Until The End Part 26

Krit When we're old and we have to tell the story to our kids and grandkids about how I asked Blythe to marry me, I'll have to come up with a PG version to share with them. But d.a.m.n, the x-rated version was so much better.

Blythe's dark hair was curled around her shoulders and splayed across my chest as she slept in my arms. After I had loved my girl thoroughly on the sofa, I'd picked her up and brought her in here to do it again. We constantly had hot, wild s.e.x where she clawed me and I talked dirty to her. But it wasn't often I took my time and let her know just how she had changed my life. How loving her was the best d.a.m.n thing that had ever happened to me.

I decided I liked it. A f.u.c.king lot.

She was exhausted now and curled up in my arms. This was a perfection I never wanted to lose. I'd fight my entire life to keep it. Reaching for her left hand, I took the ring in my hand and slipped it onto the delicate finger that I'd sucked on earlier.

Blythe's eyes fluttered and finally opened. She wasn't looking at me but at her hand, now displaying the ring I had picked out just for her. Only her.

Grinning, I watched as she held her hand up and tilted her hand, watching the diamond sparkle against the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

She bit her bottom lip, and a smile tugged on her lips when she finally turned her eyes to me. "Yes, yes, yes," she said, then giggled.

"You already told me yes, love," I said as I bent my head to kiss her lips.

"I like saying it," she replied.

I paused. "Really? 'Cause I can think of a lot of things I'd like you to say yes to. Might start testing that theory real soon."

"Yes," she repeated.

My life was going to be f.u.c.king amazing.

Dewayne and Sienna from Hold On Tight Dewayne A sound no man wants to wake up to jerked me out of my sleep. As I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up, the sickening hurl came again. Throwing back the covers, I jumped up and ran to the bathroom to find Sienna holding her hair back as she hugged the toilet.

I moved fast, grabbing a cloth and wetting it while reaching to take Sienna's hair for her so she could hold the toilet with both hands. I gave the cloth a one-handed squeeze.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked, frustrated that she'd been in here throwing up all alone.

"Don't. You don't want to see this," she said with a groan.

"You're right I don't want to see you sick, but I sure as f.u.c.k ain't gonna let you be sick alone."

She eased away from the toilet. I reached over and flushed, then dropped to my knees and started cleaning her face with the cloth in my hands. She was pale but she had a relieved look in her eyes as she gave me a small smile.

"Thanks. I'm better now. I just woke up and went to make coffee, and when I smelled it, I got sick," she said, then dropped her eyes as if she couldn't look at me.

I stood up and reached down to help her get up too. "Let's get you back to bed. I'll call Hillary and tell her you won't be in today."

She shook her head. "No. I have two colors and some extensions to do today. I'm good. I'll be fine."

I dropped the cloth in the laundry basket and took her over to the sink with my arm still around her. "You just threw up, babe. You're not fine. Go ahead and brush your teeth. Then you can go back to bed. I'll put a trash can beside the bed. Once I get Micah to school, I'll let them know I can't come in today and I'll be here."

Sienna had a superwoman syndrome. Being a single mom so young and having no one to help her, she had learned to make it through s.h.i.t like this alone. I was learning I had to force my hand with her. She would try to keep going when she had a fever. Once the crazy woman had tried to go back to work the day after she'd had her wisdom teeth taken out. No one does that.

"Seriously. I am fine. I . . . I'm good."

"You are contagious. If you go to work, you'll get all those people sick. They'd rather not get their hair done today than get your stomach virus. I promise."

The only way to deal with her was to point out how her decision affected others. She cared about everyone else. She just thought she could fight through anything.

"I'm not," she argued.

I put the toothpaste on her brush, then handed it to her. "Get the nasty taste out of your mouth. I'll go buy you a new toothbrush today." I was done arguing with her.

She took it obediently and brushed her teeth. I filled a cup of water and handed it to her so she could rinse. While she brushed, she kept looking up at me nervously.

Once she was done, she set the gla.s.s down. "I'm going to work," she repeated. "I am fine. It was a . . . I'm not sick. I'm fine now."

Ignoring her, I put my hand on her back and gently nudged her toward the bedroom. "I had Micah pack his lunchbox last night. It's ready to go and in the fridge. We got this. Go to bed."

