After hours of playing games, eating, laughing, and celebrating my son with those I hold closest to my heart, I wrap my arms around Sloane, resting my hands on her bump. “You ready to go home, love?”
“Hmm, as long as we can take some cake.”
“I’ll have a whole damn bakery built on to our house if you ask.”
“Promises, promises,” she says with a smirk on her face. “Come on, let's go say our goodbyes.”
Epilogue II
“I can’t believe we’re having a boy,” I say, holding the sonogram in my hands, cuddling with Ledger in our hammock.
“I’m still relieved it’s not a minotaur,” Ledger says, earning a slap across his chest.
Of all the places we’ve traveled to, I swear my favorite is in this hammock watching the sun set. It reminds me of the morning we watched the sunrise after getting married. Ledger reminded me that I could watch the sunrise any time I wanted, but we both know I’m not getting up before the sun does.
Sitting here, curled up with my husband…I’m not convinced life could ever be any better. But when our little guy arrives, I know it will. I’ve already been referring to him as LJ in my head, for Ledger Jr., but his dad isn’t on board with that plan.Yet.Sighing, I shift to try to get a little more comfortable, and I already know this is nothing compared to what’s coming as I get bigger.
“I already can’t get comfy. I don’t know what you’re going to do with me once I’m huge.”
Ledger smiles into the crook of my neck. “I’ll carry you around, baby. And I’ll give you massages all day, every day. We need to ask the doctor if it’s possible for you to be massaged too much.”
“Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess. But for now, I need to get out of this hammock.”
He helps me to my feet, and we head inside. I feel…horny. That’s the problem. So freaking horny.
He looks a little nervous, which is rare for him, so I try to stay calm and prepare myself forwhateverhe’s got up his sleeve. He leads me toward the nursery, then opens a door to what’s been a catch-all room. As he steps inside, I see the space is dominated by a narrow padded…chair? I’m not really sure what I’m looking at because it looks like a plush chaise lounge and a gynecology chair had a baby. I’m seeing back support, adjustable head and neck support, soft-looking fabric…
“What is this, Ledger?”
I turn to find him looking sheepish. “I know it looks weird, but I had the idea that something where you can sit and relax in multiple positions might be necessary at some point. So we drew it up with the idea that everything is adjustable…you can basically change the angle on anything, and even the padding for the cushions can be changed out depending on if you want it softer or firmer. I had several different covers made, so if you don’t like this material, there are others…” He lets out a long breath, and I see his cheeks are pink. “The idea was a massage chair, but then I couldn’t stop imagining it as a sex chair. So it’s…both?”
Now that he mentions it, I can see his vision. Looking around the room, I see shelves holding massage oils, toys, lube,and dozens of flameless, flickering candles, all adding to the ambience. Lavender fills the room from a diffuser, and spa music is playing from a hidden speaker. There are no windows, but a few lamps cast the room in a soft glow.
“Ledger, did you make me a pregnancy sex room?”
He can tell I’m in awe of what he’s done with the place, and his confidence is clearly back. He stands behind me and wraps me in his arms. “Pregnancymassageroom, Angel. If sex happens here, well, that’s just a bonus.Butgiven how much we’re both enjoying you being pregnant”—he nips at my neck—“I figured it was a wise investment to go ahead and have all this built out.”
Looking at the chair and seeing how comfy I’ll be able to sit with my legs fully supported but spread wide, any happy tears I was about to cry are replaced with hot need shooting straight up my spine.
“I can’t believe you did this. Are you going to give me a massage?”
“Well, that’s the other part of your surprise, baby. Since you wouldn’t let me stare at you during your online classes…”
“That was weird!”
“Fully disagree, but I digress. I had to do something with those hours every day. So for the past year or so, I’ve been training to become your personal massage therapist. I just finished my prenatal certification this week.”
Okay, I have to face him for this. I turn around, and he has a wide smile that’s one of my favorites. He looks so pleased with himself and carefree, and I wish I could eat him with a spoon.
His smile turns into a dirty smirk. “A spoon, baby? You can just suck straight from the source, you know.”
I squeak. “I did not mean to say that out loud.”
Ledger laughs at me before beginning to unwrap my robe and my braid. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately, and it’s amazing. Until we can develop technology for me to read your mind, it’s like the closest I can get to your inner monologue. I thoroughly enjoy it, but I didn’t realize I’ve been such a bad influence on you. You sweara lotin your thoughts these days, baby,” he says, spinning me to face him naked. His hot gaze sweeps from my head to my feet, before coming back to my eyes, and I gasp, seeing the raw emotion there. Placing a hand on my belly, he rasps, “You haveno ideawhat it does to me, knowing that I did this to you. The pleasure of seeing you like this…it’s almost more than I can bear some days.”
He rubs my stomach for another few seconds before seeming to shake himself out of it and leading me to my chair…although it feels more like a throne, all things considered. I’m naked, but the temperature in here is perfect.
Once I’m melted into the chair, which is possibly the most comfortable thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting on, Ledger produces a plate of sliced fruit from a fridge in the back of the room and some chocolate sauce for dipping. “Is this an okay snack, baby?” I open my mouth in answer and let him feed me until the entire plate is gone.
