emphasis.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m using it to reflect the magnitude of my love.”
She nods, giggles, and backs away. “What about you? Are smoke jumping and firefighting your true calling?”
“I can’t say I’ve thought about smoke jumping as a long-term career. I love it, but as I get older, I might not be able to keep doing it. Plus when I have a family, I’m not sure I want to be away as much as the job requires. I guess I’ll have to go to full-time firefighter at some point.”
“And always Anchorage FD?”
“I think so. Lake Starlight is way too slow.”
She nods and turns her attention to Palmer. “I need a baby fix.”
She takes Palmer from my arms and sits cross-legged on the couch rocking the baby. I don’t say so, but watching her with Palmer these past two weeks has slayed me. The fact that Stella’s given up all her freedom to help with Palmer has only made me love her more. And watching the way Stella makes faces at her, always pretends to be sad when she’s sad, or happy when she’s happy… for the first time in ever, I’ve given thought to what kind of father I’ll be. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I know one thing for sure—I want Stella to be the mother of my children.
Unfortunately, I also registered the lack of enthusiasm on her face when I said I wouldn’t transfer to Lake Starlight. It’s the first blip of dissatisfaction I’ve seen from her in the past two weeks. Then again, we haven’t talked about me doing anything dangerous in that time. The Alaska Expedition Race isn’t happening because Samantha and Tank got their own group and I wasn’t doing it without Denver. But in two weeks, I’m doing the speed riding excursion with Tim and Tank. Samantha is a little salty she can’t join in, but she said she’ll train for next year. It will be the first time since we’ve been together that I’m doing something Stella deems too risky, and I can’t deny I’m worried everything we’ve built is gonna go straight to hell.
Sedona comes out of her bedroom. “You guys. You can’t keep taking care of her. I have to do this myself.” She sits in a chair, yawning and pulling her knees to her chest.
“Who says that?” Stella asks. “Who says you have to do this all yourself? Everyone says it takes a village to raise a baby. We’re your village right now, so just sleep.” I raise my eyebrows at Stella, so she says, “What?”
“There’s that bossy side of you I love so much.”
“Ew… is that foreplay, King? Gross. I’m never having sex again.” Sedona lays her head on the back cushion.
I grab the remote from Stella and flick through the channels, crossing over a different sports channel. There’s Jamison’s face front and center once again. The report says that he’s been in an accident in his hometown in Scotland. I look at Sedona and see that she’s sitting up straighter in her chair.
“She has his eyes,” Sedona says, not even paying attention to the report that says he was intoxicated while driving. “And his nose.” She looks at us. “Do you know how hard it is to look at her and see him? Why couldn’t she have gotten all the Bailey genes?”
Sedona breaks down and Stella hands me Palmer, making room for herself on the chair to hold Sedona. “Her mouth is all you. Plus she’s going to change so much as she grows. You’ll see more you than him.”
I have no idea if Stella is telling the truth or not, but it appeases Sedona because she stands, wiping the tears from her face, and walks over to take Palmer from me.
“You two go out to dinner or something. You weren’t the idiots who didn’t use protection and got pregnant.” She shuts her bedroom door without another word.
I hate seeing her like this. Sedona has always been a person who looks at the positive side of things and lately she’s seemed really down.
Stella crawls into my lap. “I hate that she’s so upset. This should be a happy time for her.”
I cock an eyebrow. “People say that the first two weeks of having a baby is a happy time? Really?”
She laughs. “I guess not, but he should be here to help her.”
I nod. He better watch out if he ever shows his ass in this town again. “Let’s go to dinner tonight. I’ll get us into