And now a staff of twenty was busy preparing for a sunset vow renewal in a setting I’d once described to him as my ideal wedding: palm trees lit with tea lights on the beach at sunset. He’d even arranged for Mia and me to go to a wedding shop on the island and pick out dresses when we’d arrived two days ago. Which wasn’t easy, considering Mia was six months pregnant herself now.
I turned in my husband’s arms and wrapped my hands around his neck. “This is amazing. Thank you for doing all this. I still can’t get over how you pulled it off without my knowing.”
He rubbed my bottom lip with his thumb. “Anything for this smile. Plus, I had an ulterior motive. Since Mia is right next door, she’s going to keep Logan for us tonight. I haven’t had you all to myself in a long time.”
“It always comes back to sex with you, doesn’t it?” I teased.
“I’m still making up for lost time, sweetheart.”
When I was seven months pregnant with Logan, I went into premature labor. The doctors were able to stop it, but they put me on bed rest and restricted all sexual activity. That meant we had gone the two months before delivery and six weeks after delivery without sex. Grant wasn’t kidding when he said he was still trying to make up for the lost time—we’d been like horny teenagers the last few months. Which was why I had a surprise for him today, too.
“I have something to show you,” I said.
Grant flashed a wicked grin and squeezed my ass. “I have something to show you, too.”
I chuckled. “I’m being serious.”
My husband took my hand and slid it from around his neck down over a steely erection, guiding my fingers to grip. “I’m serious, too.”
I’d picked up a pregnancy test while Mia and I were out shopping on the island yesterday and saved the stick to surprise Grant. He was an amazing father to our son, Logan, but I was still a little nervous to tell him because of the reaction he’d had the first time I’d gotten pregnant. It was silly, I knew that, especially since we’d agreed to not use birth control and spent a lot of time practicing making a baby. But nonetheless, I wanted to get it off my chest.
“Sit for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Grant pouted, but released me so I could go to the bathroom. I’d hidden the test in my makeup case under the sink in the plastic bag it had come in. Tucking it into my shorts pocket, I walked back to the bedroom and found Grant taking off his T-shirt. My heart squeezed seeing the tattoo he’d gotten inked onto his chest a few days before our wedding last year.
I brushed my finger across it. Grant had gotten the printout of Logan’s first heartbeat, the one the doctor had handed him during our very first sonogram, tattooed onto his chest, along with the words from the sign that hung above my bed: No rain. No flowers.
I kissed the tattoo. “I love this today as much as the day you got it. But something is off. I think you’re going to need to go back and add a little ink to fix it.”
Grant’s brows drew together as he looked down at his chest. He pulled at the skin to get a better look. “What’s wrong with it?”
I took the stick from my pocket. “It only has one baby’s heartbeat.”
Grant’s forehead wrinkled and his eyes quickly went wide. “You’re…”
I nodded. “Pregnant again.”
Grant shut his eyes, and for a few long seconds, I held my breath. When he opened them, it only took one look to see the joy in his eyes.
He smiled. “You’re pregnant. My wife is pregnant again.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I guess that’s what happens when your husband is insatiable.”
Grant lifted me off my feet and swung me around. “I love you pregnant. I love your big belly. And your big tits. I even love shaving your legs for you when you can’t bend down anymore. You gave me life again, Ireland, and you being pregnant is proof of that.”
“That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Well, minus the tits comment.”
Grant smiled. “Good. Because it’s the truth. Now get your pregnant ass on the bed so I can give you my gift.”
***
We renewed our vows barefoot in front of all of our friends and family at sunset. Pops stood by Grant’s side as his best man, and Mia stood next to me with one hand holding her growing belly. Leo, who now lived with us, held our son in his arms in the first row. He’d moved in four months ago when his aunt had suffered a stroke that left her unable to care for him. The court granted us temporary custody, but if we had anything to do with it, he’d be with us forever.
Toward the end of the ceremony, the pastor officiating said, “At this time, the groom would like to give his wife a new ring, as a sign of his love and commitment.”
I leaned to Grant. “I thought we weren’t exchanging new rings.”
He winked. “We aren’t. I don’t need two. But I wanted you to have something to remember today.”
Grant turned to Pops and whispered. “Psst. Pops…in your pocket.”
Pops’s face wrinkled up. He seemed to be having a moment. That had happened more and more frequently over the last few months.
Grant whispered again. “You have the box in your pocket.”
Still confused, Pops scanned his surroundings. Our friends and family in the audience were all watching and waiting. Turning back, he looked at me holding hands with Grant and smiled. “Hey, Charlize.”
I smiled back. “Hi, Pops. How you doing?”
Grant chuckled. “Always distracted by the pretty girls. The box is in the left side of your suit jacket, Pops. Can I have it?”
“Box?”
“Yeah, in your suit jacket.”
“Oh, you want the…” Pops snapped his fingers. “Damn it…what is it called again…” Snap. Snap. “You want the…” Snap. Snap. “You want your balls!”
Everyone started to laugh, including both of us. Grant walked over and slipped his hand into his grandfather’s suit pocket, pulling out a black box.
“Nah. She can keep my balls, Pops. She’s had them since the first day we met. I just want the ring.”
The End