could ask for. She fell in love with you the instant she laid eyes on you, and you’ve never balked from the responsibility of being a parent, even when I dropped it at your front door. I don’t know how I would have survived the past month without you by my–by our side.”

“Hey.” Nick scooched up next to Sky, moving Gabby a little to the side so she wouldn’t get squished. “This, right here, is the best gift you could give me. Our daughter and your love. I’m blissfully happy, Skylar. And I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before.”

“I’m not sure blissfully is a word.”

“If it’s not, it needs to be.”

“I bet you normally do something outlandish and fun on your birthday. Your family usually has a pre-Thanksgiving birthday feast for you. Camilla said you always request grilled steak and potatoes because you wished you had a summer birthday. I didn’t even make you a nice meal.”

Nick picked up their joined hands and brought them to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles. “I’m exactly where I want to be doing exactly what I want to be doing.”

“You’re the king of saying the right things. I’m going to make it up to you though.”

“The king huh?” He puffed out his chest with pride. “And I figured last night and this morning were my birthday gifts, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Sky couldn’t help the grin on her face. “That,” she lifted her chin toward his crotch, “wasn’t for your birthday. That was because I love you.”

Nick leaned across Gabby and kissed Sky’s shoulder. “I love you too.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

With a soft sigh, he let go of her hand and curled his arm behind her back, pulling her into his side. She picked up Gabby and laid her across their laps.

“We’ll figure it out. There are millions of couples who make the long distance thing work. Millions of soldiers who are gone for months at a time, and then when they return, they stay in bed for weeks and weeks and make love until they physically can’t anymore.”

“Is that how it works?” She laughed into his shoulder. Nick always had a way of making her feel better. Granted, it was usually because he turned the topic into something sexual.

“I love you. You love me. We’ll make it work. It’s as simple as that.”

“Simple?”

“I mean, it’s going to be hard.”

“How hard?” Pulling a page out of the Nick Pierce book, she slid her hand down his torso and stopped at the waistband of his shorts.

“Tell me we’ll have phone sex,” he groaned, resting his head against hers.

“Every night.”

“Thank you.”

They didn’t speak for a long time. Heads together, they looked down at their daughter. Finally, Nick let out a soft sigh.

“I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”

“I love you too.”

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