Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
As soon as she shuts the door, her stare relocates my direction, prompting me to scrabble out of my seat at the sight of tears staining her cheeks. Knocking her bag off her shoulder is thoughtlessly done in the collecting of her into my arms. In one single swoop, her legs are over my tattoos with her face buried in my chest. Sobs like I’ve never heard, like I’ve never wanted to hear pour from her trembling frame, shaking us both like the ground under our feet will never be sturdy again. Keeping her to me during our descent is difficult; however, I’m too determined to hold her to allow anything else to occur. The instant we’re securely on the couch, I clutch her to me tighter. Rest my cheek against the stop of her head. Hum Elvis tunes so that she knows she’s welcomed to cry without being badgered by questions yet supported by sounds she knows mean something to me.
It doesn’t matter that my gray t-shirt is becoming soaked or that I might have holes from where she’s latched on. Hell, it doesn’t even matter that she cries so long and so hard that she eventually falls asleep. The only thing that I care about is that she’s home.
That she’s in my arms.
That I have her.
Eventually, I stretch the two of us out on the couch, making sure to cover our frames with her favorite Dalvegan Dragon’s blanket. It used to be her grandfather’s. A Christmas gift from her grandmother in one of their final years. Over the months I’ve lived here, I notice it’s always the one she reaches for first. Doesn’t matter the emotion. Happy, sad, royally pissed at me. If we’re near this couch, it’s this blanket. It’s why I go out of my way to make sure it’s always clean, especially after a three-day stint.
I’m not sure how long we’ve been passed out when Harper begins stirring awake in my arms. It was nearing ten in the morning when she walked through the door but with the way the sun seems to be setting already, I could probably guess we slept through most of the day together.
Her chin props itself up on my torso to meet my sleepy gaze. “Hi.”
“Coño, te extraño,” I airily confess in Spanish.
“I’ve missed you, too,” she echoes to my surprise.
Only a beat passes before I’m asking, “Would you like to talk about why you were…so upset?” Harper’s hesitation has me rushing to pre-comfort her. “It’s quite alright if you don’t. You deserve any space you need for thoughts or feelings you’re having. I just…I want to be here for you when you need me to be. I am here for you when you need me to be, beautiful. Whether you’re not speaking to me or on the verge of not speaking to me, none of that bullshit matters when you need me. I’m here. I’m fucking right here. I’m not going anywhere. You are mi vida. You are my number one priority now and always.”
“Promise me you’ll give our son or daughter that same amount of devotion.”
Keeping my excitement at bay is damn near impossible. “I promise.”
She attempts to smile. “And in Spanish.”
“Te lo promento.”
“And in Irish so I know you mean it.”
“Geallaim.”
The corners of her lips finally curl upward to show me the expression I haven’t seen in what feels like lifetimes.
Not wanting to ruin the moment yet desperate to have her confirm it, I cautiously ask, “You’re really pregnant?”
She slowly nods while rising up to a sitting position. “I took three pregnancy tests Thursday and got my blood drawn at the hospital yesterday morning to officially verify. I should have a concrete yes sometime tomorrow.” Harper pushes her loose hairs away from her face. “I hope you’re really ready to start a family because there’s a 99% chance it’s happening.”
“How did it happen?” Joining her in a sitting position is followed by further investigation. “Did you stop taking the pill and forget to tell me? I would’ve been shagging the hell out of you twice as much had I known.”
Appalment and amusement fight for the proper ruling on her face. “Ohmygod, Tate.”
“I am beyond ready to do the family thing with you, bella. All of it. The birthing classes. Googling the pregnancy books. Kissing your stomach while bathing you in the bath.”
“You know there’s more to it than that, right?”
“Tá.” Enthusiastic nodding can barely be controlled. “I’m ready for the midnight feedings and having him fall asleep in my arms while I’m watching Elvis sing on the TV. I’m ready to figure out car seats and gripe about the cost of childcare and get one of those backpack things to strap him to the front of me while we’re in the pool winning a dunk competition against Felipe.”