The Proposal (34 page)

“Yeah, um, on that note, I think I’ll head out,” Connor
said, starting for the door.

Casey laughed. “Why don’t we go out and tell the
rest of the waiting crowd that Noah’s here.”

“There’s a crowd?” Emma asked in surprise.

Casey nodded. “Nate texted me that the waiting room
is full with yours and Aidan’s families. Patrick’s out there, and Grammy and
Granddaddy just walked in. He said Becky’s boys made her promise to bring them
even if it was the middle of the night. “I’m sure they will all want to get a
peek at Mr. Handsome.”

Emma felt slightly overwhelmed at the prospect of
all the visitors, especially with her post-delivery exhaustion setting in. But
a sense of renewal filled her at the thought of all the people waiting to see
and love Noah. It made her feel very grateful and very loved. “Okay, that sounds
good.”

Once Casey and Connor left, Emma slid her hospital
gown down on one side and took Noah from Aidan. As she brought him to her
breast, apprehension filled her that she might not be able to do this. What if
her milk wasn’t strong enough, or they had to seek out a Lactation Consultant?
She had heard from her friends as well as reading in books how breastfeeding
was tricky business.

But miraculously after rooting around for a few
seconds, Noah latched on to her nipple and began to nurse heartily.

“Oh you’re so very lucky,” Annie noted.

With tears filling her eyes, Emma glanced lovingly
from her son back up to Aidan. A smile filled her cheeks. “Oh, you have no
idea.”

Epilogue

Aidan rubbed his blurring eyes before stretching his
arms over his head. A glance at the clock on the computer screen told him it
was clearly past time to call it a night. His phone buzzing in his jacket
pocket also reminded him to get his ass moving. So he grabbed his jacket off
the back of the chair along with his briefcase and headed out the door.

When the elevator doors dinged opened, a loud
commotion drew his attention. Instead of barreling forward ready to save the
day once again, he only smiled. He knew that the cause of the commotion was an
eight month old angel with his father’s blue eyes and a lighter version of his
mother’s fiery auburn hair.

Turning the corner, he saw Emma standing beside a
stroller, flushed with all the attention Noah was receiving from a gaggle of
female admirers. Even though they had almost been married a year, she still
took his breath away each and every time he saw her. Most days he didn’t get to
see her all dressed up like she was now. Outfitted in black stilettos, a short
black skirt, and a slinky green top that showed off her fabulous cleavage, she
made heat stir below Aidan’s waist.

Lately since becoming a stay-at-home mom, Emma spent
her time in yoga pants or jeans. But to him, she could look amazingly beautiful
and sexy in a ragged t-shirt and his boxers. While she lamented the alleged ten
pounds of baby weight she still needed to lose, he loved the fact it seemed to
reside in her breasts and ass just as he had teased her about.

In the end, quitting work had been a tough decision
for Emma. At first, she had tried working part-time, but most days she still
ended up in tears at the prospect of leaving Noah. Because Aidan wanted her to
be happy, he suggested she quit. So when Noah was three months old, Emma left
the company.

That’s why this particular evening she had wanted to
meet him at the office so the women she used to work with could see how much
Noah had grown. He noticed that not only were several of the women those she
worked with, but some of them were from his floor as well, including his
secretary Marilyn. They all stood around, smiling and cooing at Noah. He
perched in his stroller like a King with his court. Peeking up at them through
his long eyelashes, he flashed his two new bottom teeth when he grinned. 

Aidan shook his head at his son. He was already a
terrible flirt and knew exactly how to work the ladies or anyone for that
matter. He was truly a chip off the old shoulder when it came to attracting the
attention of females. Of course, anytime Aidan made that comment, Emma liked to
smack his arm and roll her eyes.

He strode over to the group of women. “Well hello
there.”

Noah’s gaze jerked from his admirers and over to
Aidan’s. “Dada!” he cried holding his arms up.

