Our nightly call was cut short the night before because of a team meeting, so I didn’t get to try out my new toy. And now I had to wait until seven when the team was done with their post-game meeting.

I filled my time unpacking my purchases from yesterday. Besides the most adorable miniature clothing in the world, I also managed to buy a crib, a car seat, and a rocker. All of which was being delivered early tomorrow.

Unfortunately, that meant I had to spend the afternoon packing up my office and moving things. I left the big furniture and heavy boxes stacked in the corner but moved a lot of my paperwork to my bedroom. I’d have Tony stop by and take it to the new building.

I think one of the reasons I didn’t want to buy baby furniture was because I knew I didn’t have enough room. I was going to have to sell my place and buy something a little bigger. But I had some time to consider all my options.

I was almost finished clearing out the entire room when someone knocked on the front door. It was a little after six, and I figured it was just Tony, dropping off dinner like I couldn’t feed myself. I might not be a great cook, but I was an adult. I knew how to order takeout.

But when I opened the door, Cooper was standing there with a bag slung over his shoulder.

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s not quite the greeting I was expecting.”

“No, really, what are you doing here? Didn’t you have a game today? That just finished two hours ago?”

“We don’t have a game tomorrow, and I talked coach into letting me take the day off. After I finished the morning drills,” he said and dropped his bag. “I have a little over twenty-four hours before I have to catch a flight back.”

“You shouldn’t have. You’re going to be exhausted.”

I reached out and touched his chest just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating him.

“I’ll deal with it. Now, shut up and kiss me.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me into an embrace. His hot lips covered mine, and I fell into his arms.

“You should invite me in because I don’t think your neighbors will approve of what I have planned.”

“Then, by all means, come in and get those clothes off.”

I pulled on his shirt, walking backward. We stumbled together down the narrow hall, never more than an inch apart, leaving a trail of shoes and clothing on our way to my bedroom. Thankfully, my mind hadn't completely checked out yet and reminded me that my bed was covered with boxes and papers.

“To the sofa,” I said and bit his bottom lip.

“I like the way you think.”

I pushed him down on the loveseat and straddled his hips, yanking off my bra on my way down.

“Those are new,” he said, cupping my breasts. He circled the hardened nipple with his rough thumb, and I sucked in a breath. “And so sensitive.”

“A perk of pregnancy.”

He trailed feathery kisses down my neck, across my collarbone, and then proceed to lick and nip at the beaded peaks of my breast.

The sensation was more intense than anything I expected, and I could already feel that coil of need tightening deep in my core. I buried my hands in his hair and cried out his name. I was on the verge of coming, and he’d barely touched me. But it wasn’t enough.

I rose up and adjusted our position until I could slide down his length, sinking all the way to the hilt.

He felt so good. I started moving, taking my own pleasure from him. He leaned back, easing his hand between us so his finger drug across my clit every time I came down. It wasn’t long before our frantic lovemaking pushed me over the edge.

I screamed out his name, and he answered with a few more brutal pumps, whispered how much he loved me in my ear. As I came down from the high, it struck me just how much I loved this man. The intensity of the moment hit me square in the chest, and I buried my face in his neck and cried.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered into my hair and wrapped me in his arms.

I snuggled into his embrace as he rubbed a hand up and down my back, soothing me. We sat like that for several minutes until I calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” I said, sniffing, the tears finally drying up. “I don’t always know what will set off the tears. I’m so happy you’re here.”

“I had to come.” He pulled back and wiped the last of the tears away. “I needed to see you.”

I pressed my forehead against his and closed my eyes. All my doubts and fears about the future lessened. We could do this. We’d figure out a way to make this work.

We sat there, holding on to each other until the cool air seeped into my damp skin and caused a shiver to run up my spine.

“I should get you upstairs. I just want to spend these next twenty-four hours wrapped in your arms.”

“That’s going to be a problem,” I said, making a face. “I was cleaning out the office and moved a bunch of stuff to my bedroom. We’ll have to move the boxes off the bed before we can get into it.”

He frowned. “You aren’t supposed to be moving boxes.”

“They’re lite. I promise. I needed to make room in the office. I bought a crib, and it’s getting delivered tomorrow.”

His eyes drifted down to my bump. He moved, his big hands covering my growing belly and sighed.

“This is really happening,” he said with an almost reverent tone. He looked up, his eyes suddenly going wide. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m happy. I love you, and I’m already in love with our baby, but this is the first time it seems real.”

I covered his hand with mine. “It’s okay. I say the same thing at least five times a day.”

He smiled and moved me off his lap. “Well, it looks like I need to move some boxes. Did you see where I tossed my pants?”

It took him about twenty minutes to move everything to the front entry. I ordered us food, and we ate in bed while I showed him all the random baby things I’d bought. The clothes, bedding, and toys. Everything in creams and other gender neutral colors.

“Do you want to find out the sex?” I asked, realizing we hadn’t discussed it yet.

“I’d like to know. You’re due in August. There’s a really good chance I could be away when you go into labor. I don’t want to find out over the phone.”

“I’m fine with that. I’ll make sure to wait for the ultrasound until you’re back from Florida. We’ll find out together.”

He looked over the piles of stuff I’d bought and pointed to the black bag sitting in the chair across the room. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to actually see it. That was your surprise.”  I told him about my trip to the adult toy shop and my educational, but still awkward chat with Colleen.

“So are you going to take it out of the bag? Maybe we can give it a test drive tonight.”

With my cheeks burning, I pulled out the box. He snatched it from me laughing. “That is the brightest pink I’ve ever seen.”

“Wait,” I said and removed the vibrator from the box and turned it on.

“Why does it light up?”

“That’s exactly what I said!”

“Now it looks like a tiny vibrating lightsaber.” He held it out like a sword and made a whooshing noise. “Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?”

I burst out laughing as he waved it around, making noises.

“Stop it! You’re going to make me pee myself!”

“We should turn off the lights and see how it works in the dark,” he said, crawling up the bed towards me. He pulled my hips until I was flat on the bed and covered my body. His blue-green eyes were dark with desire, and I was already starting to warm up.

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”