is yes! Yes, I will make you the happiest woman in the whole fucking world and marry you!” Bodhi shouts, peppering the side of my face with kisses as I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hold on tight as he spins us. “It’s about damn time you asked. Oh my God, it was so embarrassing that all my girlfriends were getting engaged before me!”
All the strippers cheer again, Millie cranks the music back up, and Jason and Allie start popping champagne as Bodhi finally sets me back down on my feet, his arms still locked tightly around me as I reach up and brush his hair out of his eyes.
I open my mouth to tell him my one last surprise, when the sound of his cellphone ringing in his back pocket cuts me off. Bodhi lets go of me and takes a step back to pull the phone out, his mouth dropping open when he turns the screen so I can see it.
Dr. Wright Calling
“I’ll go outside and answer it.”
He starts to turn away, and I grab his arm to stop him as the celebration continues around us, glasses of champagne being clinked together.
“Just answer it.”
Bodhi waits two more rings before he realizes I’m serious and then presses the answer button. Plugging his ear with a finger to shut out the noise, he brings the phone up to his other ear.
I listen to Bodhi’s side of the conversation, watching him nod and say a few yeses and a couple of okays, and my heart starts pounding inside my chest, and I start having trouble breathing. I’m rubbing the heel of my palm against my rapidly beating heart and pressing my hand harder against my stomach to calm the butterflies, but it doesn’t work, and nothing can make me feel calm right now, because I know.
Bodhi’s nodding, and his eyes are getting bigger with every word the doctor says, and I know. I know what he’s telling Bodhi right now as his eyes fly to mine in a panic with something the doctor says, because I’ve known what was “wrong” with me for the last two months. I was just too scared to admit it.
I knew the first time I threw up. And the second time. And third, and fourth, and fifth. And I knew when I cried at a goddamn Hallmark movie, and when my mood swings almost made me light an entire rental car on fire when Taco Bell didn’t have what I wanted. I know what all of this bullshit is about, because…
“You’re pregnant,” Bodhi whispers, the phone slipping from his ear as his arm drops down to his side.
“I’m pregnant.” I shrug.
And all of a sudden, my heart starts beating normally again, the butterflies stop flapping, and I feel like I can breathe again when I say it out loud.
But now I can’t fucking see, because I’m crying so hard, and before I can complain about what a sissy I am, Bodhi’s hands are on my face, and he’s crashing his lips against mine. I wrap my arms tightly around his waist as he worships my mouth for a few minutes before taking his time making a trail with his lips up both my cheeks, kissing away the tears until he pulls back to look down at me.
“Are you okay? Do you want me to get you a knife?”
“I have a black soul, but it’s not that dark.”
“Not for you!” Bodhi laughs, shaking his head at me while he still holds my face in his hands. “I meant for me. You’re totally gonna kill me now for knocking you up, and I get it; I do. I just ask that you please refrain from using fire just this once, because honestly, that sounds like a really slow, agonizing way to die. If you love me, you’ll make it quick and painless.”
“If we’re being technical here, it’s super-fast and mostly painless, because the fire singes all the nerves and pain receptors, and then the adrenaline kicks in, which is always a good time.” I shrug.
“Well, I certainly feel much better now,” Bodhi nods.
Lifting up on my toes, I press my lips to his, holding them there for a few beats before pulling back. Bodhi rests his forehead against mine while Speedos start flying around the room when the champagne goes right to the strippers’ heads.
“We’re gonna have a baby,” Bodhi whispers in awe as he starts rocking us from side to side, and I tighten my