Rein
I took Bella down the hall to her bedroom and closed the door behind us. She turned to face me, putting her back to her bed, and tilted her head to the side.
“Why are we in here?” she asked curiously. “I’m hungry.”
“Me too. Don’t worry. We’ll eat soon.” I went over to her closet and pulled open the doors.
“What are you doing?” Bella asked.
“I need your help with something,” I said, stretching onto my tip toes and grabbing a box from the very top of the closet. It was wrapped in yellow paper and had a purple bow on top.
“What’s that?” Bella asked as I turned around.
“A surprise for your dad.”
Bella smiled. “Really?”
I nodded and walked over to her. “I hid it in your closet because I knew it was the only place he’d never see it.”
“What’s inside the box?”
I patted the top of her head. “You’ll have to wait and find out with your dad, okay? It’s a surprise for the whole family.”
“Okay,” Bella said suspiciously, biting the corner of her cheek.
“Come on, let’s go back in.”
Bella took my hand, and we went back into the bedroom where Brayden had Braxton in his lap and was feeding him pineapples.
There was pineapple juice all over the comforter.
I cleared my throat, and Brayden looked up, his face a mask of sheer amusement. “Hey,” he said. “Watch this. He loves pineapple.” I watched as Brayden put a small piece of pineapple on his spoon. Braxton slurped it up and squinted his eyes closed with delight. Then Brayden noticed the mess he was making. “I’ll do laundry later.”
“It’s alright,” I said with a smile. I climbed up onto the bed and sat on my knees. Bella climbed up beside me. It was then that Brayden noticed the purple and yellow box in my hands. His eyes went from the gift to me.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“A present.”
“Apparently.”
“Wise guy.” I smirked.
He pointed his chin to the box and waggled his eyebrows. “Come on, let’s open it.”
“In a minute,” I said. I met his eyes. “Brayden, I just want you to know how happy you’ve made me. How happy you’ve all made me.” I looked at Bella and rested a hand on her shoulder as she smiled back up at me. I stared into my husband’s eyes. “I am so in love with you, and I have been since the first night you kissed me on your mother’s porch. We both had our very first kiss there. In our hometown. I want to spend my life making you as happy as you make me. And so, I have a gift for the whole family.”
I held out the box.
Brayden nodded at Bella. “You want to open it, kiddo?”
“Can I?” Bella asked, looking up at me.
I nodded and passed her the box.
Brayden watched her as she began unwrapping it. I kept my eyes on him. He leaned forward, lifting Braxton up with him so that he could peer down into Bella’s lap as she pulled the top off the now unwrapped box.
Inside, nestled within a bed of powder blue tissue, was a pair of baby shoes.
Brayden’s eyes widened and swept up to meet mine. I covered my mouth and laughed nervously.
“Are you serious?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Really?”
I nodded again. “I went to the doctor last week and took a test. We’re going to have another baby.”
Brayden let out a victorious shout and lifted Braxton up in the air. I couldn’t contain my laughter as Bella hugged me tightly. Brayden closed in on us and put Braxton in my lap, then wrapped his arms around all of us in a massive bear hug.
“The Hennies are soon to be a family of five,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine. “How do you feel about that, Bella?”
She looked up at us from my lap. “I’m excited,” she said, beaming.
“Yeah?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
I sensed that there was something that happened between them that I was missing, but I decided not to pry. Even though Bella called me “Mommy,” there was a bond she and Brayden shared that was special and private. He would tell me what was going on if he wished, or she would. I wouldn’t ask. I had never had to, up to this point, and I didn’t see a reason to start now.
I reached up and held Brayden’s face in my hands. His whiskery cheeks tickled my palms as he smiled and stared into my eyes; into my soul. “I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you, too. And you, kiddo.” He ruffled Bella’s hair. He grabbed the box from where it now lay on the bed and took the baby shoes out. They were little blue sneakers with white laces and plaid insoles. He stuck his fingers in them and held them up, grinning like an idiot. “So, does this mean you think it’s a boy again?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I couldn’t tell until around the three-month mark last time. I just liked these.”
