it to hit me that he’s okay. For a second there, I thought there was something wrong with him. “So he’s fine? And the little girl, how’s she?”
Zach pats me on the shoulder and then pulls it back quickly. “Shit… shoot, Terry threatened me not to touch you. Sorry. He’s fine. The little girl must be okay because she wasn’t at the hospital anymore.”
Then my phone dings and it’s Terry. Zach is on his way. I didn’t want you to have to drive. I’ll meet you at the picnic. Tell me if he touches you.
“Fuck… I mean shoot, tell him I didn’t touch you,” Zach says over my shoulder. He must be reading my text.
I pocket my phone and start loading Zach up with goodies because I’m ready to get to my man.
Zach drives like an old lady the whole way across town.
“Why are you driving so slow?”
He smirks. “Are you kidding? Terry threatened my ass – I mean butt – with some bullcrap about special cargo. Do this, Zach, don’t do this… I mean damn, sorry darn, if this is what it’s like with a woman it’s no wonder I don’t want one. Geez.”
I smile across the car at him. He’s a big man, tattoos up and down his arms. Handsome, nothing like Terry, but he’s handsome. Younger than Terry and me. He obviously hasn’t met the one yet. I hope I’m around when he does.
As soon as he parks, which seems like a million years later, I bolt from the car. Zach tells me he’ll carry in my desserts. I’m sure it’s because he wants to sneak a few more, but I really don’t care. I saw Terry’s truck in the parking lot and I know he’s already here.
I wave at a few people I recognize. The other day I was thinking that I didn’t want to come because it’s still awkward sometimes being around everyone. But honestly, they’ve all been kind to me.
I stop walking and look around, finally putting my eyes on him. He’s bent down on one knee with his arms around a little girl. After he hugs her, he stands up and is still smiling down at her. The mother reaches out and touches his shoulder. A pain hits me, right in the gut. I rub my hand across my stomach trying to soothe it. I’ve never felt jealously like this. I want to walk over to him, but I don’t. I stand here and watch until I see Terry take a step back, forcing the woman to drop her hand from him.
The smile on my face is instant and I start walking over to them. When I get close, the mother and daughter walk away after saying bye to him.
Terry instantly smiles at me and opens his arms. Walking into them, I hold on to him. We stand there for a few minutes, satisfied just being in each other’s arms.
“Was that the little girl you saved last night?” I ask him, propping my chin on his chest and looking up at him. My stomach is swollen between us, but I can’t fight this need of being close to him.
He blushes. “How did you know about that?”
“Zach told me.”
He nods his head. “Yep, that was her.”
I turn my head to the side and rest my cheek on his chest. “Her mom is pretty.”
He freezes underneath me. When he tilts away from me so he can look into my face, he bends down to say, “Not as pretty as my wife.”
I take a deep breath then. Waiting on Terry to get home last night, I finally realized that I needed to tell him how I felt. He deserves to know. “Terry, there’s something I have to tell you.”
I grunt, rubbing my stomach.
His eyes get big and he looks down at my hand on my belly. “Are you okay?”
I nod my head at him. Honestly, I feel pretty lousy, but nothing is going to stop me from saying this to him.
“I love you, Terry.” I look around at all his friends, “brothers” and their families, and then back up to him. “I know this isn’t the best place to break it to you and I don’t expect you to say it back, but I had to tell you.”
He’s not smiling. He’s looking at me so intently, I begin to wonder if I shouldn’t have kept it to myself. “Say it again,” he demands.
I tilt my head to the side. Reaching up, I wrap my hand around