July 8th, 2016
Ivy and I had been back in Cold, Montana for two days, and the instant our plane had landed, I felt like we’d been going nonstop.
It was a much-needed trip, though.
I’d needed to give Chief Pulse my official notice. Sure, I could have done it over the phone, but it was something I wanted to do in person. He’d been like a father to me, and I had to tell him the news that I’d be permanently staying with Ivy on the West Coast face-to-face.
I’d needed to make sure things were running smoothly at Ruby Jane’s.
I’d wanted to catch up with all of the important people that were a huge part of my life in Cold. Jeremy and Liza and the girls, Sam, Mary, and so many others. It was a surprisingly long list for a guy who had spent the better part of the past nearly seven years striving to avoid anything that made him feel too much.
And I’d needed to make sure the seventeen-year-old kid I’d hired to watch over my house and keep my yard up to snuff was doing what he should.
Not to mention, I needed to figure out what in the fuck I was going to do with this big-ass house since I wouldn’t be living in Montana anymore.
It felt weird selling it, and I sure as fuck didn’t need the money from it, but it also felt stupid for it to stay empty.
Instantly, I thought about Jeremy and his family.
I knew Liza loved her little house on the outskirts of town, but I also knew they were running out of space. Surely, Jeremy would put up a fight, but I’d have to find a way to convince him. Not to mention, they could sell their house, and instead of having to put the profit toward a new mortgage, they could just put that money away for the girls’ college fund.
I made a mental note to put that on my to-do list before we left.
And then I made a mental note to block out three or more spots on the to-do list at the least. It was going to be a hard sell, and I suspected it wouldn’t be the kind of thing that went quickly. Jeremy was the type of guy who liked to work for everything he got, but I’d just have to find a way to make him think he was doing me a favor more than anything else.
Once I slipped on my boots, I checked the time and realized we needed to haul ass if we wanted to be at Sam’s place by noon.
“You ready, baby?” I called toward the bathroom. I stepped over the threshold of the master en suite and found Ivy standing inside my bathroom, fidgeting with her hair and frowning.
“Once I figure out something to do with my hair,” she said and picked up a brush to run it through her still blond locks. “Rat’s nests have looked better than this mess on my head.”
“You’re crazy, baby. You look incredibly gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes. “I appreciate the compliment, but you don’t understand because you’re a man.”
I chuckled at that. “What’s me being a man have to do with how your hair looks?”
“Because men don’t get the kind of maintenance that is required to a be girl. Your daily routine consists of brushing your teeth and taking a fucking shower. And that’s literally it.”
“Sometimes I have to shave.”
“Ohh man. Alert the freaking media,” she said with a sarcastic little grin.
“And sometimes I have to watch you change your outfit fifteen times,” I teased, and her face morphed into a glare. “That is also a large part of my routine.”
She turned those fiery green eyes away from the mirror and onto me. “Don’t start with me today, Fox,” she said and pointed her brush at my face. “I spent the first two hours of my morning puking. And then another hour trying to force breakfast down my throat despite feeling like a motion-sick sailor in a hurricane.”
Nearly four months pregnant with identical twins and Ivy was deeply in the trenches of what most would call morning sickness. Although, lately, it appeared it was all-day sickness.
She puked more than a hungover frat kid.
I held up both hands and relinquished the unwinnable battle that was dealing with a hormonal, pregnant Ivy. She lived her life on a hair trigger these days, and ironically, today, the trigger seemed to be hair. “Listen, you take all the time you need. I’ll give Sam a call and let him know we’re running a little late.”
“What time is it?”
“Quarter till noon.”
“We’re supposed to be there at noon!” she exclaimed, and I wanted to point out that was exactly why I was in here trying to get her to stop worrying about her hair, but I preferred to keep my balls intact, thank you very much.
So, instead, I just stared back at her with the most neutral expression I could force on to my face. “Well, I’m sure Sam will understand. Do you want me to tell him we’ll be there at 12:30?”
She sighed, tossing her hair into a high ponytail with quick hands, her long blond locks hanging down her back in gorgeous waves.
How this woman could ever think she was anything less than beautiful was beyond me.
“All right,” she said and tossed the brush back onto the counter. “I guess this will just have to do. I don’t want to make Sam wait any longer.”
