Loving Kate (Acceptance #3) (32 page)

“
Because
you are worth it
. Jessica, you are worth that and so much more. But I’m tired of walking the line. Let me in,
please.
Let me love
you
like you
deserve
to be
loved
.”

“I don’t know if I can, and even if I did, you probably won’t want me anymore anyway.” She’s so self-deprecating.

“I will
always
want you. All day I’ve been trying to figure out a way to convince you to let me in. I’m not romantic like Daniel or extremely PDA like Jake. I’m not a bad boy like Mike. I’m just me. A little bit funny, a lot sarcastic, and one hundred percent
in love
with my angel.”

She stills completely and I’m sure I’ve lost her.

“Connor, I’m pregnant.”

That was totally
not
what I was expecting her to say. She turns and faces me. “Did you hear what I said?”

We’re going to have a baby.

Hell fucking yes! We’re going to have a baby. 

My hands reach up, pulling her face to mine. She’s so close, our lips are touching as I whisper, “We’re having a baby.”

She nods, her tears falling onto my cheeks. Pulling her closer, I close the gap between us. Tenderly kissing her, trying to get close but still not feeling close enough, her mouth parts for me and my tongue duels with hers. I’m trying to prove to her with this kiss that I’m not going anywhere.

She sobs out my name through the kiss, “Connor.”

Slowly, I pull back, softly tugging on her lip before releasing her. My hands immediately go to her belly.

“A baby, Jess?” She nods. “How far along?”

“Not too far, about six weeks. The doctor says end of February or beginning of March.”

I drop back to my knees and rub her belly. “Marry me.” It just flies out of my mouth but I’ve never wanted anything more.

She surprises me when she laughs. “Connor, that is so cliché. You’re not marrying me because you knocked me up.”

“Jessica Smythe, I don’t want to marry you because I knocked you up. I want to marry you because for weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how I could get you to understand that I love you and I’m past the fun stage.”

“Can we compromise?” she asks sweetly, and I give her a look that tells her I’m not one to compromise much. “Let’s move in together. If everything goes well, and I can learn to love you the way that
you
deserve to be loved, after the baby comes, I’ll marry you.”

It’s not bad. We don’t really need to rush into marriage but I don’t want some other douchebags hitting on her while she’s pregnant. There are lots of kinky fuckers out there that don’t care. “On two conditions,” I say as I plant kisses on her belly.

“Let’s hear them.” She already sounds so much happier.

“You let me buy you an engagement ring. We’re moving forward with positive thoughts that this
will
work out. You are not going to think or say the word
if
ever again when it comes to us. Only will. We
will
work out, we
will
have a baby cuter than Hailey, we
will
get married, we
will
be deeply and devastatingly in love with each other for the rest of our lives. See how easy that is?”

“Okay, but what’s the second condition?”

I flash her the biggest panty dropping smile I’ve got for this one. “That you and I go back into that wedding and tell everyone we’re having a baby.”

She shakes her head. “It’s their big day.”

I take her hand and pull her to a standing position. “It’s ours, too. We gave up our party for theirs. I think we can go spread some joy. Besides, Kate would kill you for keeping it a secret any longer.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Kate

All the first dances are out of the way and my dad and I actually seemed like we bonded a little over ours. He was really happy to see me wearing my mom’s necklace, too. He made sure to point out he would have happily walked me down the aisle but after everything that has happened, he figured Mike deserved the honor just as much as he did. I think my heart opened up a little bit wider to him in that moment.

He and Claire are also very excited to have the grandkids visit and are hoping for more from both of us soon. Now it’s time to cut the cake but I don’t see Jess and Connor anywhere. I’d hate for them to miss it but we are apparently on a schedule. As soon as Daniel’s hand covers mine and we start cutting the cake, she appears magically by my side, smiling bigger than I’ve seen in a very long time.

Daniel got my favorite cake from the Bread Basket Bakery turned into a wedding cake big enough to feed two hundred people. Right before he feeds me a piece, he whispers in my ear, “As much as I want to smash this cake all over your face, I’m not going to because then I wouldn’t be able to help myself from cleaning it all up with my tongue.”

So yeah, I’m ready to get out of here
now
. Thankfully, this is the last thing we have to do tonight. Jess and Connor shoot us hand signals from across the room to meet them outside. Daniel looks at me and shrugs but I hurry him along because I’m curious to see what they have to say.

“Did you guys finally work things out?” Daniel asks Connor who looks at Jess and she nods.

“Well, I laid my heart on the line and told her how in love with her I am.”

“And…” I push for him to get on with it.

“And she told me she’s pregnant.”

I might have screamed really loud and drawn a lot of unnecessary attention to myself. Then when I started hugging Jess within an inch of her life and screaming “oh my god” over and over a few times, it might not have helped any. Connor laughs at us when he finishes man-hugging Daniel.

“You know, Kate, you’re lucky we were coming to ask your permission to tell tonight because now it’s
your
fault we have to tell everyone.” I’m blushing eleventy bazillion shades of red as I turn around and realize almost the entire wedding is now surrounding us outside of the tent.

“What is going on, you guys? Jesus, Kate, we can hear you squealing all the way in the bathroom. We thought something was wrong,” Mike says, out of breath.

