Epilogue
Will
Six months later
Clarke pressed her palms to my chest and rocked her hips to meet mine. She was six months pregnant, looking more beautiful than ever. Her belly was so round and smooth, and I loved seeing her with my child inside growing her.
I ran my fingers over her skin, and she sighed.
“Stop touching my stomach while we’re having sex,” she ordered with a smile.
I moved my hand to her hip. “I can’t help it.”
She stopped moving. “You should get on top.”
I thrust into her. “No way, I like the view too much. Ride my cock, baby.”
Clarke resumed her slow pace, swatting at my hand when it lingered. I loved touching her. From the moment I saw the first change in her, I couldn’t help myself.
We hadn’t planned for kids. Clarke was nowhere near ready, though I couldn’t have been more excited when she told me about missing her period.
She found out a few weeks after our wedding.
According to the doctor, the first night we had sex without a condom, we conceived.
So much for using the pull-out method as birth control.
I massaged her breasts in my hands, and she hissed in response. She was more sensitive than usual, and even after all these months, I was still trying to figure out how to navigate her new body.
The first few months were pure hell for us. We could barely have sex without it hurting her. The doctor said it had to do with a change in blood flow during pregnancy. But I learned how to make it better for her.
“Ow,” Clarke cried out.
She stopped moving, her hand flying to her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” I sat up and covered her hand with mine. “Talk to me, Clarke.”
“He kicked.”
She smiled as our eyes met, and my expression matched hers. Clarke moved my hand to the exact place and held it there until he kicked again.
My smile was so wide my cheeks hurt. “You were worried something was wrong because he hadn’t kicked you yet.”
“The doctor said by twenty weeks. I just thought….”
“Better late than never, baby.”
We held our hands on her stomach and silently sat, hoping he would kick again. Seeing our son on the sonogram wasn’t the same as feeling him.
I pressed my lips to her stomach. “I can’t wait to meet you, Damon. You’re going to be a hockey player like your daddy.”
“What if he wants to be like his mommy? He could be the best investigative journalist in the world.”
“Hockey is way cooler.”
She tapped my shoulder, then slid off me. “Maybe he’ll report about hockey.”
“Where are you going, woman?” I rolled onto my side and kissed her. “We’re not done yet.”
“You’re not hard anymore.”
“Sorry, wifey. I can’t stop thinking about the baby and how much I love him already.” I pressed my hand to her stomach. “Has he kicked again?”
She shook her head.
“I can’t wait to teach him how to hold a stick, check an opponent, or make his first slapshot.”
She pushed the hair off my forehead and smiled. “You’ll be a good dad, Will.”
“I hope so. My dad was so awesome when Mia and I were kids. We did everything together. I want Damon to have an even better childhood than me.”
“He definitely won’t have one as bad as mine.”
“We’re going to rock this parenting thing,” I promised her.
“I’m scared.” She bit her lip. “A million things could go wrong.”
I traced circles on the top of her hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right there with you. I got you, girl.”
“It’s going to be hard when you’re on the road. We don’t have anyone to help us with the baby.”
“Mia’s in this with you. Whatever you’re going through, she’s going through it, too.”
“I’m glad we moved back to Philly. Makes this easier having family close by.”
My cell phone blared from across the room. Then Clarke’s rang. We both sat up, and I slid off the mattress to retrieve our phones from the dresser.
I answered both at the same time and put the calls on speaker.
“I’m in labor,” Mia yelled into Clarke’s phone.
“Bro, get to the hospital,” Ethan said into mine. “Mia’s having the baby.”
“We’ll be there in twenty,” I told them before hanging up. “Get dressed, babe. We gotta roll.”
I helped Clarke out of bed, and we dressed as quickly as possible. She attempted to reach for her shoes, and I almost had a heart attack at the sight of her damn near tipping over.
“Sit on the bed, babe.”
I grabbed her shoes and slipped her swollen feet into her sneakers. It pissed Clarke off that she had to buy a different size shoe after swapping out all her clothes. At least she only had a few more months to go.
“Look at it this way,” I told Clarke, “you’ll know what to expect after you talk to Mia. Maybe it will help settle your worries about going into labor.”
“Every woman is different. This hasn’t been the easiest six months, not with all the puking and body aches, and don’t even get me started on the pain during sex. I can’t wait to get him out of me.”
I kissed her forehead, then helped her up. “You’re doing great.”
She slipped her arms around my neck and kissed my lips. “I love you, Will. Thank you for being my rock. I haven’t had many people I can count on.”
I hooked my arm around her back and kissed her. “Love you, too, baby. Until death do us part.”