There Are No Words (The Morelli Sisters #3)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Allegra

“You know one thing I’m not going to miss once this baby arrives?” Brady asked, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.

Spending way too much time in a waiting room?

Referring to my doctor as Dr. Intrusive?

Or sitting up, anxiously, making everyone wonder what was going on here between us?

I stopped scrolling through the feed on my phone. “What’s that?” I finally asked.

“Seeing Dr. Intrusive.” There you go.

I groaned, leaning my head back on the wall. If I could’ve banged my head on it, I would have. “What is it with you and this doctor? We’ve been here enough times for you to realize he’s just doing his job. Your imagination is running wild.”

He wagged a finger in the air, looking all smug. “A man is a man is a man. I’d bet a pretty penny that he gets turned on by looking at women’s vaginas all day.”

I widened my eyes. Was he out of his ever-loving mind? “Ohmigod!” I gasped, shaking my head. “You’re outrageous.”

“Explain it to me, then. Who just wakes up one day deciding that they’re going to do this job? I mean, out of all the jobs? He could have been a surgeon or an anesthesiologist. But, no, he had to look at vaginas.”

I shushed him, looking around at the other patients waiting to be called in for their appointments. I sincerely hoped none of them were listening to him. “Are you hearing yourself?”

“It’s like plastic surgeons. Some of them specialize in the enhancement and reduction of tits.” Mumbling, he added, “Not that I know why any woman would want to reduce them.”

I swatted his arm. “Brady!”

“What? I’m just saying.”

“Well, say something else.” I leaned forward, exhaling. “Why don’t we talk about this article I just read? Did you know that if—heaven forbid—I don’t have a timely labor, there are ways to induce it?”

He shifted in his seat, crossing his leg over his knee so it brushed up against me. “You think you’ll have a problem going into labor?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure.” I fixed my hair into a ponytail, trying to get the loose hair off my back. Everything today was making me itchy. “But knowledge is power.”

“So let’s hear it.”

I smacked my lips together, raising a brow. “Sex.”

“Excuse me,” he sputtered.

I chuckled. “It’s true. Apparently, if we have sex, then it can induce labor.”

He cocked a brow. “How the hell does that figure?”

“Easy. Your semen ripens my cervix.”

“All right.” He scratched his chin. “That’s way too clinical. Sex shouldn’t be clinical.”

“Technically, it is, because you fucked me hard, and your swimmers got me pregnant. Thus, clinical,” I replied with a satisfied smile.

A notification popped up on my phone.

Bianca: Look what I just bought the baby!

Bianca: *sends photo*

I laughed, and Brady leaned over, trying to look at the screen. “Bibi bought the baby something,” I said.

He shook his head, not even waiting for me to show him what it was. “Nuh-uh.”

I raised a brow.

“Sorry, but the last thing your sister bought you was a penis, and that was enough.”

I gave him a lower-your-voice look because I was beginning to be slightly embarrassed. “It was a pillow,” I whisper-shouted. “Get over it.”

He crossed his arms. “Well, it’s gone now anyway.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nipple stimulation is another one.”

His eyes practically popped out of his head. “Another what?”

Bringing the conversation back to the one we had been having earlier, I explained, “Another way to get me to go into labor faster.”

He cleared his throat and pulled on the back of his neck. “I don’t want the clinical explanation for that one. So spare me the details.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself, but it causes my uterus to contract.”

He narrowed his eyes and brought his hands to my sides, making it hard to stifle a laugh. I was ticklish there. “Brady,” I warned. “Brady.”

Before I broke out into laughter, the door opened and a woman called, “Allegra Morelli.” That’s me.

Brady backed off and extended a hand to help me up. “We have way too much fun in this office,” I threw over my shoulder as I walked in before him.

* * *

I stared at Brady in the driver’s seat, watching as he drove. Don’t judge, sometimes I liked to just look at him.

He had been such a constant in my life. Yes, he’d been there with me from the start of this pregnancy. But it was more than that, really. If you thought about it, he was always around, there to help me, spending time with me, talking to me about my day, making me breakfast and dinner.

How many people got to say that?

How many people got so lucky as to say they had someone like that in their lives?

Sure, I had my sisters and my dad, but besides them, besides my family, there wasn’t really anyone. No one that I could call on in a moment’s notice, and they’d come, no questions asked.

Maria had Dom. She also had Isabella, who would grow up to be Maria’s best friend, we all knew it.

Perla had Frankie. Yes, occasionally he traveled for work, and she got annoyed because she missed him. But if she needed him—like really, really needed him—he’d be there. Always.

Bianca. Geez, I hated to even think this, but I didn’t think any of us thought Bianca would find a man. She’d been so closed off, so afraid to lose something before she even had it to begin with. But she had Knox. He was her soulmate, to be honest.

I cleared my throat delicately and put my face in my phone so that Brady wouldn’t catch me staring. Maybe he’d already caught me, but he hadn’t said anything. Either way, I looked away.

I typed a quick text to my sisters.

Allegra: I think Brady would go to war for me.

Perla: That’s a beautiful thing.

Maria: It doesn’t get much better than that.

Bianca: I told you he was one of the good guys. I have a great read on people.

Maria: What makes you say that now, though?

Allegra: Sometimes it feels like I’m standing in the way of my own happiness.

Perla: Explain.

Allegra: Do you know I haven’t even started nesting? I want to, but every time I think about it, everything becomes so much more real. I could end up sharing custody with Brady, you know, if we don’t last.

Allegra: I don’t even know what we are right now.

