Epilogue
GRACE
One year later…
Igrab a handful of underwear from the drawer, discard the lacey ones with a sigh, and throw the plain cotton maternity panties in the suitcase.
“Whoa there…” Calvin grabs one of the lacey panties from the drawer and holds it up, dangling it off his finger.
“We should bring this one. It still fits.”
“It doesn’t still fit, Cal. None of my clothes fit, in case you haven’t noticed.” I snatch the panties out of his hand and drop them back in the drawer. “Besides, there is no ‘we’ in this scenario. I’m going with Hope, and you’re staying here to finish the nursery.”
He shakes his head and folds his arms. “Not happening. If you’re going, I’m going.”
I stop my packing and stare at my husband with my hands on my hips.
When Hope told me she was flying out to find the father of Justin, there was no question I was going with her.
From what she told me about the guy, he was last seen chasing her down the road with an axe in his hands.
I don’t like the idea of her going to find him, but I get why she wants to for Justin’s sake.
But there’s no way I’d let her do this alone.
“If you think I’m letting my family traipse off to the other side of the country without me, then you don’t know me at all. I don’t know why the two of you hatched this plan last night. It was supposed to be a baby shower, not a damn vacation planning session.”
He’s right. Of course Calvin wouldn’t let me go on my own.
He doesn’t even like me going to the store alone.
Sometimes I think the reason he got me pregnant so fast was because he knew I’d have to give up the skydiving job.
Not that I mind. With Calvin in my life, I no longer have the urge to spike my adrenaline so often.
A smile plays at my lips, and a surge of love has me across the room and into his arms. “I do know you. My protector, my hero.”
He eyes me suspiciously. “Are you laughing at me again?”
I laugh. “No.” The truth is, I love the way Calvin looks after me. I love his protective nature, and when I hatched this plan with Hope last night, I knew there was no way he would let us go on our own.
“I’m just fucking with you Cal. Of course you’re coming. I’ve already booked your flight.”
He throws his head back and laughs.
“I do know you, husband; I know you better than you think. I’ve booked us middle seats near the rear of the plane, two rows down from the emergency exits.”
“The safest seats,” he murmurs.
“So you’ve told me.”
His arm wraps around me and his lips press against my neck, causing my skin to pimple.
My belly makes it too hard for me to rub against him. At six months in, I’m already huge. If Calvin had his way I wouldn’t be flying at all, but I’ve already shown him the info I found online demonstrating that it’s safe for pregnant women to fly.
“When’s the flight?” he murmurs.
“We’re picking Hope up in thirty minutes.”
My hand runs over the bulge in his pants. You hear about women getting horny during pregnancy, but damn, my hormones are all over the place.
“I’ve got a pregnancy thing that I need your help with.”
“Oh yeah?” His eyebrows raise, and a hand slides between my legs. “Is this helping?”
His voice goes husky as I whimper against his palm. My pussy tingles, and my body cries out for a release.
“Calvin…” I whine. I’m needy and horny, and all it takes is a few strokes from his hand and I’m bearing down on his palm, coming through my leggings.
“Fuck, that didn’t take long.”
“Stop talking.” I scramble to take my leggings off. “I need another fix if I’m going to make it through the flight.”
Calvin slides his jeans off and gently pushes me onto my knees on the bed. He grabs my hips and thrusts them into the air.
As he enters me I push my hips back, groaning at the full feeling, at the relief of getting what my body craves.
Calvin’s hand slides between my legs, moving in exactly the way I like it.
The pressure builds too quickly and I release again, clenching around him.
But my husband knows I’m not done yet. He keeps his palm pressed against my clit as he drives into me, making me cum again and again until finally he allows himself to lose control, his fingers digging into my hips as he drives home.
Sated, for now, I flop onto the bed, rolling over so as not to crush the baby growing in my belly.
“You good?” Calvin asks, offering me a hand.
He smiles down at me, the corners of his eyes creasing in tiny smile lines. He looks younger now than when I first met him, less uptight and more carefree.
I take his arm, and he pulls me up. “I’m good.” I’m more than good.
I can’t say I never do foolish things, but I give him less to worry about.
These days I’m content to stay in our cabin, help him with the designs for the extension and cook us delicious meals in the evenings, then curl up by the fire in his arms. It turns out I don’t need the adrenaline rush when I’ve got Calvin to make me feel alive.