Charlie came up for air and crawled up my body, stretching over my chest for a kiss. Luckily, he was content to peck at my lips and trace his tongue around my open mouth while I caught my breath. As soon as my vision returned to normal, Charlie covered my mouth completely and brushed his cum-covered tongue against mine as he fed me what was left of what I'd given him.
Running my hand down his back, I cupped his ass, sitting up and pulling him onto my lap as I moved. We kissed a little longer before finally breaking away.
His eyes were filled with adoration as he smiled, cupping his hands around my face before moving in for another kiss. This time, he rubbed his lips against mine while he slowly pulled away. "I love you, Lucian. So much."
"Charlie, my little beauty. I love you too, more than anything in the world. If I've never said the words, my mistake for worrying it was too soon. Everything else happened so fast. I wanted you to know I'd given my love time to grow appropriately, and my affections weren't completely pheromone-based."
"Your explanation sounds so silly when you say it out loud, but… I was doing the same thing."
We shared a laugh. Then I studied him closer. "What happened to make you say the words today?" I didn't think it had anything to do with his sadness about so many of his brothers leaving yesterday, but maybe their departure made him remember all over again how fast life can change. Which was why I should've said the words already, dammit.
"Don't overthink it, Lucian. And don't start getting protective or trying to carry me everywhere when I tell you this, okay?"
Lifting a brow, I searched his gaze. "Beauty, don't ask me to make a promise when I don't know why. The only thing I can swear is to do my best to restrain my inner caveman, fair enough?"
His instant reactionary giggle never failed to warm my heart. "Works for me. So I was already suspicious because my stomach has felt weird the last few days, and I've noticed some foods haven't been smelling right. Those are minor signs, but I was watching for them because Eli warned me true mates usually conceive immediately. And then Romeo touched my hand and dropped the bomb in the middle of breakfast."
My head was spinning again, this time for a much more important reason than a mere orgasm. "Charlie, are you saying what I think you are?"
"Yes, we're having a baby. I'll have to visit the doctor in Eli's pack to know how far along I am, but yeah. And if you don't mind spoilers, Romeo told me what we're having."
Rocking my head from side to side, I took a moment to consider it. Did I want to know? And more importantly, could I handle not knowing when Charlie did? Not to mention I'd be asking him to keep a pretty big secret for the next few months. Or at least until the first ultrasound. Putting either of us through so much was silly. Especially when my beauty was probably dying to tell Eli, if he hadn't already. Hell, his brothers all knew, so why not?
As if reading my mind, Charlie smiled regretfully. "I'm sorry my brothers found out before you. Romeo blurted it before he stopped to think. I hope you know you're the first person I'm officially telling. Heck, I even swore my brothers to secrecy. I planned to tell you last night while we were stargazing from our porch swing, but then my parents came over and stayed so long after dinner. We got caught up in conversation and missed our porch time.”
Even though I knew it was true, I loved hearing him refer to our porch time. In the three and a half weeks we'd been together, sitting on the porch before bed had become our tradition. We'd cuddle on the swing and drink a hot beverage while watching the stars. It was the most peaceful and glorious moment of my day, and I looked forward to it the minute my eyes opened in the mornings.
"Don't worry. You're telling me now. And yes, I definitely want to know what we're having. I don't want to make you keep a secret. Plus, we both know how nosy I am."
My joke got me another giggle. Charlie moved to whisper in my ear. "Congratulations, charming. We're having a girl."
And easy as pie, I fell in love