Aidan’s heart melted at the sight. No matter how
many times he heard Noah call for him, he always had the same reaction. Pure
love tingled from the top of his head down to his toes. “Hey Little Man,” he
said, picking Noah up out of the stroller.

“Give Daddy a kiss,” Emma prompted.

Noah immediately leaned over to bestow a wet,
slobbery smooch on Aidan’s cheek. A chorus of “aw’s” rang around him.

“I can’t believe how much he looks like you, Aidan,”
Marilyn said.

“He does, doesn’t he?” he replied with a grin
directed at Emma.

She rolled her eyes while another woman shook her
head. “I see some of Emma in him too—especially that sweet smile of his.”

Emma laughed. “That’s only when he’s not giving the
cocky Fitzgerald grin that he does most of the time.”

Noah began to squirm in Aidan’s arms. “You getting
hungry, Little Man?”

Reaching in her bag, Emma took out a pacifier and
popped it in Noah’s open and ready to scream mouth.

Marilyn smiled. “Well, we better let you two get
going.”

It took a couple of minutes for them to say their
good-byes and for each one to give Noah a kiss on the cheek. While he may have
been fussy before, he reveled in their attention and waved happily good-bye
before taking out his pacifier to blow kisses.

Aidan set Noah back into the stroller. “I’ll get
him, babe. You take a breather.”

As Emma held open the door for Aidan, she shook her
head and grinned. “What?” he asked.

“I’m sure that most people in this building would do
a double take at the sight of Mr. Manwhore Fitzgerald pushing a stroller.”

He scowled at her. “That’s former Mr. Manwhore,
thank you.”

She giggled. “That’s right. You’re
my
Mr.
Manwhore now.” She gave him a playful smack on the behind as they started down
the sidewalk.

“Mrs. Fitzgerald, I will kindly ask that you not
maul my ass in public.”

“Oh really?”

A sexy smirk curved on his lips. “Save it for when
we get home.”

Emma giggled. “Okay, then I will.”

When the crosswalk sign flashed for them to go,
Aidan pushed the stroller onto the street. “Are you sure we should be taking
Noah to O’Malley’s?”

Emma shot him an exasperated look. “We’ve brought
him here at least five times. Jenny has been blowing up my phone with texts
about when we’re coming back.”

“Yeah, but he was smaller then. And there’s all that
smoke.”

“We sit in the non-smoking section, Aidan.” Once
they made it to the other side of the street, she gazed up at him. “Besides,
he’s part Irish. Shouldn’t he be growing up around booze?”

He rolled his eyes. “Har fucking har.”

She grinned and then linked her arm through his. “I
love you, babe.”

“Right back atcha,” he replied, before leaning over
to kiss her.

When Emma reached to open the door, Jenny burst
through it. “Oh my God! I thought you guys had decided not to come!” She barely
gave a fleeting glance at Aidan and Emma before she reached out to Noah.
“There’s my big, beautiful boy!” After spitting out his pacifier, he grinned
and waved his arms to let Jenny pick him up.

“I see we rank pretty low these days, huh?” Aidan
said with a smile.

“Exactly. At least it’s consistent. I mean,
everywhere we go from your dad’s to Grammy and Granddaddy’s it’s the same,”
Emma replied.

As Jenny bounced Noah in her arms, they followed her
inside. “Can we get a booth as far away from the smoking section as possible?”
Aidan asked.

He watched as Emma and Jenny exchanged a glance
before Jenny nodded. “Sure. Nikki, can you take them to booth fifteen, please?”

Nikki nodded and started trailing through the bar.
When Emma reached for Noah, Jenny shook her head. “No, no, no. I haven’t gotten
my fill of him yet.”

Emma laughed. “When he gets fussy like he wants to
eat, just bring him over.”

“I will. You two can have some privacy. Like a date
night,” Jenny said, with a grin.

“Right. I don’t even remember what those were like,”
Aidan mused.

