The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,62

who had fallen asleep shortly after being fastened into his car seat, missed the trip entirely.

“We’ll tell him about this someday,” Zach said as they turned onto their own street. “How scared we were the first time we drove him home.”

“He’ll think we were insane,” Rhea said, finally able to laugh as they eased their way into the driveway of the home they had bought together a few months ago.

“He’ll understand if he has a baby of his own someday,” Zach said.

“That’s wild to think about,” Rhea said. “Our baby growing up and becoming a parent. I can’t even imagine him walking yet.”

“This is the start of a really big journey,” Zach said. He reached over and took her hand. “I’m so glad I’m doing it with you, Rhea.”

“Me too,” she said. “I never thought, when we agreed that we’d get together and start a family if we were single in our thirties, that it would actually happen.”

“Even if I had thought it might happen, I never could have imagined that it would look like this,” Zach said. “I never would have thought that we’d fall in love.” He grinned. “And that’s especially crazy to realize, because I’ve always loved you. I just never knew it.”

“I’ve always loved you too,” Rhea said. “I should have figured it out the first time I kissed you. I should have known then what I had. I’ll never get over the fact that we wasted so much time we could have been spending together.”

“At least we found our way back to each other in the end,” Zach said. “That’s what matters most, right?”

Rhea nodded. “Now we can have the life we’ve both always wanted.”

Zach glanced into the backseat. “I think he’s still sleeping,” he said. “Should we stay in the car for a while? I don’t know that I want to wake him up.”

“No, we’d better go inside,” Rhea said. “We’ll have to eventually, and I’d rather get him to bed so he can sleep there. Besides, I’m kind of tired too, and all the books say that I’m supposed to be sleeping whenever he is.”

“That’s true.” Zach opened the car door. “All right. Let’s get you two inside.”

He helped Rhea from the car, then lifted Lincoln carefully from the car seat and placed him in her arms. The baby stirred but did not wake, and Rhea cradled him carefully against her, hoping that she would be able to keep him asleep. Together, the couple made their way up the driveway and through the front door.

“Surprise!”

The word was a whisper, not a shout, and Rhea’s first reaction was to be thankful that the speaker had gone to the trouble not to wake Lincoln.

Her second reaction was total shock.

Her brother and her parents stood in the kitchen. Every surface had been decorated with balloons and crepe paper, and a giant hand-painted banner reading “It’s A Boy!” hung from the wall opposite the windows.

She turned to Zach. “Did you know they were doing this?”

“I had no idea,” he said. “There weren’t even any cars in the driveway.”

“We parked around the corner,” Stephen explained. “We didn’t want to give away the surprise.”

“We won’t stay too long,” Rhea’s mother said. “We know you must be tired, and looking forward to some family time. But we wanted to come over and congratulate you, and to see the baby, of course.”

Rhea went to her mother, embraced her with one arm, and passed Lincoln to her.

“Here he is,” she said.

Dana gasped. “You were right, Zach,” she said. “He really does look just like Rhea.” She stroked his cheek gently. “Welcome home, Lincoln,” she said softly. “Everyone is so happy to see you.”

“We put a bunch of casseroles and stuff in the fridge,” Stephen said. “Don’t worry, I didn’t cook any of them.”

“You should really let Zach give you a cooking lesson sometime,” Rhea said to her brother. “I’ve already improved a lot since he started teaching me.”

“That’s true,” Zach confirmed. “She’s a natural with eggs.”

“Well, maybe,” Stephen said. “Knowing how to cook might help me get a girl.”

“It definitely would,” Rhea confirmed.

“In the meantime, I say we cut the cake.” Stephen indicated a large sheet cake on the counter that Rhea hadn’t even noticed when she’d come in. There was a picture of Rhea holding Lincoln featured on top.

Rhea gasped. “How did you do that?”

“I sent him that picture yesterday,” Zach said. “I didn’t know it was going to be on a cake!”

“There’s a bakery near here that does it,” Stephen