She strode out of the bathroom and slipped on little black flats.
I followed her lead out of the bedroom and into the living room, and as I watched her grab her purse from the kitchen counter, I marveled at the fact that she had the teeniest hint of a baby belly showing beneath her tank top.
Just the idea of it made me grin, and I couldn’t stop myself from stepping toward her and placing my hand on her belly.
“W-what are you doing?” She looked up at me, eyes narrowed in confusion, but I just smiled down at her like she was my whole fucking world.
Because, God, Ivy Stone was my whole fucking world.
We’d been through so fucking much.
We’d had to deal with so much.
But one constant had always remained—I loved this woman madly.
The fact that she was pregnant with my kids filled me up with so much joy, sometimes it felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest.
I squatted down, and with both hands on her barely showing belly, I pressed my lips against it. “Hi, babies,” I whispered and stared up at Ivy. “I hope you’re nice and cozy in there.”
The frustrated tension of her brow lifted, and she gazed down at me in awe.
One last kiss to her belly and I stood to my feet. “Ready?”
She stepped up on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips to the corner of my mouth. “I love you, you swoony fucking charmer, you. I’m sorry for my bitchy outburst earlier. I’d like to say it won’t happen again, but that would probably be a lie.”
I chuckled at that and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Love you too, baby.”
We walked out of my house and hopped into the truck. And it didn’t take long before we were on the main road, driving through the familiar roads of Cold, Montana.
The town looked so damn small in comparison to the LA cityscape I’d become accustomed to over the past few months.
It was cozy and homey, and I knew if I’d miss anything, it would be the way a small town like Cold could make you feel. Welcoming and warm and laid-back, it was the polar opposite of LA.
Where life sped by at a one-hundred-miles-an-hour pace there, in Cold, the days drifted and the hours waned, and no one appeared to be in a hurry to do anything.
It was refreshing.
But after a while, I knew it held the possibility to make some people feel restless.
June Fox turned June Gatto was a prime example of that. I didn’t want Ivy Stone to be another.
Cold hadn’t been enough for my mom. She’d wanted more. And apparently, she’d needed more so much she was willing to leave her child behind.
Despite her efforts, I’d yet to have any contact with my mother since that day Ivy and I had stepped into her office.
And I didn’t regret it.
For me, I had all of the closure I needed when I found out she’d written the screenplay for a movie about one of the worst things to ever happen in my life.
Some people might have thought I was cutting myself short, that I was giving up on the possibility of having a relationship with her, but I knew my limits. And when it came to my mom, I’d more reached them. I’d managed just fine without her for most of my life, and I sure as fuck didn’t need her now.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn from the lessons she’d taught. When it came to what Ivy wanted to do, I had to be open to the possibility that staying in Cold wasn’t what would make her happy. We’d agreed to head back to LA for now, but ultimately, I hoped we’d compromise on something a little less chaotic.
After driving through the city and onto the back roads, I turned into Sam’s driveway, and Ivy bounced excitedly in the passenger seat.
The instant my truck slowed to a stop, Sam’s smiling figure came striding out of the front door. He glowed with excitement as he walked over to the truck and opened Ivy’s door.
“Ivy girl,” Sam greeted with a big ole grin. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. You’re practically glowing, sweetheart. God, it’s so good to see you.” He wrapped her up in a warm hug, and I cut the engine and slid out of the driver’s seat.
When I rounded the truck and met them on the other side, the old man’s kind eyes turned to me.
He didn’t hold back, also pulling me into a tight hug and patting my back a few times with a strong hand. “Good to see you, son,” he said and I smiled.
“Good to see you too.”
“Well, come on inside,” he said and gestured us toward the front door. “I’ve got a pot of chili ready.”
We followed his lead, and the instant we stepped inside the front door, the delicious aroma of home-cooked chili filled my nose.
Damn, it’d been a long while since I’d had some of Sam’s famous chili.
My stomach growled in excitement at the mere thought of it.
But my eagerness over food turned to concern when I looked over at Ivy to find her eyes wide and lips clenched tightly together. Her throat bobbed harshly as she swallowed a few times.
And then, quick as a whip, she lifted her hand to her mouth and ran in the direction of the bathroom.
