“I can hear two puppies inside her, maybe more. We’ll know more with an ultrasound,” he explains.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I’m gonna be a daddy,” I say again, holding my phone up so he can see Naomi’s message.
“Well, double congratulations are in order then,” the vet exclaims.
Dialing Naomi, I’ve never been happier to hear her voice. She’s crying and in a heartbeat, I feel like I am too.
“Marry me,” I tell her before she can say a word. I can’t even wait until I get home.
“Just. Marry me,” is all can say.
All I can feel is relief when she says yes.
I won’t have our child coming into the world without having a proper mommy and daddy.
A proper family.
Our family.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS LATER
Naomi
It was Parker’s idea to buy the dog salon from Sasha. At an inflated price to I might add, making up for the trouble I caused her from my first and last day working for her.
Things went real quiet for her business and one day Parker casually told me he’d bought the salon.
“It’s a win-win really,” he said. “Moose and the other guys are terrible when we bath them at home,” he reasoned, not that I needed convincing.
It’s something I always wanted to do.
At least it was until I fell pregnant again. Running the salon with little Cole on my hip and then being pregnant a second time, the strain was starting to show.
As swiftly as he set it all up, Parker announced I should hand over the reins to someone else to do the actual work.
“You want me all to yourself, barefoot and pregnant don’t you?” I ask him, making him grin as he reaches for me.
“And in gray sweats, T-shirt. No bra,” he says, making a low groaning sound as he runs his huge hands over me.
“We’ll need a bigger place soon enough anyway,” he adds, reminding me his mom’s place is empty now that she’s in a care facility.
True to form, little Cole wakes up and starts to wail from the back. A mini nursery set up where a storage room used to be.
It’s not long before the dogs start to howl too, a curious thing I’ve noticed whenever Cole squawks. Guaranteeing mommy and daddy never miss out on hearing when the baby’s in any distress.
“I’ll get him,” Parker offers, having just come by after finishing some of his own security work.
I won’t let him do anything where he’s at risk anymore, not like when he was a cop. So it’s mainly running the business side of things he likes to do a few days a week and only for a few hours at a time.
“May as well close up anyway,” I tell myself, flipping the sign on the door and collecting the mail, thumbing through it.
There’s an official looking letter and I feel my heart freeze for a moment. My hands shake a little once I read it.
It’s a notice telling me my ex-landlord has applied for bail and will most likely be released soon.
Parker comes back in, bouncing little Cole in the crease of his elbow.
“Honey, what is it?” he asks, full of concern.
“It’s nothing,” I shiver, folding the letter, pretending it doesn’t exist.
It’s not that I don’t want to tell Parker, I just don’t even want to think about that creepy landlord. That day when Parker rescued me.
It’s a double-edged sword though, looking back I realize it was the first day we met. When he came to pick up Moose.
He tactfully takes the letter and scans it before handing it back he reminds me of everything he promised me that day, as well as on our wedding day.
“For better or worse,” he reminds me, curling his free arm around my waist and kissing my forehead.
“I’ll make sure you never have to see him ever again,” he promises.
“It’s just a bit of a shock, that’s all,” I confess. Thinking I’d forgotten all about it but I never can because it’s how I met the man of my dreams.
Baby Cole gurgles and tucks his hand into his mouth, forcing it to curl into a smile.
“That’s my boy,” Parker whispers. “Turn that frown upside down.”
“Let’s go home, honey. If you’re not booked tomorrow we can drive up to mom’s old place. Do us both some good to get out of the city.”
“Maybe, just for the day,” I tell him. Suddenly feeling very pregnant, tired, and heavy.
The thought of moving houses on top of everything else doesn’t exactly thrill me. I’ve only really just gotten things in our place down here just the way we like it.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Parker says, reading me like a book.
“We could just stay home and do nothing instead?” he offers, pouting his lips and looking so innocent.
The face he makes when I know he’s having filthy thoughts.
“Not in front of the baby,” I caution him, poking my tongue out and then pecking his cheek.
Keeping a grip on me, I take Cole from him as he runs a hand over my belly.
“We’re gonna be fine,” he says softly. “All of us. Always. I promise,” he reminds me.
“Now, I’m thinking three cheese pizza as an entrée,” he announces, shifting the focus to an early dinner.
I know from experience that an early dinner means an early night for Cole.
And an early night for us too, not that much sleeping goes on when we get to bed early.
“And for the main course?” I ask, gnawing at my lip as I think of all my favorites. No weird cravings for this pregnant mommy, just carbs, carbs, and more carbs.
“Whatever you choose baby, whatever you choose,” he says hungrily, reminding me it’s dessert he’s more interested in.
“As long as it has you on top, I don’t mind,” I tease him playfully.
“Oh I’ll be all over you,” he promises. “On top, behind. On the side,” he tells me, kissing me in between each word before we realize little Cole’s fallen asleep.
Come to think of it, the whole place is quiet,
