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I laugh and nod. “I think he missed his calling as a surfer. Had Harrison never moved him to Beaumont, he’d probably be a professional.”
“Can you imagine?”
I pause and let the magnitude of what I said sink in. No, I can’t imagine. Honestly, it’s something I think about all the time. Where would I be if my dad hadn’t come back? Would I be who I am today? Someone different like a doctor because of Nick? What if my uncle Mason doesn’t die all those years ago?
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, shaking my head to clear the unmentionable thoughts from my mind. I can’t think that way. Not now. Not ever.
“Morning, Xander,” Peyton says as she comes into the hallway. For some odd reason we’re still standing there, like Xander is about to start selling us encyclopedias.
“Morning. Ready to do this?”
Peyton nods and leads him into the guest bathroom. I go with them, waiting while he swabs a spot on her stomach, which will inevitably bruise in a few hours. I’ll be happy when those go away. I try not to notice them, especially when we’re having sex. They’re enough to make me want to coddle her and beg her not to do this anymore. But I’ll never ask her to stop trying for a baby. At least, not now.
She turns to me and puts her hands on my shoulders, her fingers already digging into my flesh. My lips are near her ear and when Xander nods, I start talking. “This morning, watching you ride my . . .”
“All done.”
Peyton sighs. “I wish my mom could do this as easily as you,” she says to Xander.
“She has more at stake. Plus, she’s your mother and you’re her baby. Add in everything you’ve been through, she’s overprotective and probably stressed. If I had to guess, she’s probably afraid she’s going to hurt you.”
“Well, she does,” Peyton says as we walk Xander to the door. “But I only have a few more left, so whatever.”
“I could always give them to you,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.
“You holding me is what gets me through these.”
Xander tells us we’ll see him tomorrow. Once the door closes, I pull Peyton into my arms. “What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know, but it seems like you want to have sex.”
I scoff and then nod my head like a kid heading to the candy store. “What on earth give you that idea?”
Peyton rolls her eyes. “Everything this morning has been about your . . .” She looks down at my crotch. If he could blush, he’d blush right now.
“You wound my ego.”
“Suuuure, I do. Anyway, I think we should sit down and look at some of the offers Alan has sent over, map out a plan and see where we want to go.”
Sex sounds much better. “Babe, I’m not going anywhere if you’re still in Portland.”
“I know, but maybe I’m not staying in Portland if you’re not there.”
“Are you saying you’d quit?”
Peyton takes my hand and drags me to our home office. “I’m saying that maybe after the baby is born, whenever that may be, I dabble in sideline reporting. It’s what I wanted to do and what I went to school for.”
“Ah, you just want to interview me after the game.”
“Noah, not everything is about you.”
I waggle my eyebrows at her. “You’re right.” I pull her to me and place my hand on her stomach where our baby will grow someday. “It’s about this.”
9
PEYTON
