“Hold up, baby,” I stopped her suddenly. “I agreed to wait. I didn’t agree that we should wait. For fuck’s sake, Gracie. I’m the one who insisted we go bare our first time.”
Gracie’s ocean pools were glowing with hope, but her hands were wringing together nervously. “I know. But this isn’t the plan. I mean, we haven’t even really started school yet, and we were going to wait. I-I—” Moisture swelled in her eyes, and a few tears leaked from the corners.
I grabbed her cheeks in my palms and brought our faces millimeters apart. “Fuck the plan, Gracie. I don’t give a shit about plans. I’m thrilled as fuck that you’re carrying our baby. I’ve been dying to knock you up since long before I should have.”
She exhaled a little huff of exasperation, but a smile was playing at her lips. “We don’t know that I’m pregnant, Hudson.”
I grinned smugly. “You are,” I stated confidently.
Her eyes narrowed. “I know we haven’t been the most careful”—I couldn’t help a little scoff. Yeah, condoms weren’t exactly a high priority in my mind, and I might have forgotten...on multiple occasions—“but a little extra exhaustion and some morning vomit aren’t conclusive proof.”
“You’ve been getting sick, and you didn’t tell me?” I growled. She opened her mouth to respond, but I shut her up with a quick, hard kiss. “Never mind. I’ll take care of you from now on. I have no doubt my boys did their job, but if you need proof, go pee on one of these thingies.”
Gracie rolled her eyes, but they were bright with amusement. “Go wait in the bedroom.”
“Not happening, baby,” I replied absently as I tore open the first box. I read the directions and handed her the little white stick.
She snatched it from my hand with a glare. “You’re not going to watch me pee.”
With a laugh, I lifted her off the counter and set her on her feet. “Go on.”
“Hudson,” she growled adorably.
“Gracie.” I shot a pointed look at the toilet.
She threw her hands in the air and huffed, “You're such a boy!”
“You’re such a girl,” I volleyed. “Now do it.”
7
Hudson
“Hell yeah!” I shouted a few minutes later as I twirled Gracie around the bathroom.
“Hudson, you’re going to make me sick!”
I immediately stopped spinning but couldn’t shut down the giant grin on my face. “We’re having a baby.”
Gracie’s expression was soft and happy, but I still sensed something was off with her. “What’s wrong, baby?”
She shrugged. “It’s just...really early, you know. My dad taught me to be independent, to make something of myself, and here I am, barefoot and pregnant before I’ve even really started college. We’re not even married.”
“Oh, shit.”
Jonah was going to castrate me if he found out I’d knocked up his daughter before marrying her.
“Right? What are we—”
“It’s not the school thing, baby. I promise, if you want to finish your degree, I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen. But we need to get married.” I put her on the ground and slung an arm over her shoulder before guiding her out of the bathroom.
“Wait, what?” Gracie shrieked as she tugged on my shirt, trying to force me to halt. I just dragged her along with me until we were inside our walk-in closet.
“If you want to have more kids, we need to get married right fucking now. Maybe if we’re married when we tell your dad you're pregnant, he won’t remember that we weren’t when it actually happened.”
“Hudson, you can’t be serious,” Gracie protested, finally managing to separate from me while I searched for some decent clothes. She crossed her arms under her tits, almost distracting me, but my sense of self-preservation won out.
“Gracie, baby, I promise I will sweep you off your feet with an amazing proposal and we will have the wedding of your dreams. Later. But tonight, I will be making love to my sexy, pregnant, wife.”
I spotted the beautiful outfit she’d worn on the night of her birthday and quickly removed it from the hanger. “Put this on, gorgeous.” Then I grabbed a suit I knew she loved and marched out of the closet. “I’m going to change and make a call.”
She didn’t argue, so I stayed my course and hurriedly changed my clothes, then went into our small sitting area of our suite and called my dad.
“Hey, kid,” he greeted me when he picked up. “How’s it going?”
“I need a favor,” I said, cutting right to the chase.
His response was immediate, no questions asked. “Anything.”
Damn, I loved my family.
“Gracie and I need a judicial waiver for a marriage license.”
“Of course.” There was a pause, then, “But…”
“No, we aren’t telling Jonah until it’s done,” I answered his unspoken question. “I’m sure Penny will forgive us. Gracie’s pregnant.”
I could practically feel his smile through the line, and it widened my own. “You’re making me a Papa again?”
“Yeah. Not sure when yet. She just took the test a few minutes ago.”
He laughed. “Congratulations, son. Give Grace a hug for me and tell her how thrilled I am with the news.”
“Thanks, I will.”
“I’ll call Judge Nevins. He owes me.”
“Oh and Dad, you can’t tell Mom yet. Because she’ll tell Penny, and if we’re not already married when Jonah finds out—”
“I won’t get any more grandkids,” my dad finished for me with a laugh. “Just make sure you call as soon as the ceremony is over with.”
Not happening. I didn’t want anything standing between our wedding and our wedding night. We’d share the news with our families tomorrow.
“We’ll come by in the morning to talk to Mom in person.”
“Sure you will. See you next week, Hudson.”
He was still laughing when he hung up. And, he had a point. It was unlikely that I’d be ready to share my wife so soon.
Hmmmm….on that note.
I hit the button to reserve a hotel room just as Gracie came walking in. She looked breathtaking, and I couldn’t help feeling a little smug over the way her body strained just a little against the outfit now even though no one else would notice the change.
“How the fuck did I get so damn lucky?”
Gracie smiled and cocked her head to the side, her eyes sweeping over me from head to toe. “I ask myself the same question every day.”
I snorted. “I wouldn’t call being stuck with me lucky, but regardless, that’s the situation you’re in, so I appreciate you making the best of it.” She giggled, and the sound sent warmth to my heart and tingles to my dick.
“You look incredible, baby. Let’s go get married.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not going to argue with me?”
“Nope. We’ll figure this all out. But the truth is, I’ve been fighting against something I want, and this unexpected present just gave me the perfect excuse to tell myself to shove it.”