Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
THREE MONTHS LATER
Jenna
“Okay. Let’s do this.” I turned and looked at Lucas as I grabbed his hand.
We walked over to Scarlett, who was sitting up on her playmat.
She started sitting up on her own over a month ago and started crawling less than two weeks ago.
I started piecing her milestones together, and I became very nervous.
When I called my mother and told her everything Scarlett was doing, she said I did the same things at her age.
We both sat down across from her, and Lucas placed the wooden block set in front of her.
We spread out the different shapes around her and let her go at it.
She first picked up the round block and brought it to her mouth.
Then she tried to place it in the square hole.
Her coordination skills were a little advanced for her age.
“Look at her, Lucas. She’s analyzing.”
“Come on, Jenna. No, she isn’t.”
“No. Look at her. She’s staring at the round hole.”
Suddenly, she moved the block over to the round hole and dropped it in. Lucas and I looked at each other.
“What a smart girl.” Lucas smiled as he handed her the square block. “Show Mommy and Daddy where this one goes.”
Without hesitating, she put it in the square hole.
“I told you she was analyzing!” I hit his arm. “Oh my God, she takes after me.” Tears started to fill my eyes.
“Are those tears of happiness?”
“I don’t know. I’m scared for her.”
“There’s no reason to be. We knew that she would be somewhat intelligent between my brain and yours.”
“This goes beyond somewhat intelligent, Lucas.”
“And we’ll deal with it step by step and day by day. Who knows, she may grow up and do something that could change the world.” He hooked his arm around me and pulled me into him.
Six Months Later
“I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Thorne.”
Everyone started clapping and cheering as we entered the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria.
We had the perfect ceremony, and now we’d have the perfect reception.
The room was filled with over three hundred guests, including my parents and Lucas’s father.
Instead of going on a fancy honeymoon, we spent a week alone at the lake house.
It was the first time we’d been away from Scarlett for more than a day.
“Do you think Scarlett is doing okay?” I asked Lucas as we lay in bed.
“She’s doing just fine.” He kissed me. “She’s with your parents.”
“Again, do you think she’s doing okay?”
He let out a chuckle as his grip around me tightened.
“I’m sure she’s giving your parents a run for their money. Do you have any idea how happy you make me?” The corners of his mouth curved upward.
“As happy as you make me?”
“More.” He rolled me on my back and hovered over me. “I love you so much, Mrs. Thorne.”
“And I love you so much, Mr. Thorne.”
Six Weeks Later
Lucas
Raising a highly intelligent child was rewarding as well as exhausting. Scarlett demanded a lot of our attention and constantly needed to be mentally stimulated. She was already saying more words at a year old than the average child.
I was sitting behind my desk when my office door opened, and Jenna walked in, holding Scarlett.
“What a nice surprise.” I grinned as I got up, kissed Jenna, and took my daughter from her arms.
“Hi, princess.” I tickled her.
“Daddy.” She smiled.
“What are you doing here, babe?”
“I need you to watch her. The babysitter called, and she has the flu. My mom has an appointment of her own, and I have my doctor’s appointment.”
“I have a meeting in fifteen minutes.”
“And? Do you want me to cancel my doctor’s appointment and not get a refill on my birth control pills?”
“You know what? I’ll just bring her to my meeting.”
“Good idea.” She smiled. “I love you. Just bring her home with you,” she said as she hooked the diaper bag over my shoulder, kissed Scarlett and me, and walked out.
“Wait! You’re not coming back to pick her up?”
“I have some errands to run. I love you!” she shouted as she walked down the hallway.
I looked at Scarlett, who had successfully managed to untie my tie.
“Looks like you’re spending the rest of the day with daddy.” I kissed her head.
“Daddy.” She smiled. “Juice.”
I left the office a couple of hours early because I wasn’t getting any work done. Scarlett wanted nothing to do with any of my staff, and she only wanted me. When I arrived home, I noticed Jenna wasn’t back yet.
“Play with your blocks, princess,” I said as I set Scarlett on the floor.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I called Jenna.
“Hello.”
“Hey, babe. I’m home with Scarlett. Are you on your way?”
“Yeah. I’ll be home soon.”
“Great. I miss you, and I love you.”
“I miss and love you too. See you soon.”
“Book. Book,” Scarlett said as she tugged on my pant leg while holding a book in her other hand.
After picking her up, I took her to the couch and read to her. About thirty minutes later, I heard the elevator ding.
“Mommy’s home, princess.”
Walking over to the elevator, Jenna stepped out, gave me a kiss, and took Scarlett.
“There’s my genius girl. I missed you.” She hugged her tight. “How did it go at the office?” She smirked.
“Why do you think I came home a couple of hours early? She wanted nothing to do with any of the staff, and she wouldn’t let me put her down.”
“So, you canceled your meeting?”
“Oh no. I took her in the conference room with me after I left her with Laurel, and she had a meltdown.”
“Were you not being nice to Miss Laurel?” She tickled her.
“How was she in the meeting?”
“She was actually pretty good. I held her while I gave a PowerPoint presentation, and she seemed fascinated with all the coding I had on there.”
“My mom and dad will be here soon. They’re going to take Scarlett for the night.”
“Why?”
“I thought it would be nice for us to spend the evening alone.”
“I love the way you think, Mrs. Thorne.” I kissed her lips. “I’m happy you worked things out with them. They sure have been a big help since they moved to New York a few months ago.”
“I know, and I’m grateful for that.” She handed Scarlett back over to me. “I’m going to go pack her bag. Can you put her in her highchair and feed her?”
“Of course, I can. Come on, princess. Let’s get some food in your belly.” I tickled her.
Jenna
“How did your doctor’s appointment go?” Lucas asked as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed the side of my neck. “Did you get a refill on your pills?”
“Actually, that’s what we need to talk about.” I turned around in his arms.
“Talk about what?”
“I couldn’t get a refill on my pills.”
“Why not?” His eye narrowed at me.
“Because I’m pregnant, Lucas.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant. You know it’s something that happens when two people have sex and one person screws up her pills again.”
“Ugh, Jenna. How could you let that happen again?”
“I know, but it’s your fault.”
“My fault? How is it my fault that you screwed up your pills again?”
“It just is, and when I think of the reason, I’ll let you know.”
He let out a chuckle and pulled me into him.
“We’re having another baby.”
“Are you happy about it?” I asked him as I broke our embrace.
“I’m very happy. How do you feel about it?”
“I walked around Central Park for over two hours asking myself that. I’m happy that we created another child, but can we handle another one so soon with Scarlett? She’s quite the handful.”
“We can handle anything. What’s one more kid to add to the mix?
We have two hands—one for each of them. I think Scarlett will be happy to have a little brother or sister to play with.
And with them being so close in age, they’ll be best friends.
Maybe this one will be a genius too, and they can have little Einstein conversations together. ” He grinned.
“Maybe.”
“Come here.” He pulled me into him again. “I love you, and I love our growing family.”
“I love you too. I’m going to get fat again, and you’ll still have that sexy body, and I’ll hate you.”
“Babe, your body is always sexy, pregnant and all.” He swooped me up in his arms. “Now, I’m going to take you to the bedroom and show you just how sexy you are.” His lips pressed against mine.