I winced, prepared for the jealous nature he’d alluded to. “I’m sure. I haven’t slept with anyone else for four months—more than four months.”
Ian stood beside me, set the bag on the couch and pulled me into his arms. “I never imagined I could be a father.” He took my hands in his and kissed my knuckles. “I’ve never acted so carelessly before, and I have no excuse for my behavior other than the fact you overload my senses—the way you look, the way you smell, the way you feel, the way you taste. I can’t seem to get enough of you. When I saw the magic in you, I never considered this might be an eventuality.”
He stopped to take a breath. “Please tell me you want this baby as much as I do. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that you were my future. I’ve already made my feelings clear to you, I hope, and Brynn—oh, Brynn—I do hope you feel the same, as crazy as it all seems.”
I smiled and nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks. I laughed. “I seem to be awfully weepy lately, along with a dozen other symptoms I wasn’t paying attention to.”
“We have so many plans to make.” He kissed me and eased me onto the sofa. “Tell me what you want to do. Whether it’s here, or in Pratt, or somewhere else altogether, and we can build our life. Together.”
I pressed my lips to his. “I’m in.”
I woke in Ian’s arms some time later, sated and content, my ear to his chest.
“I have no cousins,” Ian said, his voice rumbling. “No siblings. I always believed the family legacy would end with me.” He kissed the top of my head. “If your cousin’s wife could enrich her line, perhaps our child...”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “Let’s not place that burden on an unborn child, a child we aren’t even sure exists yet.”
He sighed. “Apparently, I was something of a prodigy. While my father was excited about the prospect, my mother was frightened and chose denial as her coping mechanism. She refused to have another baby she didn’t understand.”
“That’s not uncommon, from what I’ve seen, which is why what we share is such a burden. When someone is different than everyone else, they are isolated. I don’t want my child to be isolated.”
“Don’t you see? It already has at least one cousin who understands, and it will have you and me.” Ian hugged me tight.
I laughed. “We don’t even know for sure if I’m pregnant.”
“You said you had symptoms, aside from the interruption to your magic.”
“Or it’s nerves, or even PMS,” I said. “With all the changes going on in my life...”
Ian turned to meet my gaze. “Baby or no baby, I want to be with you. Tell me how you envision our future.”
He was giving me the power, not dictating how he wanted our life together to be. My heart kicked hard. “First, I sell this house. The folly is kind of quirky, but how much fun is it, when you’re different, to live in a different kind of place?”
He grinned. “Exactly. That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to sell it when my uncle died.”
“Are we talking about marriage?” I asked.
“It’s a commitment I’d like to make,” he replied. “To you. To the world. I hope you’re willing to do the same. I realize its only words, but it’s a promise for the future. Our future. Together.”
I nodded.
“If the test comes back positive, to my way of thinking, we should get married sooner rather than later,” he added.
A thrill of excitement propelled me out of bed, a thrill I’d never experienced when Kyle insisted I marry him. “I don’t need something big or fancy. Cassandra would stand up for me. Do you have a friend you want to invite? If not, I’m sure Lucas would be a second witness for us. And Nora. Nora would have to be there.” I stopped. “I can’t leave Lisa out.”
“My parents, too.”
“At the folly,” I said.
“I’d marry you tomorrow,” he said. “If that’s what you want.”
Again, I laughed. “Your parents will need more than a day to make arrangements.”
“I’ll call them now and see when they can make the trip.”
I kissed Ian. “Let’s wait until morning, and then we’ll have a better idea of how much time we have to work with.”
That sobered him. “That day in the woods was what? Two weeks ago? Will the test be accurate this early? How late are you?”
“The tests says three days from the first missed period. I was due August 29. Tomorrow will be the third day.”
He leapt out of bed and wrapped his arms around me. “Somehow I don’t think we’ll be getting much sleep tonight.”
I laughed. “That seems to be a pattern when we spend the night together.”
“Do you mind? The way I crave you?” he asked.
“I don’t mind, although I’m not sure what I think matters. Nature seems to be having a good laugh at our expense, sort of a chemistry experiment.” I leaned into him. “We’ve proven we react to each other.”
“Spontaneous combustion.” He threw his hands in the air in a mock explosion.
“Then we might as well combust some more while we’re waiting for morning.”
Chapter 39
After waiting the prescribed time, I picked up the stick on my bathroom sink, my hands shaking. Ian hovered at the door, clutching his hands together.
I closed my eyes briefly and let out a slow breath, then checked the results—and dropped the stick. Spots danced across my vision and I was lightheaded, grabbing the sink for balance. Ian set one hand on my shoulder and retrieved the stick.
“Did you see the results?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Is two lines good or bad?”
A nervous laugh escaped. “That depends on your definition of good and bad.” I turned to face him. “Two lines is positive.”
He set the test on the sink and hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe. When he pulled away, his