“Yes, you do. Remember how Megan kept Noah for us
two months ago so we could go back to the lodge in the mountains?”

Aidan’s mind immediately flashed to dropping Noah
off at his niece, Megan’s, apartment before they went back to the lodge where
they spent their honeymoon. While Noah had been happy to go to Megan and
excited to get to play with his cousin, Mason, Emma had wept the entire ride to
the mountains. Thinking of her behavior, he shook his head. “You mean the night
you spent texting Megan every five minutes to make sure Noah was all right?”
Aidan countered.

Emma grinned. “Yes, that’s the one.”

“Whatever,” he replied as they hurried to catch up
with Nikki. She was standing in front of the booth in the farthest corner.

When Emma slid in beside him rather than across the
booth, Aidan’s brows furrowed. At the sight of the dreamy expression on her
face, he asked, “What are you all moony about?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

She sighed. “This is the same booth we sat in the
night you came home from India.”

“Really?”

She bobbed her head before leaning in to give him a
lingering kiss. Her tongue had just brushed against his when someone cleared
her throat, ending their brief make-out session. Nikki gave an apologetic smile
as Emma snapped back from Aidan like a rubber band. “So what can I get you two
to drink this evening?”

“Just a Coke for me,” Emma replied.

Aidan grinned. “You should have a drink. I mean, you
aren’t breastfeeding anymore, and we’re allegedly on a date night.”

A flush crept across her face, and Aidan knew he had
embarrassed Emma by mentioning breastfeeding. Finally, she shrugged. “Nah, I’m
good.”

“Come on. Have a margarita, Em. You deserve to
celebrate and cut loose a little. I’ll even be the DD tonight,” Aidan urged.

She shook her head at him and then glanced up at
Nikki. “Just a Coke.”

Aidan grunted. “Fine. Be a killjoy. I’ll have a
Heineken on tap.”

“I’ll be back to get your food orders in just a
minute.”

Aidan nodded at Nikki before she walked away. Then
he turned his attention back to Emma. “Why didn’t you want to have a drink?
Were you afraid I was plying you with alcohol to get you drunk, so I could take
advantage of you?”

She grinned. “Since when do I have to have alcohol
in me to get your libido kicking?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Never.”

A squeal drew their attention to where Jenny was
bouncing Noah on her hip. He was reaching for one of the balloons that the
bartender was blowing up for him. Aidan couldn’t help smiling at the look on
Noah’s face as he kicked his legs excitedly.

Emma cleared her throat, and Aidan glanced over at
her. “I’m sorry, babe. Now I’m the one not doing a good job at date night.”

“Well, speaking of your libido…” Aidan watched as
she shifted her menu and chewed her bottom lip.

“Em, what’s the matter? You look a little pale. Are
you all right?”

“I need to tell you something.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Aidan saw Jenny with
three bobbing balloons walking Noah over to a group of admirers. He held up a
finger. “Just a second, Em.” He rose up from the booth. “Jenny, don’t get him
so close to the smoking section,” he called.

She glanced back at him over her shoulder and
nodded. Once he felt like Noah was safely away from the second hand smoked
danger, he turned back to Emma. “I’m sorry. What is it?”

“Well, it’s…I know we weren’t actually planning on
this, but—”

“Aw, look, Em. Noah’s blowing kisses to all the old
men at the bar.”

The next thing he knew she had grabbed both of the
sides of his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Would you please
listen to me!”

“Jesus, what is the matter with you?”

Her green eyes narrowed at him. “I’m pregnant!
That’s what is the matter!”

His heart jolted to a stop. “Y-You’re what?”

Emma’s expression momentarily softened. “I just came
from the doctor. That stomach flu I thought I had...yeah, that’s not what it
was. I’m six weeks pregnant.”

“Holy shit…but we were using condoms.”

Pink tinged her cheeks. “Not the weekend at the
lodge.”