Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,95

matching baby-sized sweatpants.

She remembered how little she’d had when Hunter had been born and how she’d been terrified they weren’t going to make it. She’d felt alone and lost, and if that lawyer hadn’t shown up with the unexpected inheritance, she didn’t know what would have happened.

Things were different now, she thought as her heart ached with longing. She was different. Settled, mature and with a support network she could count on. She was still in her midthirties. Biologically there was no reason to think she couldn’t get pregnant and have a baby. Maybe even two.

“Wynn, are you all right?”

Emotions filled her, making it hard for her to breathe. The need grew until it was bigger than anything she’d ever felt.

“Wynn?”

She looked at Garrick. “I want to have a baby.”

His eyes widened and he immediately took two steps back, putting one of the chairs between them.

His reaction was so honest and male that she couldn’t help laughing.

“Don’t freak. I was making a statement, not asking for a donation.”

His expression turned from panicked to wary. “It’s an unexpected statement.”

“Sorry.” She held up one of the footie pajamas. “How can you resist something this sweet?”

“Buy all the baby clothes you want.”

“It’s not the clothes.” She smiled at him. “Relax. This isn’t about you. It’s about me and the choices I made. How I cut myself off from a part of who I am because I felt I had to be punished.”

“Because of what you did with Chas?”

She nodded. “I was wrong. If he was still around, I would tell him that. I made a mistake, but I learned from it. Things are different now—I’m different.”

She folded the pajamas. “I like kids. I like being a mom. I always wanted more than just one child. Hunter’s nearly grown. In a few years, he’ll be heading off to college and then what? I’ve lived with regrets for too long. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want kids.”

She also wanted Garrick in her life, but thought going there now was probably a little too much information for him to take in. She had no idea how he felt about her. Oh, she knew he liked her and wanted to have sex with her, but what about beyond that? What about the next step?

That was where everything got fuzzy. They hadn’t been together long enough to have that kind of conversation. Should they reach that point, she wanted him to know her plans for the future. She wanted more children, and if he didn’t, well, she wasn’t sure how that would work out.

“Like how many?” he asked, still looked shell-shocked.

“Two.”

He relaxed. “That’s manageable.”

“I’m a realist.” She walked around the chair, placed her hands on his chest and stared into his eyes. “I’m not asking you for anything, Garrick. Please believe me. I wasn’t hinting.” She might have been wishing, but he didn’t have to know that. “I like what we have.”

She felt him relax.

“I like it, too.”

“Good.” She raised herself on tiptoe and kissed him. “Now let’s wrap some presents.”

* * *

THURSDAY AFTER WORK Garrick drove up the mountain to watch football with his friends. As he navigated the route, he tried to settle his mind, but there was too much going on. Holly’s wedding was Saturday, Chandler was due back right after that, then Joylyn would be heading back to Phoenix to await the birth of her baby.

Garrick still wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He had some time off around the holidays. He supposed he would get a hotel room in Phoenix and spend Christmas there so he could be with Joylyn. It was the plan that made the most sense—only he didn’t want to be that far away from Wynn and Hunter.

Adding to the confusion was the fact that he couldn’t forget what she’d told him last night when they’d been wrapping presents.

She wanted to have more kids.

The statement had thrown him. He believed her when she said she wasn’t hinting at anything. Wynn was straightforward and open. She didn’t play games. Still, the statement had been unexpected, and he’d been unable to let it go.

Did she want kids with him? He believed she hadn’t been hinting, but still, they were a thing and he liked what they had together. And if so, how did he feel about that?

While he wasn’t opposed to marriage, he’d always assumed he wouldn’t do it again. His relationship with Sandy had been a disaster, for the two of them and for him and