no hiding the overwhelming hope in his tone. The baby kicked again in the same spot, and I choked out a laugh covering my mouth with a hand to keep from sobbing.
Because I’d felt this baby in my soul since the day those two pink lines had shown up, but watching Nixon finally, fully connect?
World shattering.
“You’re so strong,” he said to my tummy, delight dancing in his eyes as he remained on his knees. “God, Liberty, she’s incredible.” He rested his forehead against my stomach, seeming very well content to kneel there forever.
I raked my fingers through his hair, sucking in a sharp breath as I glanced at the nursery he’d created for our baby. The travel and adventure and football all combined together in a seamless mixture of the best pieces of us.
Nixon and me, and the baby between us.
“Thank you,” he whispered, keeping his head against my stomach.
“I love you,” I said, the words light and heavy at the same time. God, did I love this man, love his child. So much I felt it in every pore of my body.
Nixon shifted, slowly standing until I had to arch my neck to meet his gaze. He cupped my cheeks, his eyes open and raw and real as he looked down at me.
“I love you, Liberty. So damn much.” Then he slanted his mouth over mine, claiming me, body and soul, with those words, with his kiss.
And he didn’t stop, not even when I moaned between his lips, when I rocked against him, or when I’d taken him to the floor and rode him.
He didn’t stop touching me, loving me.
And I was certain I never wanted him to.
17
Nixon
“You are not going to believe this!” I called out, wiping the sweat from my forehead as I walked into the living room. My chest heaved as I caught my breath since Mom had interrupted my six-mile run in the middle of the fourth mile.
But apparently, I was talking to myself, since Liberty wasn’t on the couch, where she usually sat with a book while I finished my early morning run. She’d been there when I headed down to the gym, but she wasn’t in the kitchen, or the dining room, either.
Huh. Tuesday mornings had become sacred to us. They were the only time we were both guaranteed to be home since it was my day off, and she didn’t have her internship until after lunch.
What if—
Stop.
I shut my brain down and counted to three instead of jumping to the worst-case scenario. If something had happened with the baby, she would have come and gotten me. She was probably in the shower.
Now that was a thought that brought a smile to my face.
I took the stairs two at a time, and opened our bedroom door, ready to sneak my way into the shower, but the shower wasn’t running.
Liberty stood in the middle of our bedroom with her phone up to her ear, nodding. When she saw me come in, a giant grin spread across her face, and her eyes lit up. “That’s absolutely not a problem.”
Whatever it was, it had to be good news. Hopefully telling her Mom had already booked her flight for the day after New Years wasn’t going to ruin whatever she had going on. I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the doorframe as she finished the last few seconds of her phone call. Our Halloween costumes hung in the doorway of the closet, ready for tonight’s Raptor party.
“I’m…I’m just honored and so excited! Thank you! I won’t let you down!” She hung up and held her phone to her chest for a heartbeat. The excitement coming off her was so intense it was almost palpable. “This is the best day ever!” She ran across the room, still sporting her pajamas, and flew into my arms.
I caught her and smiled into the kiss she planted on my lips. She was a shot of liquid sunshine, completely and utterly infectious in her joy. “Good news, I take it?”
She nodded. “I got the internship!”
“That’s great!” A second later, confusion set in. “I thought you already got the internship you wanted?” Shit, was I that bad at paying attention?
“I did!” She looped her arms around my neck. “Same company, dream location!”
I schooled my features. “You got the one you initially wanted? The one that’s out of town?” Be happy for her, jackass. So what if you have to commute a little.
She snort-laughed. “A little out of town. Ha!”