“Also, I was waiting to tell you one more thing.” Ivy stretched back and reached for her phone, where it sat plugged in on the bedside table. “I wanted to wait until you came back to me. I knew you wouldn't like it if I told him first, even though technically you'd be pissy that I told you someday had arrived before I told you.”
Thoroughly confused, Uriah looked at the screen of her phone and read the little caption beneath a green circle. 'Week Six: Hooray! Your baby is the size of a sweet pea!'
He stared at the screen so long it went dark. She ducked her head to better catch his gaze, her delicious, fertile scent muddied with uncertainty even though she was smiling at him.
“You still with me, Uriah?”
It took him a few tries to string words together, but eventually, he managed, understanding now why his bear was practically skipping circles inside his head.
“Where were we six weeks ago?”
The sexiest flush warmed her cheeks, her lips curved in a nervous smile, and she tilted her head to the left with a little lift of her chin. “Outside in the wildflowers. Apparently, birth control charms don't work on halflings, especially when they're engaging in fertility magic. I um... I guess that someday we talked about seems to have come a little earlier than expected.”
Uriah shook his head, his throat tight, burning with emotion. “No. No. It's perfect. It’s perfect timing. And you’re alright, right? You haven’t been sick or anything?”
“No,” she murmured warmly. “I’m good.”
The strength drained out of him in a rush, leaving him to slump down over her in a big quivering heap. Judging by the way she sighed and snuggled into him, Ivy didn’t seem to mind. He struggled to process everything, his nose wrinkling at the smell of something burning ruining the sweet scent of pregnancy wafting off his mate.
“Is something burning?” he asked, and Ivy let out a little shriek.
“I was making muffins! Shit!” She writhed out from under him and took off, leaving him to lie there with a stupid grin on his face. It was two in the morning, and she’d been downstairs making muffins. Lemon poppyseed, from the smell of them.
A pregnancy craving? Uriah leaped up, chasing after her to make sure he didn’t miss out on a single second more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Perfect timing,” Ivy murmured, sitting back in the grass, shading her eyes as she watched Uriah's truck come rolling down the drive. She could see the red flag tacked to the end of the lumber waving in the wind, which meant Project Swing Set was on.
She leaned back on her hand, unable to keep from smiling when Uriah shouldered his door open and waved at her. Nearly five years together and the sight of him still took her breath away.
The material of his black shirt stretched tight around his chest and shoulders made her bite her lip, the way his jeans cupped his ass made her fingers clench with the desire to feel denim give way to skin, and the way he smiled at her still made butterflies swarm through her belly.
Ivy laughed when little hands slapped at the window impatiently, reminding Uriah of his passenger. He opened the door, and with the inexhaustible energy only generated by a toddler, out spilled her handsome mate’s shadow.
They were dressed exactly alike, dark blue jeans rolled up at the cuff over scraped-up dirty boots, a wide brown leather belt cinched at the hips, and a black tee. Both of them had dark hair that always managed to pick up some kind of debris: twigs, leaves, bits of sawdust. The only bit of herself Ivy saw in her son was the twist of green in his hazel eyes. Wherever Uriah went, there was nowhere else Uriel wanted to be than right beside his dad.
Oh, he loved his mommy time, but that boy was his father's son to the very core. He hadn't had his first shift yet, but there was no doubt in her mind he would grow up to be a big ole' bear just like his daddy.
“Let's unload, Papa!” Uriel ordered precociously, squealing with glee when Uriah snatched him up and tossed him into the air. There was nothing more beautiful than the sound of those joyful little boy giggles, or the playful snarls Uriah made as he pretended to munch on their son's belly.
“Don't you forget who the boss is around here, youngin’,” Uriah said with a mock growl of reproach.
Uriel's answering grin was downright devilish, but his question was sweet and devilishly innocent. “You mean, Mama?”
Ivy winked when Uriah looked her way, clearing his throat with a mild look of affront. “Yeah, I do mean.”
“Hi, boss!” Uriel shouted, like the Grand Canyon was between them, and not a few hundred feet of grass and flowers.
Love and adoration fizzled through every cell and pore in her body. It almost made her eager for the excruciating pain to come. “Hi, baby bear. I missed you, come give me a hug.”
Uriah put their wild child down, and he tore across the ground toward her, only slowing because Uriah shouted out and reminded him to be gentle.
Uriel would have pounced on her for sure if he hadn't, but Ivy wouldn't have cared. His unabashedly loving hugs were the best. She wrapped her arms around him, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo that he'd washed with last night and the sharper smell of freshly cut wood.
“Oohh, you're getting so big!” she accused, giving him a tight squeeze before setting him back on his baby work boots. “Did you get even bigger while you were out running errands?”
Uriel gave a shrug, looking down at himself before turning to the side to comically stick out his belly. “No, but you did!”
“What? You little monster!” She laughed, reaching out to snatch him up, but he artfully evaded her and went running around the flower beds with a wild shriek.
Uriah dodged their speeding bullet and dropped to his haunches beside her, reaching out to settle his palm on her huge, distended belly. His grin was wide and proud as he rubbed gentle circles over her, leaning in to steal a soft, thorough kiss.
“How are my girls?”
“Well, I'm fine, and she's fine, but apparently today's the day. My water broke about a minute ago. I was going to get up and call in the troops, but I felt you coming.”
Even though she tried to sound upbeat and positive, Ivy saw a momentary flash of panic take hold of her mate.
Uriah’s throat worked audibly, the hand splayed wide across her taut abdomen gave a tremble. Then, with a blink, he settled and gave her a dopey grin. The panic was still there in the tightening around his eyes, but he put it aside in favor of taking care of her.
“No worries, honey. I got you. Just another day in paradise, right?” He scooped her up like she didn't weigh a ton and a half, holding her close to his heart as the first contraction of many rippled through her.
Ivy's laugh turned into a groan, sweat popping out on her forehead. “Totally. This is awesome. Can't wait.”
“I've got everything all ready for you upstairs. I'll get you squared away and then call the girls, okay?”
She nodded, closing her eyes when the pain subsided, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “Sounds good. Ilex will be here soon to wrangle the monster.”
“RAWR!” Uriel roared, leaping out from behind some bushes, making his father—who was so focused on her he hadn't heard their son sneaking up on them—startle and jolt. “Uh-oh, Mama! Were you so scared you peed your pants?”