I give her a quick side hug. “Hi, Cass. Wow, look at you. Your baby bump is even more noticeable in the few weeks since I last saw you.” Cassie is the embodiment of a pregnancy glow. She was always beautiful, but with impending motherhood, she is stunning.
She beams at me, taking my hand and placing it on her protruding belly. “I can feel kicks now too.” I feel a fluttering under my fingers, and we grin broadly at each other. I give her another hug, overwhelmed by the experience.
Jarrod leans around me to say hi to Cassie when we’ve finished chatting, then reaches for my hand. I like how open he is with his affection. He likes holding my hand in public, giving me hugs or kisses. And when we’re alone, he is exceptionally generous with his affection. Memories of last night have me shifting to cross my legs on the hard wooden bench, my hand clenching against Jarrod’s, causing him to look at me with one quirked brow. Damn, I love the way his eyebrow does that. It’s his way of telling me that he knows exactly what dirty thoughts I’m thinking.
I smile back at him sweetly, and he squeezes my hand back. The music stops, and the hushed sounds of the crowd turning in their seats to the back of the church has me doing the same. We’re all hoping to catch the first glimpse of the bride. When the music begins again, it’s a harp and cello duet that is so hauntingly beautiful that shivers run up my spine and my eyes become misty.
My happy tears finally fall as Blake and Bec share their first kiss as husband and wife. Jarrod notices and slips an arm around me, hugging me to him before placing a lingering kiss on my cheek, and I swear a few more happy tears slip out. Luckily, I invested in that waterproof mascara.
With the formalities over, we file out of the church along with all the guests. Jarrod clears a path through the crowd for Cassie and me to follow behind him unhindered.
Cassie hooks her arm through mine and whispers to me, “He’s a keeper.”
I vigorously nod my agreement. “That’s my plan.” She high-fives me before we continue to make our way over to our friends. When Cassie is deposited back with Luke, Jarrod and I join our friends in congratulating the happy couple.
ANOTHER THREE MONTHS LATER
A tear trickles down my cheek, and I quickly swipe it away before it falls on the head of the baby in my arms. I’m back in Manhattan to meet Cassie and Luke’s beautiful little girl, Ava Maree Steele. I tip my tear-stained face up to look at my boyfriend standing beside me. His arm slung around my shoulders.
“Cass, she is the cutest baby I have ever seen,” I enthuse as I trail my index finger around her cheek and under her chin. Ava has soft, downy, fair hair, which I suspect in a few months will be as pretty as her blond-haired mother. But as she looks up at me, there is no denying she has daddy’s unusual blue-gray eyes.
“Do you want to hold her?” I ask Jarrod, and from the look on his face, you’d have thought I’d asked him to hold a priceless Ming dynasty antique vase.
I laugh softly as I pass the baby carefully into his arms and he looks down at Ava with what could only be described as awe. He holds the tiny, fragile bundle in his muscular arms against his firm chest, and my ovaries do a happy dance.
“It suits you, but this little angel knows who her daddy is,” Luke says as he leans down to kiss his baby girl on her head. Little Ava is going to be so spoiled.
“So what have you guys been up to lately?” Cassie asks from her seat on the sofa at their Upper East Side apartment.
“Nothing as special as you guys but … I’ve decided to move to Manhattan.” Cassie jumps up to hug me before bombarding me with twenty questions.
“Whoa, slow down, and I’ll explain.” I look over at Jarrod, who is smiling back. “So Jarrod has asked me to move in with him. He’s just bought a new house with a little yard that Ned will love and … we don’t want to do the long-distance thing anymore.”
Cassie grins as she looks from Jarrod to me. “This is fantastic. Congratulations. But when is the big move? Soon I hope.”
“Not soon enough,” Jarrod grumbles as Luke takes Ava from his arms and he wanders over to sit on the sofa next to me, resting his hand on my shoulder.
I lean into Jarrod’s touch before turning my gaze back toward Cassie. “Basically, I need to wait till the end of term. Then I’ve got all the summer to get settled and find a new school.”
Luke walks back into the room after putting Ava in her crib and asks, “So what did I miss?”
I fill them both in on our plans. Then after we order takeout, we settle into a relaxing evening with our friends. Tonight is a glimpse into the future of many more meals we’ll share together after I move permanently to New York.
In Jarrod’s bed later that night, I snuggle close in his strong arms. This has become my favorite place to be, especially when we’re both naked. It’s moments like this I miss the most when we’re apart.
Not for much longer, I happily tell myself.
“Tonight was fun, wasn’t it? And little Ava is the cutest,” I muse.
Jarrod shifts position so he can see my face better, then selects one of my long curls lying across the pillow. He twirls it through his fingers, a habit he has developed over our time together. This simple, intimate gesture never fails to tug on my heartstrings and make me feel cherished and loved.
“Ava is pretty cute but so tiny,” he says. Then, clearing his throat, he continues, “Madison … do you want a baby?” The air I just breathed in catches, and my heart thumps hard in my chest.
“Do you mean … our baby?” I stutter, barely able to get the words out.
His brow draws down in a frown. “Yes, Madison, our baby. I sure as hell don’t want you having a baby with anyone else.” I laugh a little from relief and a little because he looks so grumpy. I do love his grumpy face.
I kiss him hard, my eyes a little watery when I think about having Jarrod’s babies. Holding his face between my hands, smoothing the crease in his forehead with my thumb, I whisper a little breathlessly, “Jarrod, I would love to have your babies.”
