“I think he will be very mindful of how he speaks to this very pregnant, very hormonal lady.”
“Does this very pregnant, very hormonal lady want to celebrate this pay check with a tender romp in the sheets?” he asked innocently.
She laughed hard and threw a pillow at him. “Nice try playing the gentleman.”
He was moving over her already, hands feeling for every inch of her skin as he pressed kisses on her mouth. “You don’t like the gentleman side to me?”
“I prefer the greasy man in overalls,” she managed between the kisses.
“Shall I put them on?”
“Yes, please.”
“On one condition?”
She pulled back to look at him. “Yes?”
“You have to play the damsel in distress.”
“Oh, God,” she groaned, face growing red.
“Yes, dove, put on a dress. Your car’s just broken down and you’ve called the town’s mercurial mechanic, but he’s got a huge cock and you like getting fired up at him.”
As she died on the inside, laughing hard because he’d snooped her Kindle and read a few pages he ought not to have of her latest mechanic romance, he rested his hand on her belly, grinning at the feel of his baby moving.
“I love you, Charlotte,” he declared just then, unable to keep his smile intact.
She looked back at him, glowing with love. “I love you, Conor Thames.”
Charlotte threw a huge dinner that evening. Megan came with Lily. In tow was Jem and a piece of temporary fluff on the side. He’d tried to start dating again, but Thames could tell by the way he barely paid attention to the girl that it wasn’t going anywhere.
Reid had stopped by to drop Kane off, and now Kane and Penny were chasing after Dozer the Pitbull, still a clumsy puppy with too much energy.
“When’s this baby coming out?” Jem asked Charlotte, hassling her with a teasing grin as he sat down.
Charlotte was wearing a beautiful white summer dress. It accentuated her bump. She was glowing under the summer sun. She strode around the outdoor glass dining table and settled a couple salad bowls down in the centre.
Letting out a tired sigh, she said, “The baby’s head down. Everything’s looking good but…she’s not moving.”
She.
Another girl.
Thames couldn’t have been happier at the news.
“There are ways to speed that along,” Megan said, putting down a tray of chicken roast.
“Oh, I know,” Thames cut in, smiling devilishly at Charlotte as she took a seat next to him. “We’ve found some…useful techniques, wouldn’t you say, dove?”
Charlotte avoided meeting his eye as she returned with, “Hardly useful if they’re not working, right, Conor?”
“I’ll try harder.”
Chuckles erupted around the table.
Lily reached over and felt Charlotte’s bump. “I can’t wait until I know what that feels like.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” Jem muttered under his breath, giving her a stink eye. “Not for another decade, at least.”
Lily glared at him and then at the girl he was sitting with. “Just because you don’t want kids ever, doesn’t mean we should all never have them, Jem.”
The girl he was with – Diane was her name? – whipped her face in Jem’s direction. “You don’t want kids?”
Jem gnashed his teeth, glaring at Lily. “Some people shouldn’t have kids.”
“Like you?” the date pressed.
The silence was fucking awkward.
Thames grinned into his glass of water. Charlotte found a spot on the table to stare at. Lily looked chuffed with herself as she took a bite of chicken.
“Like me,” Jem eventually answered, forcing a smile at his date. “But I like dogs.”
Diane didn’t respond. She miserably began to eat and Jem noticed Thames’ smiling face and shrugged helplessly.
Thames returned that look with one that read, Might as well abandon that sinking ship.
Jem answered to that with, “I’m also thinking about buying a boat.”
And just like that, Diane was crossed off the list of prospective girlfriends.
Poor Jem.
But the dinner wasn’t dead. Jem once again dived into his storytelling, and this time when everyone laughed, Thames found himself laughing too. He was present. He was here, in the now, cherishing these people.
Charlotte laughed so hard, she muttered, “I think I peed myself.”
And then she went tense and looked horrifically at Thames.
“Conor,” she whispered in alarm, “I think that’s actually my water breaking.”
Charlotte
Remember when I went to sleep every night and my dreams consisted of Conor being there for me when I had our baby?
In that dream, I was so sure it was Penny. In that dream, he’d taken me to the hospital. He’d held my hand, whispering loving words in my ear as I screamed in pain and pushed.