Chapter Ten
McKenna
He was freaking me out. He hadn’t said a single word other than to ask if I was pregnant since he found the test in my drawer.
God. How could I have been so stupid to put the test in there?
Of course, he’d find it in the house.
He was like a super sleuth or some shit.
He always found where I hid the good candy. Yes, I hid the good candy. Pee Wee had a sweet tooth to rival all sweet tooths. Sweet tooths? Sweet teeth? Whatever, you know what I mean, and it didn’t matter now because he’d found it.
Not that I thought I could hide being pregnant forever.
That was ridiculous, but I hadn’t wanted it to happen like this.
The silence started to get to me, and I finally asked, “Are you going to say anything?”
He remained silent, staring at the plastic stick in his hand.
My hands started to sweat, and I wiped them down the front of my sleep pants. “Please say something,” I whispered. “I’m scared, and you’re not helping.”
Like a light switch being flipped, he glanced up, his eyes glassy.
“This is really real?”
I nodded.
A slow smile spread out over his face, and then he was in front of me, my face cradled in his hands. “We’re having a baby?” he rasped.
I smiled back. “Yeah. We’re having a baby?—”
He cut me off with a kiss that stole my breath.
When he pulled back, his eyes were so intense.
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “Don’t ever apologize for this.”
“Are you mad? ”
“Mad?” he shook his head. “No. I’m fucking terrified, but I’m not mad.” Pulling me against his chest, he held me close. “This is the best news I’ve gotten in seventeen years.”
I started crying harder, relief, joy, and hormones all swirling together.
He held me while I cried, one hand stroking my hair, the other pressed awkwardly against my still-flat stomach.
“Come on,” he said after a few minutes.
He led me into the bedroom, sat me down on the edge of the bed and knelt down in front of me, his hands on my knees.
“How long have you known?” he asked.
“I just found out yesterday,” I answered, my voice barely above a whisper. “I was at Angel’s house and got sick when she was cooking. She made me take a test.”
His thumb stroked circles on my knee. “And you went to the doctor today?”
I nodded. “That’s where I was this morning.”
His brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gone with you.”
“I was scared.” My voice cracked. “We’ve never talked about having kids, and with everything going on with Diana and then you and the boys suddenly moving in...” I trailed off, shrugging helplessly.
“You thought I wouldn’t want it,” he said, understanding dawning in his eyes.
A tear slipped down my cheek. “You already have kids. And things between us have been...” I didn’t know how to finish that sentence. This between us had been off lately. We’d been arguing a lot.
His jaw clenched, and he set the pregnancy test on the nightstand before taking both my hands in his. “Kenny, look at me.”
I gave him my complete attention.
“This baby—” his voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “This baby is a gift. Do you hear me?”
More tears spilled down my face. He reached up and brushed them away with his thumb.
“How far along are you?” he asked, his voice gentler than I’d ever heard it.
“Ten weeks.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Ten weeks? Jesus, that’s?—”
“I know,” I nodded. “It’s from the antibiotics I took for that sinus infection. Apparently, they can mess with birth control, but no one bothered to tell me that.”
He laughed incredulously. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
His hand moved from my knee to my stomach, spreading his fingers wide over the place where our child was growing. The gesture was so tender it made my heart ache.
“A baby,” he whispered, not even trying to hide the wonder in his voice.
I covered his hand with mine, and just like that, the last of my fear melted away.
Pee Wee rose from his knees and nudged me backward until I was lying on the bed. He followed me down, his body covering mine, careful to keep his weight on his forearms.
His mouth found mine in a soft kiss that quickly turned desperate.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, needing to feel all of him against me.
His hands slid under my shirt, pushing it up and over my head.
My pants and underwear followed, and then his clothes joined mine on the floor.
When he finally pushed inside me, all my worries disappeared.
His eyes never left mine as he moved, slow and deep, like he was trying to memorize every second.
“I love you,” I whispered against his lips.
He paused, his hips stilling as he looked down at me. “I love you too, baby,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “So fucking much. ”
My heart leaped with joy.
I hadn’t realized until that moment how much I’d needed to hear him say those words.
Consumed with emotion, I crushed my mouth to his, pouring everything I felt into the kiss.
We moved together perfectly. Rocking and rolling our hips, that feeling barreling towards us at a fever pitch.
“Yes,” I moaned long and loud as I flew into orbit with Pee Wee spilling inside me, groaning out my name.
Struggling to catch our breath, he rolled to his side, taking me with him so we were face to face. His hand immediately went back to my stomach, like he couldn’t stop touching me there.
“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It’s too early. We won’t know for a few more weeks.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t care as long as it’s healthy.” I paused, then grinned. “But a little girl with her daddy’s eyes would be pretty amazing.”
His lips twitched. “A girl, huh? I’d be terrified the whole time. Boys I know how to handle.”
“You’d be wrapped around her little finger.” I laughed, imagining my giant, scary biker completely at the mercy of our daughter.
“Yeah,” he agreed, a softness in his expression I’d never seen before. “I would be.”
He shifted onto his back and pulled me against his side, my head resting on his chest.
“We need to tell the boys,” he said after a moment.
My stomach fluttered with nerves. “Are you sure? It’s so early.”
“They should know. They’re going to be part of this kid’s life.”
I nodded, seeing his point. “Okay. When?”
“Tomorrow at breakfast.”
“And what about Diana?” I asked hesitantly. “She’s going to lose her mind when she finds out.”
