Chapter 12 Penny
PENNY
“With as much energy as Karmen has, she’ll be the perfect babysitter,” I whisper to Greyson.
“I don’t know if I want my daughter in fake eyelashes at three.”
I giggle, cupping my belly. “Little Charlotte will have to wait until she’s a teenager for that.”
Greyson shoots me a glare. “Or until she’s 30.”
I nod. “Yeah, 30 it is.”
“Time for another game!” Karmen chirps.
She goes around the room, handing out enormous adult diapers to the gathered crowd.
Without telling me, she decided to throw an over-the-top baby shower, inviting everyone from the ranch and some Perish Prosper town folk months before I’m due.
Even Roderick and Aspen showed up, and I swear, they wore the smuggest faces when we told them how we got together, like they somehow knew it was going to happen.
“Just how old do you think I am?” Papa Prosper sneers as he unfolds his diaper.
Karmen moves to the center of the circle to speak.“Grab your partner and see how quickly you can put these diapers on each other.” She holds a diaper up. “And if I catch you putting them on yourself, you’re disqualified.”
“You can’t be serious!” Fiona blurts, a look of shock on her pretty face.
Karmen glances askance at her friend. “That’s why I had a dress code printed on the invite. You know, the one you ignored.”
We all look at each other, dumbfounded because the game is absurd, but as soon as she rings the bell, Axel swoops into action.
He practically tackles Connie Faraday to the floor, the actress that’s set to play the Prosper ancestor, rips open the diaper, and wrestles it on her.
“Hey!” Connie cries as he maneuvers it, fastening it in place. Once it’s fully on, Axel lies on the ground.
“Quick, do me!”
Connie huffs but opens the diaper and complies. “Lift your damn ass.”
“Language!” Randy shouts, covering his son’s ears.
Connie secures the diaper on Axel as we look on in horror.
Fiona wheels an enormous cart out from the kitchen. “Time for cake!”
Aspen sits near us, which I’m glad for because she’s so sweet.
“How are you holding up?” she asks Randy after Frankie runs off to play with a goat that’s somehow made it into the main house.
“I’ll be honest, it’s tough doing it all myself. I make enough to afford help, but no one wants to move out to Prosper.”
“Then maybe you’re looking in the wrong places,” Aspen says.
“And where should I be looking?”
“I have a friend who got himself a mail-order bride.”
“I need a nanny—not a wife.”
“Yeah, but not all the women on those sites want a husband. Sometimes, they’re just desperate.”
“And you think they’ll be good with kids?”
“I mean, you’d probably need to do a background check, but Jasmine, the woman Riftan ordered, is a gem.”
“Wait—did you just say ordered?”
Aspen giggles. “Gee, I guess that sounds terrible, but yeah.”
After eating too much cake, I open enough gifts to open a store.
“Do you know where Karmen is?” Fiona asks, holding up a baby bottle. “She’s supposed to head the next game.”
“Ah, no thank you,” Greyson barks. “I’m not sucking from that fake teat.”
I giggle as I get up from my seat. “I need to stretch my legs, so I’ll go looking for her.”
I make my way through the house, calling her name. A rustling catches my attention, and I open a door to find Karmen bent over the bed, tits out, pants down, with Duke mid-thrust.
Her mouth falls open, but before she can say anything, I slam the door closed and go back to the party.
“Did you find her?” Greyson asks.
“She ate too much cake and isn’t feeling well,” I tell him. I don’t like lying to Grey, but what I saw wasn’t my business to tell.
Though I can’t wait to hear the details.
Karmen comes out a short while later, and I give her a wink and a smirk, but I can’t help but notice her expression isn’t one of glee.
As the party comes to a close, Greyson and I thank all our guests for coming and head back to the house.
“Can you believe your pa made a nursery twice as big as the one we have?” I say with a giggle.
”I’m not at all surprised. Get ready to be one-upped at just about everything, especially with the baby being a girl.
My pa never complained about having six boys, but I know he always wanted a daughter.
And my brothers, well, they’re going to be so overprotective, I fear for any man that gets within three feet of her. ”
“I’m thrilled that my child gets to be a part of a happy family.”
“You do too, Penny. Don’t you forget that.”
“How could I? You remind me every day.”
I crawl into bed, lying on my side. Greyson comes behind me, splaying his hand across my enormous belly.
“You still thinking about running away from me sometimes?”
“Yep.”
“You know I’ll find you, right?”
“It’s what I count on.”
“Good. Now, when are you going to marry me?”
“Soon, Grey. After the baby.”
“Don’t let me catch you without your ring.”
“And if my finger swells?”
“I’ll get you backup rings.”
“Greyson Prosper, you are just too much.”
“You’re calling me too much? You’re the one who insists on still working.”
“I’m pregnant—completely capable of managing your schedule.”
“I’d much rather you manage something else, if you know what I mean.” He strokes an aching breast.
“I do—nearly every day—but your appetite is insatiable.”
“And what about your own?”
I sigh. “Guilty as charged.”
He withdraws his hand from my breast. I nearly pout, but I realize we had a quickie this morning, and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, when the new cattle arrive.
So instead of feasting on each other, we fall asleep, his warm breath on my neck, without fear of our future together, because despite all the hurdles we’ve had to clear, we’ve made it, and I know that so long as I live, I’ll never be alone and unwanted again.