Page 5 of Her Baby Daddy Mix-up

“Well, well, well…congrats buddy,” John said giving Carter a hug before turning to her with one. “You make sure he treats you right, if not call us and we’ll straighten him out.”

“Oh, I think I’ll have that handled long before you all would get there,” Emily stated pointing a finger at Carter. “You hurt her, and you’ll have me to deal with…and don’t even think about trying to kick me out of the delivery room. We haven’t done anything big in our lives without the other around.”

“Oh, I’d say there are a few things that you’ve done without the other there,” Carter joked putting another blush into Brianna’s cheeks. “But whatever Brianna wants is fine with me…”

“Good, keep that thought in mind, especially when you meet her parents,” Emily said on a warning. “They don’t know anything yet, do they?”

“No, though they won’t be too shocked that they weren’t invited. I told Dad at Ashely’s wedding that it would be the last one for his girls he’d attend,” Brianna assured her.

“You didn’t think you’d get married?” Mark asked in surprise.

“No, I knew if I got married I’d elope or do like this. I’ve spent two years of my life having to help plan my sisters’ weddings. I wasn’t going to begin to let them butt their noses into mine,” she answered easily. “My parents live a little over an hour outside of town now that they’re both retired. So, while it’s possible to have invited them then I’d be forced to listen to my mother complain that I didn’t give her enough time to arrange things properly. This way it’s done, and we don’t have to drag it out or listen to their input. The important part’s the marriage not the wedding after all, right Carter?”

“Absolutely honey,” he agreed kiss the top of her head. They lingered over a light dinner, and she was relieved when the group decided to give them the rest of the night for themselves.

“Let me know if you need help packing your apartment,” Emily said giving her a hug as the car waited on her.

“I will, thank you for coming without questions, well without too many at least,” Brianna said hugging her back, “we’re not sure when we’re going to get around to it. I have until the end of November now.”

“Slow and easy, no over doing it,” Emily said, and she nodded waiting in the doorway with Carter until the car was gone.

“Nora went home, said if we needed her to call and she’d be right over but I thought we’d use the weekend to settle in, get used to sharing this space versus a hotel suite,” Carter explained as they moved into the living room.

“Sounds fine to me, I’m exhausted after this little bit, can you imagine what it’d be like to have a huge wedding?” she sighed sitting down next to him as she slipped off her heels.

“I now know why they had couples wait until after marriage to be together, it’s so they could push to get things done and over with for sure,” he agreed running his hand up and down her arm leaning her into him a bit more. “But you look amazing, when did you have time to find a dress with everything else we’ve been up to this week?”

“This old thing?” she said with a grin making him laugh. “No really it is old. It’s been in my closet for the last two years. I saw it, fell in love with it, it was on clearance, and I bought it for the company’s New Year’s Eve party. I took it out the Monday before and changed my mind on it. It suddenly looked too bridal to me, which isn’t too crazy since my mother reminded me that I was the same age as my sisters were when they got married back then. So, it’s been in the closet since then. I figured it’d do well for our non-traditional wedding.”

“It did and if you’d worn that to the party two years ago I might have had to slug some men to keep them away from you,” Carter joked enjoying sitting there with her. Usually, he turned on the news stations, catching up on things or working unless he was out on a date. He’d never had a woman live-in with him, occasionally they’d be overnight guests, but he typically stayed at their places. He liked his to be private but with Brianna there, it didn’t bother him.

It was nearly ten-thirty when he felt her stifle a yawn and squeezed her shoulder getting her attention away from the movie playing softly on the TV. “You’re exhausted, come on, let’s go to bed.”

Brianna held her breath as he pulled her up from the couch turning off the TV. She’d been trying to avoid this as best she could. It was strange to think that in a few minutes they’d be going into the same room and sharing the same bed. They’d agreed for appearances sake to share the master bedroom. They’d each have their own dressing areas and agreed on some preliminary guidelines, but it still put them in a far more intimate situation than she ever imagined sharing with him.

She took her time changing, trying to get comfortable with the new pjs she wore. She hated the things, only used them when she went home for visits. She much preferred to sleep naked, the cool feel of sheets against her skin, but that wasn’t going to happen now.

She moved back into the bedroom finding Carter dressed in only a pair of silk sleep-pants and she felt herself flush slightly. The man had the body of a god, and it simply wasn’t fair to her right now, not with her heightened emotions and desire flaring high inside her. She’d thought it was a myth that pregnant women found themselves wanting sex more, but it wasn’t, especially not when a prime morsel like Carter was in front of her.

“You still like the left side of the bed?” Carter asked surprising her as he turned away from the dresser.

“Yeah but it doesn’t matter too much,” she said as he gave her a light smile.

“You’re the one who’s pregnant, I just want you to feel comfortable,” he said finding his gaze drawn to the curve of her body under her pjs. “We’ve shared a bed before…yes it was under strange circumstances, but this is no different than that.”

“I don’t see a torrential downpour and near hurricane level winds outside right now Carter.”

“No and there are plenty of other available beds but the sooner we get used to this, the easier it’ll be when our parents descend on us, not to mention Nora. The woman likes to coddle so be prepared.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage,” she said slipping into the huge king-sized bed. The sheets were Egyptian cotton, and she knew that in any other circumstance she’d be craving the feel of them against her naked skin. Actually, she was currently but it would be immensely inappropriate in the circumstance, so she tamed down her desire to get rid of her shirt and shut her eyes. She was exhausted but her brain refused to stop turning over the difference in her life in two weeks.

She let out a sigh nearly an hour later as her arm caught in the pj top, moving so she could stop laying on it. She would have to find something that fit a bit better to her body, to heck with keeping herself covered while in Carter’s view. She couldn’t sleep like this. She slid out of the bed and headed over to the dresser where she’d put her things grabbing a tank top and a workout bra top. She turned to go to the bathroom to change and gave a start seeing Carter sit up in the bed.

“Everything okay?” he asked flipping on a light next to the bed.

“I’m just not used to sleeping like this,” she admitted as he came over to her.

“With someone else in the same bed? Come on Brianna, I know you’ve had boyfriends stay over, I ran into one or two leaving your place when I came to pick you up before.”

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