His arm tightened around me. “Let her. I had Memo draw up divorce papers already.”
I sat up, shocked. “You did?”
He nodded. “It’ll be official in a few months.”
“But... I thought you said—” He’d always said the reason he stayed with Diana was that he wanted his sons to grow up in a home with both of their parents. He didn’t want them to have to split their time.
“I did,” he interrupted. “And I gave them that for seventeen years. But my sons are almost grown now, and Diana made her choice when she left. ”
I stared at him, trying to process what this meant. He was divorcing Diana.
“Hey,” he said, pulling me back down against him. “It was time. It has been for a long time. This—” he pressed his hand to my belly. “This just makes it even clearer.”
I settled back against his chest, overwhelmed by how much had changed in the span of an hour.
“What should we name it?” I asked, smiling against his skin.
He was quiet for a moment. “If it’s a boy... maybe Beau? To keep with the tradition.”
My heart squeezed.
Beau. I loved it.
He’d been the one to name his boys and had liked the idea of them having a name with a B like his.
It really was perfect.
“And for a girl?” he prompted.
I pursed my lips. It definitely needed to be something that started with the letter B. No matter if we had a boy or a girl, I liked the idea of sticking to the tradition. “How about, Blakely?”
“Blakely Reid,” he tested it out. “It’s beautiful.”
He’d said Reid.
Not Lewis .
He was already claiming our baby, and the thought made me stupidly happy.
“So... what happens now?” I asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
His chest rumbled with a chuckle. “Now, you sleep. Growing a Reid takes a lot of energy.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, already drifting off. “We should probably take it easy on the baby talk until after the first trimester.”
“Whatever you want, Mama,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
My lips turned up as sleep started to pull me under.
Mama . I liked the sound of that.
I woke to the smell of bacon.
For a split second my stomach lurched, but then, thank the Gods, it settled just as fast.
Apparently, my baby was going to be a fan of bacon.
I sent up another thank you to the Gods.
Bacon was my favorite thing.
It should be its own food group; it was so good.
Pushing myself up, I grabbed one of Pee Wee’s t-shirts from the dresser and pulled it on, along with a pair of short shorts. The shirt hung halfway down my thighs, making it look like I wasn’t wearing anything underneath, but I didn’t care. The bacon was calling my name.
Following the scent of the yummy goodness, I padded down the hallway toward the kitchen.
The scene that greeted me made my heart swell.
Pee Wee was at the stove cooking, while Brody and Bentley sat at the island, both of them laughing at something their father had just said.
They looked like a family.
My family.
Pee Wee glanced up and caught my eye, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Morning, beautiful.”
The twins turned in unison, their smiles nearly as bright as their dad’s.
“Morning, McKenna,” they chorused.
“Hope you’re hungry,” Bentley added. “Dad’s making enough food to feed an army.”
I slid onto a stool at the island. “Starving, actually.”
Pee Wee set a mug of tea in front of me. “No coffee,” he said quietly.
“What?” I could feel the smile falling off my face.
“It’s not good for you.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, he’d already been researching pregnancy stuff.
“Thanks, baby,” I grumbled. No coffee? It was going to be a long eight months for my man. I was a dragon without the nectar of the gods to soothe the morning beast inside me.
He winked at me, then turned back to the stove.
By the time we all sat down at the table with our plates, my stomach was growling loudly. I loaded up with pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs, suddenly ravenous.
“Whoa,” Brody laughed. “Hungry much?”
I blushed, glancing at Pee Wee. He gave me a slight nod, and I knew what he was thinking. Now was the time.
He cleared his throat. “Boys, we’ve got some news.”
The twins looked up from their food, curiosity written all over their faces.
Pee Wee reached for my hand under the table and squeezed. “McKenna’s pregnant. You’re going to be big brothers.” Just like that. Right to the point. No easing them into it. Not that I was surprised. Pee Wee had the subtleness of a bull in a china shop.
The boys shared a look, some sort of twin telepathy happening between them .
Then Bentley’s face split into a grin, followed by his brothers. “No shit? That’s awesome!” they said at the same time.
It was a little creepy how they did that.
“Language,” Pee Wee warned, trying and failing to hide the smile on his face.
The tight knot of anxiety in my chest loosened. They weren’t upset.
“So when are you due?” Bentley asked, shoving another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
“Not until October,” I answered. “I’m only ten weeks along.”
“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl yet?” Brody asked.
I shook my head as I smiled at Pee Wee. That’d been what he wanted to know first last night, too. “Not yet. We won’t find out for a few more weeks.”
“I hope it’s a girl,” Bentley declared. “Too many dudes in this family already.”
Pee Wee chuckled. “We’ll love it either way.”
The rest of breakfast was filled with questions and hopes about the new baby.
“We’ll need to set up a nursery,” Pee Wee said, as if reading my thoughts. “The room at the end of the hall would be perfect. ”
“Can we help?” Bentley asked, surprising me. “I’m pretty good with a paintbrush.”
“I’d like that,” I said, touched by the offer.
“I can build a crib,” Brody added quietly. “I’ve been taking woodshop at school.”
My eyes filled with tears. Stupid hormones.
Pee Wee’s phone buzzed on the table. He glanced down at it and sighed.
“I’ve gotta meet the insurance agent at the house tomorrow. Denali’s going to swing by to help me get shit cleaned out of there,” he said.
With everything that had happened last night, I’d almost forgotten about the destruction she’d left behind.
Soon she’d be a blimp in our rearview.
I couldn’t wait.