Bianca: You don’t need to put a label on it.

Allegra: He’s more than a fuck buddy. We have a great time together, and I really care about him. I know he cares about me. It’s just, I don’t know.

Maria: It sounds like you need to ask yourself if it’s worth pushing Brady away and closing yourself off for a what-if, some unknown that might not even happen.

Perla: Do you trust him enough not to break your heart?

Allegra: They always do. Men always let me down.

Bianca: Not all men are bad. Hello, look at Knox, Frankie, and Dom, for crying out loud. Sure, they aren’t perfect, but they’re decent humans, and that’s really all you can ask for. You’re not perfect, either.

Allegra: I don’t need him to tell me what everyone else has—that I’m not their type, that I’m no one’s type. Hearing it from him might actually crush me.

Maria: And you need to ask yourself why. Why would him saying that hurt so badly? How is he different from everyone else?

Allegra: He’s the father of my baby.

Bianca: Whose gender I’d still like to know.

Perla: Same.

Maria: Off track, you guys.

Bianca: Sorry.

Maria: It’s more than him being your baby’s father, and you know it.

Allegra: I care about him. A lot.

Maria: Don’t do it, then. Don’t push him away. Don’t close yourself off. It’d be a mistake you might not be able to fix.

Bianca: Maria should take her own advice.

Maria: We’re not talking about me, Bibi.

Perla: Allie, I’m with Maria. You need to do what you feel is right and shut down the nagging voice in your head. That’s my advice.

Bianca: Yeah, if you want Brady, and you don’t want him to just be your baby’s father, then let yourself have him. You deserve to be happy.

Allegra: I love you all so much!

I put the phone in my purse and turned to Brady. “I want to start decorating the nursery. It’s such a big part of this, and I don’t want to wait. Frankly, we shouldn’t have waited this long, right?” Probably not what you thought I was going to say, but baby steps. Pun slightly intended.

Brady chuckled. “I’m so glad to hear that because she’s coming whether or not we’re ready for her.”

I quirked a brow and pointed to his forehead. “What’s that look for? You have a crinkle in the middle of your forehead. You’re holding back. What is it?”

“Nothing.” He wet his lips. “I just can’t wait to get home.”

“But our baby shower,” I pointed out, “it’s this afternoon.”

“This won’t take long.”

* * *

“I wish I had a blindfold,” Brady mumbled under his breath just loud enough for me to hear.

He continued guiding me down the hallway in our apartment, my hand in his. Something to note: I love the way my hand felt in his. He could lead me to the gates of Hell, and I’d follow without question.

“Oooh! Who knew you were kinky?” I teased as Tipsy ran up to us now that we were back home and jumped on my leg.

His thumb caressed the back of my hand, and I practically melted in his arms. Geez, this man had me in a chokehold. You’re standing in your own way. The reminder probably wasn’t necessary, but every now and again, it was like I couldn’t help it.

“Just keep your eyes closed,” he ordered. “I’ll get Tipsy.”

Laughing, I said, “Fine, as long as we’re not late for the shower. I’m beyond ready to tell everyone the sex of the baby.”

“We won’t be late,” he assured me again with Tipsy in his arms. She was reaching over his arms to lick my cheek.

Have I ever told you that I am not a big fan of surprises? I mean, sure, I could keep them, but for me to be the one surprised? Oof, it was torture.

“Okay,” Brady said finally as we came to a stop. “You can open your eyes.”

He stepped aside and put Tipsy back down on the floor since she was no longer at risk of being stepped on by me, and I walked forward, taking in the scene before me.

It was his old room.

Converted into our baby’s nursery.

“Brady,” I gushed, swiping my hand over the polished wood changing table. “When did you do this?”

Smirking, he leaned against the doorframe. “When you were at work.”

“But we never talked about the theme,” I said, standing by the lavender wall, touching the yellow stars he had painted on it. The entire thing was done in shades of purple with an astronomy theme as a nod to my love for astrology. Even the framed artwork on the walls was of the galaxy.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

Walking around the room, I came to rest by the rocking chair in front of the window and sat down carefully. “It’s perfect! But how did you know?” How could this man have known exactly what I wanted, but never put into words?

Smiling, he came and sat at my feet. He ran a hand up and down my leg and squeezed my ankle. “Because I know you.”

But suddenly, I realized it wasn’t just that. Maybe he wasn’t like all the others, maybe Brady was different from the others. Could it be that he not only knew me, but he accepted me for me?

“Brady, this is everything I would’ve wanted had you asked me.”

A corner of his lip tugged up, and he looked at me with so much compassion and understanding. “Don’t you get it, Allegra? I didn’t need to ask you because I know you. I love you. I think I’ve been in love with you since the very beginning.”

“Even though you’ve seen all my weird sides?” I asked, afraid of what he might say, but also really needing to hear his answer.

Kneeling before me, he leaned into me, holding the arms of the rocking chair and staring into my eyes. “What weird sides? I only see a beautiful, special, creative, compassionate soul. Am I missing something? Have you been holding out on me?”

Biting back a laugh, I leaned forward and placed my hands on either side of his face, pulling him in for a kiss.

It’d become abundantly clear to me that Brady really did get me. He really did accept me and appreciate me for being me. For all the concerns I’d had about us not lasting, I knew I had been foolish. Brady and I would be fine.

It was true, I really had given myself to this man completely without even realizing it, but now, knowing this, I knew there would be no stopping us.

Screw what I’d thought about compatibility. Maybe Brady and I were written in the stars this whole time, and I’d been too closed off to see it.