Page 74 of Until Hanna

“Hey, baby.” He drops his bag to the ground and wraps his arms around me, shoving his face in my neck. When he pulls in a deep breath, I do the same, and like always, my entire being relaxes, and all is right with the world once again. “I fucking missed you.”

“Me too.” I lean back, and he kisses me.

“How’s my baby?” he asks low, so the girls still playing in the yard can’t hear.

“Good,” I answer just as quietly. I told him I wasn’t going to tell anyone until I was over nine weeks along, but then I decided I didn’t want to share the news until he was back home with me again.

In the end, everyone will be happy for us, but I know they’ll all have a lot of questions and maybe even concerns, because we’ve only been together a short while, we aren’t married, and his job at this point keeps him away for long stretches. All of their concerns are ones I have myself, even with him reassuring me this is only temporary.

“Hanna!” Elsie calls, and I pull away from Walker and look over at her. “We’re going to walk home before Mum starts to worry.”

“Okay, honey. Tell her to message me so I’ll know you made it.”

“I will.” She stands, dusting the grass off her bottom, and Vi, who is not too old for hugs, runs over and wraps her arms around me.

“Can you and Walker come this week for dinner?”

“Absolutely.”

“Awesome.” She smiles before running back over to her sister, who is holding York.

“Bye, girls.”

“Bye.”

They both wave, and I wait until I know they won’t catch me spying, then walk down the sidewalk. I peek around the trees that line the street to watch them until they reach their house, which is just a few down from mine. When I turn back to Walker, he’s looking at me with a smirk.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He shakes his head.

“What?” I repeat, walking toward him.

“It’s cute you’ve already got the mama-bear thing down.”

“I was just making sure they got home okay.” I curl myself against his side and walk up to the front door.

“I know. It’s cute.”

“Whatever.” I unlock the front door, and of course Mizzy is right there waiting to greet him. Dropping his bag, he picks her up and holds her on her back, rubbing her belly. “She cried for three days at the front door, waiting for you to come back.”

“She loves me.”

“I know.” I glare at the two of them when she begins to purr.

His gaze meets mine. “My poor baby, are you jealous?” He drops Mizzy to the back of the couch and starts toward me.

“No.” I back away from him.

“Do you want me to rub your belly too?” he asks, stalking me across the living room, making me laugh.

“I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” He catches me around the waist and pulls me flush against him.

“I’m sure.” I smile and wrap my arms around his neck.

“Guess what,” he prompts softly.

---