Page 146 of I Got You

I groan. “If it’s a girl, she won’t be dating a bad boy…ever.”

She smirks. “Oh, right. Then she’ll just sneak out her bedroom window and meet up with him anyway.” I roll onto my back, not able to think about this. “Especially when her dad is full of badassness. It’s what she’s going to know and gravitate towards. Liv, too, probably. At least we’ll have a little practice with her.”

“Maggie,” I warn. “This is supposed to be relaxing, and you’re making me want to punch something.”

She laughs. “What if we have all girls? Like a whole houseful of them, and you have to deal with boys….”

I don’t let her finish as I lean over and kiss her until we both forget what she was about to say.

I cup her cheek. “Boys or girls, it's going to be the best adventure of my life. And I can’t wait to see you lose your shit every time one of them gets into a tussle or goes through a breakup or someone calls them a name….”

Maggie kisses me this time shutting me up. We cool the kissing as people walk by our cabana, although I’d like to keep going. Her pregnant body is the sexiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.

The next thing I know, I hear her sniffling. There needs to be some kind of pregnancy hormone forecasting system that lets males know when things are going to cloud up, or tears are impending, or when the shit is going to hit the fan. This unpredictability is enough to drive a man batshit crazy.

“Hey.” I tiptoe my way into whatever the hell is going on this time. “What happened?”

She sniffs again and wipes a tear away. “Nothing,” she says, trying not to cry.

“Come on. Tell me.” I pull her close to me again.

“It’s just…I’m probably going to be the worst mom in the entire world if I can even actually push your Neanderthal of a child out of down there.” Her eyes are big and filled with tears as she looks in the direction of where this kid is supposed to come out. She sniffs and wipes her nose. “And when we get back, Liv is starting kindergarten in just a few weeks, and she wants you to take her. She doesn’t even want me to go.”

I grab her hand and interlace our fingers, also sad that my Liv will be at school all day and our morning time will be rushed.

“Hank is coming home, and I miss that little shithead like crazy. He’ll be driving, and then we’ll never see him. Cole is already gone and never calls anymore…Everything is changing.”

I want to laugh but hold it in because I’m not spending what’s left of our trip alone. So I pull her close and hold her.

“A lot is going to change, but it’ll be great. We’ll do it together.”

She buries her face in my neck. “But you’ll be gone so much again once the season starts and then it will just be me.”

“I’ll be gone a night or two for games. Plus, you’re going to have the whole semester off, and then you can decide if you want to go back, or stay home, or open a studio of your own.” I tip her chin up so she’ll look at me. “I know this is all scary, and a lot is changing, but it’ll be ok.”

I see her smile come to life, and warmth fills my chest.

“Let’s go to our room, order food, and see if we can find SportsCenter.”

“You always know just what I need.” She pushes up to kiss me.

“Let’s go. Before you make me cry.”

She laughs, and I pull her up, walking back toward our room hand in hand.

“You know I’m terrified I’m going to pass out when you give birth, right?” I voice the growing fear as we get closer to Maggie’s due date.

In my peripheral, I see her head turn in my direction ever so slowly. “Grizz, if you pass out while I’m pushing your child out, I will razz your ass until the end of time. If my undercarriage is going to be torn to shreds pushing this baby out, you can stay on your feet.”

∞∞∞

MAGGIE

Three Months After That

I waddle through the stadium with the kids trailing behind me for the first Moose home game of the season. I look like a freaking giant momma duck and her ducklings. I’m wearing Shane’s jersey, but this baby is snug. I make my way slowly through the stands, holding my belly and being extra careful walking down the steps.

“Maggie.” I hear my name and see Mark moving to help me. He takes my hand and helps me down the remaining steps to our seats, and Sean wraps me in a hug. These guys have become like two additional brothers.

---