When we got to the bed, she spun around and t.i.tled her head back so she could look me in the eyes. "Dewayne. I'm not sick. . . . I'm pregnant."

I stood there.

I didn't have words.

I wasn't sure if I was actually awake yet.

Sienna was waiting on me to speak. I needed to.

Me not saying anything was going to worry her.

I forced myself to breathe, then managed to form words. "Pregnant?"

She nodded and gave me a nervous smile. "I was late. I took a test last week. I actually took four tests. I am for sure pregnant. I have a doctor's appointment next week. I thought I would wait until then to tell you. But just like with Micah, I got sick early. I get sick in the mornings. And then only when I smell certain things. Today it was coffee. Tomorrow it may be pancakes. I never know."

She was pregnant. With my baby. We were going to have a baby. "A baby," I said, not knowing what else to say.

We had Micah, my nephew, but I hadn't been there for him when he was a baby. I had missed those years. We all had. My parents. My brother. Me. But now . . . we were going to have a baby.

Emotion clenched my chest, and I felt my throat get tight. Reaching for Sienna, I pulled her to my chest and held on. My heart was beating so d.a.m.n hard I was afraid it would break free if I didn't calm down.

But a baby!

Holy h.e.l.l! I was going to have a baby.

"Does this mean you're happy about it? I know we aren't married yet, and we have been planning the wedding and stuff."

Was I happy about it? Was she crazy? I couldn't believe she had to ask me that.

"Babe, I've not been happier in my life," I said, my voice thick with emotion. I tucked his face into the curve of her neck and held on.

"We're gonna have a baby," I repeated in awe.

Sienna laughed and cupped the back of my head with her hands. "Yeah. We are."

"Who's having a baby? Us?" Micah's sleepy voice asked, and we both jerked. I turned around to see Micah in his Miami Heat pajamas. His hair was sticking up all over, and he was squinting at us like he hadn't been able to open his eyes fully yet.

Sienna moved around me fast and went to him. She bent down and kissed his cheek. "Good morning, handsome."

He put his little arms around her and hugged her. "Are we having a baby? Is one in your tummy?" he asked again, his eyes more alert now as he looked at his mother.

This was one of those moments when I had no answer. I wasn't sure how Micah would take this news. I wanted him to be as excited as I was.

Sienna grabbed his little hands in hers and gave him that smile that was full of love and rea.s.surance. "Yes. We're going to have a baby. You'll get to be a big brother. Do you like that idea?"

Micah's eyes went round. "For real? Can it be a boy? I want to teach him to play basketball, and then he can play in my room."

Sienna chuckled. "We don't know what it will be. We don't get to pick that. If we did, I'd pick a little boy just like you because I love you so much. But whatever we get, we will love it."

Micah thought about that for a minute, and then he frowned. "Will this baby call you Dad?" he asked me, this time looking thoughtful.

I needed Sienna to bail me out here. I wasn't sure answering yes to this was what he needed right now. Or if we were supposed to ease him into the fact.

"Yes, the baby will call him Dad."

Micah didn't look at his mother when she answered. He kept looking at me. Then he puffed up his chest like he was pulling courage from deep inside. "Can . . . can I call you Dad too?"

I wasn't a crying man. Tears didn't come easy for me. But in that moment the room went blurry and I had to blink to clear my vision. Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes and I sniffed. "Yeah, bud. You can call me Dad too," I managed to choke out.

Sienna glanced back at me, and I knew the surprise on her face wasn't because I had told Micah yes. It was because a tear was rolling down my face.

Sienna My emotions were already raw. The hormones in my body had hit pregnancy insaneness. So seeing my bigger-than-life man cry over the fact that his nephew had just asked to call him Dad was too much.

I burst into tears and covered my mouth on a sob. I felt Micah's little hand on my back instantly. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to upset you. I don't have to call him Dad."

I shook my head and gasped for a breath. "No. Yes. I mean, I want you to call him Dad if that's what you want. I'm just happy. These are happy tears. I'll do a lot of this while the baby is in my stomach. I did it with you, too."