“No, something is very, very, right!” I squeal in excitement.

Connor climbs up on a chair after Daniel hands him a microphone. He’s really going to do this up. “Sorry for the disturbance, everyone, but the bride just found out her best friend Jessica is having my baby!”

There is an enormous round of cheers and for the first time tonight, someone other than the two of us is the center of attention. 

“Do you want to make a break for it?” I nod eagerly. “Follow me around the corner.”

Okay, that’s odd.

Daniel takes a quick look around and crawls under my dress, his hand sliding up until he finds what he’s looking for. Then suddenly, I feel his teeth scraping against my skin on the way down. When he comes back up for air he’s got the garter between his teeth.

“I’ve been dying to do that all night. Come on. We’re going to do a very untraditional gifting of the garter and bouquet.”

Daniel corners Mike and tosses the garter at him before he even realizes what it is he’s catching and laughs. I use my index finger to lead Jess in my direction. She slips out almost unnoticed with Connor taking all of the attention.

“How?” I ask the one question I’m dying to know and she blushes.

“Too much having fun and not enough pill taking?” she answers, shrugging her shoulders. That is the absolute perfect way for a Connor and Jess baby to be created—while having fun.

“Here, take this,” I say as I hand her the bouquet and hug her something fierce.

“What’s this for?” she asks, trying to hand it back.

“That is the bouquet toss, you caught it. Congratulations! We’re dying to get out of here. I love you and I’ll see you when we get back. Please check in on Lucas for me and make sure Mike and Misty text me pictures every day.”

She crosses her heart and blows me a kiss goodbye. Since Lucas is sleeping, I missed my chance to say bye but I’ll just have to make Mike FaceTime him for me.

“Are you ready, Mrs. McCormick?” my devastatingly handsome husband asks me in a very seductive tone.

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life, Mr. McCormick.”

One year later

Kate

We’re all gathering at the Houstons’ to celebrate the milestones today. It’s a tradition for them to gather and celebrate all the things that have happened in the past year. It also happens to be our first wedding anniversary. Daniel and I had an amazing honeymoon and traded sexual favors with each other that are likely still outlawed in some of our Bible Belt states. We had an amazing time and even went swimming naked under our cabana. If I hadn’t missed Lucas so much I don’t know if I would’ve ever come home.

We’re sitting outside with Lucas, who is sixteen months old now, and as usual, is running circles around us. The first time he called me mommy I was pregnant and on hormone overload. I cried for two days, not constantly but often. Since it was a new word, he was saying it a lot with a huge smile on his face every single time. And even though I adopted him as soon as we got back from our honeymoon, I still felt guilty I was here for that moment and Vanessa wasn’t. It’s still hard. I think about her every day and even more when he hits a milestone. But then I tell myself she chose
me
for him and it makes it easier to handle.

Pulling myself from my memories, I try to pay attention to the here and now. Daniel heads our way with our daughter in one hand and Hailey holding the other. When she sees me, she runs as fast as she can and launches into my arms.

“Easy, Hailey,” Daniel cautions, but I wave him off .

“I’m fine,” I tell him honestly.

“Auntie Kate, there’s no more baby in your belly!” She points to the baby Daniel’s holding and I reach out for my little girl.

“Nope, she’s not in my belly anymore, she’s right here.” After pulling the blanket away from her face, I lean down so Hailey can meet Haven.

“Hailey, this is your new little cousin Haven Vanessa McCormick.”

She leans over and kisses her forehead. “She’s so cute,” she cries out before running off after Lucas. “Luke! I kissed your little sister! She’s so cute!” Lucas runs toward Hailey. I think she has become his favorite person.

“That’s a romance in the making,” Daniel says with a chuckle.

“Well, thank God they’re not actually cousins or that could get a little awkward.”

“True,” he replies, kissing me on the forehead. “Have I told you today how beautiful you are?”

Ever since I got pregnant, I’ve been a little self-conscious of the extra weight. Daniel has been extra sensitive to it and compliments me more often than usual. Haven is a month old today and I’ve only got about ten more pounds to lose. Hopefully, they’ll be gone by the time we can start having sex again. I really miss sex.

“You have, but thank you for telling me again.”

He pulls me close and looks from me to our baby girl. “You look so sexy holding her and it kills me we have to wait another month before sex.”

“It’s killing me, too, at least you get to orgasm. I have to let everything on the inside go back to its original place first.”

“When you get the all clear, I’m going to make you come so many times you’ll forget what you missed out on.” I’m sure he will, too.

“There you are,” Misty says as she waddles out onto the lawn. “We were looking for you”.

“Uncle Daniel said I could see the baby,” Hailey replies as if it’s the most logical thing in the world. This little girl is her father through and through. Misty is pregnant with a little boy. She’s due in about six weeks. It’s as if all of our kids are pre-destined to be married.

Misty reaches out for Haven. “She’s the perfect mix of the two of you. She’s got Daniel’s brown hair and your green eyes and tiny nose. I can’t believe I still have six weeks to go. I’m so miserable already. Remind me why we do this again?”

I point to Mike who’s chasing the kids around. He catches one in each arm, kissing and hugging them close. “Because watching that right there is sexy as fuck.”