Oh, fuck.
Morning sickness and chili were apparently not a good mix.
“Ivy?” Sam questioned with big eyes, but Ivy was long gone, inside his bathroom down the hall. “Is she okay?” he asked.
I hesitated underneath his curious stare.
We hadn’t told him the big news yet.
Hell, we hadn’t told anyone but Ivy’s parents. They’d been beyond elated when we’d shown them the ultrasound pictures over dinner at their house two weeks ago.
Helen had hopped up from her seat with tears in her eyes and hugged Ivy so tightly it made me grin from ear to ear. And Dave had immediately followed her lead, hugging both of his girls in his arms as the three of them verbalized their joy through I love yous and congratulations.
It had been a beautiful moment.
And I didn’t want to rob Ivy of experiencing that same kind of moment with Sam.
So, I did my best to brush off his concern.
“Uh, yeah,” I muttered. “She was feeling a little unwell today. I’ll go check to see if she’s all right.”
Sam stared back at me with puzzlement in his eyes, but I just turned on my heels and went to check on Ivy. By the time I reached the bathroom door, she was already heaving this morning’s breakfast into the toilet.
“You okay?” I asked her on a whisper as I stepped inside.
She nodded but then heaved once more.
But eventually, she made a miraculous recovery, which I’d learned was common with morning sickness, and hopped back to her feet.
She stopped at the sink to splash some cold water onto her face and swish the bile out of her mouth, but as quick as it hit her, she was completely over it.
She reached into her purse and popped a Tic Tac into her mouth. “I think it was just the smell of chili. My stomach wasn’t expecting it.”
“You going to be okay to stay inside the house?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Well, just let me know if that changes, okay?”
She nodded again, and we made our way back into the living room.
Grandpa Sam stood at the mouth of the hallway, his hands crossed over his chest.
“All right,” he said, and both Ivy and I stopped in front of him. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean, Sam?” Ivy asked, and he glanced down at her belly before meeting her eyes again.
“Glowing like the sun…running to the bathroom to puke… I might be an old man, but I’m still quick as a whip, darlin’,” he said, and Ivy burst into laughter.
“You’re so ornery sometimes, I swear,” she said through a few giggles. “And just so you know, we were going to tell you, but apparently, you have zero patience.”
His brow rose up in surprise. “So, it’s true?” he asked and looked back and forth between us. “You’re pregnant?”
Ivy and I both smiled at each other for a brief moment, and then she broke our gaze to meet Sam’s excited eyes again. “I’m almost four months along,” she said, and her hand instinctually reached up to gently rest on her tiny little belly.
“Four months along?” he questioned and then clapped his hands. “Well, I’ll be damned! If that ain’t the best news I’ve heard in a long, long time!” He stepped forward and wrapped both of us up in a big ole bear hug. “Congratulations, you two. I couldn’t be any happier about this news.”
“Well…” Ivy’s smile grew wide and amused. “There’s one more thing, actually…”
He quirked a brow. “One more thing?”
“Uh-huh,” she said and nodded. “We’re having twins.”
“Twins?” His jaw damn near hit the floor. “Two babies?” he asked and held up two fingers in the air.
“Yep,” I said and placed my hand on Ivy’s belly. “There’s two little babies in there.”
Sam clapped his hands again. “Well, talk about some good news. I can’t wait to tell Mary. She will be so happy.”
It was moments like these, hearing Sam, Grace’s grandfather, chatter on excitedly about Ivy’s pregnancy that I realized just how far we’d come.
Life had thrown us some serious punches. Some life-altering obstacles.
And there were days where it almost felt like too much to handle.
But life had also given us this.
These special moments.
These amazing people.
This sometimes chaotic and messy, but always beautiful, life together.
We were blessed.
Even after all of the pain we’d suffered through. Even though we still had demons of our past that really gave us hell some days. Even despite all of that, we were lucky.
Wherever we decided to live, I knew I’d miss Cold. Most of all, I’d miss seeing all of the people inside this small town that had shaped my life, but none of them was the center of my world anymore.
The woman of my dreams and the babies in her belly were.
I was ready to start my life with Ivy.
With her by my side, wherever we were, whatever we were doing, I was home.