Dewayne's big form closed in on us, and he bent down and pulled both me and Micah into his arms.

"We have our work cut out for us, bud. She's gonna be a handful," Dewayne teased, and Micah giggled.

Dewayne held us like that for several minutes. It was perfect.

Micah was late for school and I was late for work. But Micah and Dewayne had decided that they needed to fix me breakfast, and then they decided they needed to pack my lunch. It was cute. But if they tried to smother me like this for nine months, I would have to put a stop to it. My eating toast and drinking orange juice was not the most important thing in the world.

I didn't want to tell Hillary or the others at the salon yet. I was just now getting used to the idea that Dewayne and Micah knew. Ever since the sticks had shown me those two lines, I hadn't been able to accept it. My last experience with pregnancy had been bad. Really bad.

My boyfriend was dead, and my parents had shipped me off from my home to live with my aunt, who had treated me like a mere acquaintance. I had made it through morning sickness all on my own. No one had held my hair back and washed my face. No one had made me breakfast and packed my lunch. Those weren't things I had even thought about. Until now.

Micah had been mine. I had suffered through the bad times to be gifted with a beautiful baby boy who made fighting worth it. We had made it together.

Seeing Dewayne and him working together and talking about the baby and taking care of me this morning touched something in me I couldn't explain. I knew we were a family now, that our two had become three. And I loved having Dewayne in our little world. He made it complete.

The idea of having Dewayne's baby and knowing I wouldn't be alone, that he would be there through everything, almost scared me. Or it did scare me. Because it made me want that so much that I was afraid of losing it.

Dewayne I held Micah's hand in mine as we walked across the street to see my parents. After picking him up from school today, I had taken him to one of the shops in town that had baby stuff. I had given him the mission to find something for the baby that we could give to his grandparents. He was supposed to hold on to the gift that was tucked in the brown bag until his mother got there.

It was Tuesday night dinner with my parents. Momma lived for Tuesdays, and for Sundays, when we came over to eat lunch. Micah made it over there for cookies almost every afternoon, but she liked having all of us together.

When she saw the ring on Sienna's hand the first time, she burst into tears and clapped, then went to hugging the breath out of Sienna. I could only imagine what her reaction to this would be. Sure, we weren't married yet, but I was dealing with that tomorrow. I wanted to enjoy this news first before pushing up the date of the wedding. I wasn't waiting another two months. I wanted Sienna to be my wife now.

"When will Momma be here?" Micah asked as we walked up the steps to the house.

"In about"-I paused as Sienna's car pulled into the driveway-"now," I finished.

Micah made a whooping noise and let go of my hand to run over to her. "Guess what we got!"

Sienna smiled at him as she stepped out of the car. Her hair was pulled up in a knot at her neck, and the deep scoop of her top gave me a sweet little flash as she bent down to hug Micah.

"I know what you got. Dewayne texted me a picture of it. Very good choice," she said, kissing his face, then lacing her fingers through his before standing back up to look at me.

Her smile turned soft and s.e.xy. That was the smile that was mine alone. No one else got that smile. And they never f.u.c.king would.

"You ready for this?" she asked me as they walked over to join me.

I chuckled. "Yeah. They're gonna be thrilled."

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. "Need to kiss both my fellas when I get home."

Micah groaned and then pulled on her arm. "Let's go!"

Momma had already seen us coming. The door swung open, and she came out onto the porch, beaming at us as she waved us inside. "Come on in here, y'all."

Micah let go of Sienna's hand and took off up the stairs and straight into the house.

"He's so anxious to tell them," Sienna whispered beside me.

"You should have see him deciding what to buy," I told her.

She laughed softly, then laid her head on my shoulder. "Thank you. I want him to feel involved. Like this is his baby too."

"It is," I a.s.sured her.

"Stop. You're gonna make me cry again," she said, slapping my chest, then kissing my cheek again.

"Stop kissing and get in this house," Momma said as we reached the door. She was smiling from ear to ear as she said it.

"They do that all the time," Micah piped up. "Makes us late for everything."

"Hey, now. Don't be telling on us," I scolded him, then winked.

"Can we give it to them now?" Micah asked, waving the bag around.

Momma's smile turned to a confused one.