“They’re pretty cute,” Brayden agreed.
He leaned over and put them on his night stand, where I knew they were to likely stay for the rest of my pregnancy. He had a tendency to hold on to sentimental things. I liked that about him.
“Come on,” I said to Bella. “Let’s finish eating. I’m starving. I couldn’t eat before. I was just too excited to tell you guys.”
Brayden pulled the tray over to us. Braxton rolled out of my lap and onto his stomach on the bed. He played with the sheets as the rest of us began picking at the food on the tray.
I popped a strawberry in my mouth and smiled as Bella did the same. After I swallowed, I dabbed at the corners of my mouth with a napkin. “Are you still hoping you have a sister, Bella?”
Bella took some eggs and started eating. “No, I’ll be happy no matter what. As long as the baby is healthy.”
I looked up at Brayden. He was smiling proudly at his daughter.
“That’s good to hear,” I said, knowing that later that night, as Brayden and I lay in bed, he would have a story to share with me about Bella’s change of heart.
Bella nodded. “Yep. How long until the baby is here?”
“About eight months.”
Brayden chuckled. “So, Florida?”
“Florida.” I nodded.
My mind instantly went to our evening in the spa. I thought of the fountains and the colored lights and the way Brayden had looked at me. It was the same way he was looking at me now. Like he had something he cherished and would never let go of.
It was a wonderful feeling.
My mind conjured up memories of rose petals and silk bed sheets and bubble baths. I remembered having Brayden’s hands all over me as we made love over and over. It had been a night of pure bliss, and it was fitting to think that it might have been the night we conceived our child.
Brayden laid down on his back after we all finished eating. Bella snuggled in beside him, tucking herself into his side. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the side of her head as I laid down on her other side with Braxton in my arms.
“Before I forget,” I said. “I need you to promise me something, Brayden.”
Half of his face was buried in his pillow, but he looked at me with one eye. “Anything.”
“Whether this baby is a boy or a girl, I want to hear you promise right now that we will not give them a name that starts with a B.”
Brayden roared with laughter.
Bella looked back and forth between us, missing the humor but wanting to be part of it.
“Okay, okay,” Brayden said. “I can agree to that. With all of you as witnesses, I promise that we will not name our new family member something that starts with the letter B.”
“Good,” I said.
“What about an R instead?” he asked, lifting his head off the pillow to rest it in one hand.
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Will we wait and leave it as a surprise this time?” Bella asked. “Or can we find out if it’s a boy or a girl early?”
“What do you want to do, Bella?” Brayden asked.
She pursed her lips as she considered his question. “Let’s wait again. I liked the surprise at the end.”
Brayden grinned. “Me too.”
“Do I get a say?” I asked teasingly.
“Nope.” Brayden shook his head.
I snuggled Braxton closer to my chest and rested my cheek on his head. I listened to him breathe softly as he drifted off for a nap. Bella reached out and took his little hand in hers, and I looked up to find Brayden staring at me.
“I love you,” I mouthed silently so as not to disturb the kids.
“I love you, too,” he mouthed back.
His eyes glistened with tears, and he closed them for a moment. One escaped the corner of his eye and rolled into his pillow. I reached out and stroked his cheek. He kissed my palm, and we stayed like that for a while, basking in the news that we were going to bring another child into the world.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of my slumbering family around me as I placed a hand on my belly.
You will be so loved here, I thought peacefully.
The End
Author Note: Appreciate you picking up mine and Ali’s newest release. This one was a doozy. All of the emotion and heat... I needed a drink and a cold shower. We have a few exclusive (published nowhere else) stories below for you. Hope you enjoy them, and if you’re good with just My Last First Kiss, then thanks again. We do what we do for readers like you.