“You’re right,” Corinne conceded. “I always wanted a sibling. Being an only child sucks. I guess they have a built-in best friend for life.”
“I like that,” he said honestly. “Now, come on. It’s been a long day. I’ll get you home so you can have a nap.”
They stopped by Dr. Hu’s office, where she gave them a list of things to do to help with the Hyperemesis Gravidarum symptoms. Corinne wasn’t too pleased to learn that croissants were on the lists of food to avoid, but Dr. Hu said it was just a suggestion, that every Hyperemesis Gravidarum was different. If Corinne could stomach the pastries, then it wasn’t a bad thing.
Before they left her office, the doctor made a point to say that they could still have sex, which made Corinne blush and mumble something incoherent. Paris smiled at Dr. Hu. He knew that he and Corinne were far from being at that step, but it was clear that the doctor thought they were a couple. That’s all Paris wanted, so it felt nice that they appeared to be a unit.
Corinne was quiet on the drive back to Johanna’s house. Paris would have preferred to bring Corinne back to his place, to their home, but he knew she wasn’t ready for that.
Not yet.
Especially not after the shock of finding out they had twins on the way.
As soon as they arrived at the large mansion, Paris ordered Corinne up to her bedroom so she could rest a bit, while he made her some lunch. She argued because, of course she did.
“I’m not an invalid. I might be creating baby dragons up in here, but I can still make my own food. I don’t have to nap and rest like a kid.”
Paris shook his head with a smile. “Well, the way I see it, you might as well get some rest while you can.”
“God, you’re right. You sure you don’t mind whipping something up for me?”
He closed the distance between them and pushed her hair back. He softly kissed one cheek, then the other. “I will never mind taking care of you, love. All of you.” He let his hand brush softly against her stomach.
With a nod, she had gone up the stairs. He watched her go, before heading toward the kitchen. He riffled through the cupboards and the refrigerator. He prepared a small plate with applesauce, yogurt, a buttered bagel, and carrots and celery. He knew Corinne might crave a pastry, but he had Dr. Hu’s words in his head. There was no way he was going to feed his mate something which could make her sick.
He made himself a similar plate and headed up to Corinne’s bedroom. He didn’t find her in bed, but rather, she was in her sitting room, sprawled on the couch with a sketchbook on her lap. He set down the plate on the coffee table to see what she was working on.
“I saw that you had left a blank space on the nursery wall, so I was just sketching out ideas of what we could do there. I thought maybe…” she looked down. “Maybe we could paint it together. One day, we will be able to tell Peanut and Nugget that we did it together. As a team.”
As a family, is what Paris heard there. Both he and his dragon purred their approval.
“I really like that idea. I was going to paint something eventually, but I was hoping you would want to participate.”
He handed her the plate, and she grabbed a carrot, munching on it. “Thanks for coming with me to the doctor today. If I had been alone when I found out? I would have panicked. More than I did,” she added with a smile.
“I’ll never miss an appointment. I can promise you that. I’m excited for the next one. We’ll be able to hear their heartbeats and maybe even grab a picture of the sonogram.”
“Do you want to know the sex of the babies?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’ll leave that up to you, if you would prefer having the surprise.”
She laughed. “Are you kidding? Because being pregnant, with twins no less, wasn’t enough of a surprise? No, I definitely want to know.”
“Thank God,” he said, looking heavenward, “because I really want to know.”
“Think it’s too soon to think of baby names? Because I’ve been thinking of Anna and Alfie.”
Paris’s head snapped in her direction. “Anna and Alfie?” he repeated. “Why those two?”
“Well, I know your sister-in-law Annalise died, your mom told me about her when I saw the wedding pictures. Anna is a nice name, and that way, Anna Warwick lives on somehow. And Alfie because…well, your dad was Alfonse, right? I thought Alfie would be a cute nod to your father.”
He swallowed hard, the back of his throat thick with emotion. “What about nods to your parents?” he asked.
“Didn’t have those,” she answered with a shrug. “Besides, Anna and Alfie Warwick? I love the sound of those. Now, if we have girls, maybe Anna and Liza. Two boys, maybe Alfie and Archie.”
He took her hand in his. “I hope it’s a boy and a girl, because I really love Anna and Alfie.”
“Though, I suppose we should keep calling them Peanut and Nugget for the time being.”
He smirked. “I would love nothing more than to drop them off at school and be that dad. The one that shouts real loud, love you, Peanut and Nugget, in front of everyone.”
Corinne playfully hit him with a pillow. “You can’t do that, they would be so embarrassed.”
He laughed, a deep belly laugh. “Right? What’s the fun of being a parent if you can’t embarrass the kids with how much you love them?”
Corinne’s smile could have lit up the whole world. “I love that.”
I love you.
Paris didn’t know if it was him or his dragon that had that thought, but it didn’t matter.
He felt it. The strong love for Corinne and their Peanut and Nugget.
Chapter Fifteen
Corinne
Corinne knew one thing.
Well, okay, she knew more than one thing, and she was feeling overwhelmed.
But now that she was carrying twins, she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she had to tell Paris everything.
When she had seen the nursery, and what he had done to prepare his life for Peanut, she had known that she had to be honest with him.
But when the doctor had announced that she was having twins? Well, she knew that she couldn’t keep two kids safe and be on the run from Gustave.
She had to come clean.
Corinne had eaten every single last bite of food Paris had brought her. She had even munched on his veggies. She had been hungry and not nauseous for the first time in weeks. It was nice to have some relief. She knew that the Hyperemesis Gravidarum could go away in the second or third trimesters, as was often the case. She definitely hoped that in a couple of weeks, she wouldn’t have to deal with the nausea. She wanted to be able to eat croissants, and all of the other things she should avoid with severe nausea.
It was bad enough that she could barely have any caffeine.
Paris was dozing beside her. He had fallen asleep while they watched Ghost during their little lunch break. She hadn’t seen him sleeping during their one night together. She had passed out from all of the sex, and Paris had been gone by morning. But now she could stare at him and get her fill.
Good Lord, was he handsome.
Nope.
He was hot.
Movie star hot.
His dark brown hair was mussed up from his nap, and his lips were slightly parted as he softly snored. It made her smile, and she wanted to reach out and touch the five o’clock shadow which was starting to take over his strong, square jaw.