AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I do. And I want us to be a family. I want to get married and share your last name. I want it all.”
Nolan presses his forehead to mine. “Jesus Christ. I’m weirdly turned on and so fucking happy right now. It’s confusing. Yes. I want all of that, too. When we get home, we’ll start making plans.”
I look down to see his cock is standing at attention, confirming what he’s saying. I just grin at him, pleased he’s as happy about this information as I am.
“Just ignore him. We need to get out of the shower anyway.” He turns to shut off the water. When he looks back at me, his smile is a mile wide. “We’re having a baby. Holy shit. This is going to be fun.”
CHAPTER 43
Nolan
Iclimb down from the ladder and look up at my handiwork. This is going to be perfect. I hope.
“Code-man, will you plug the cord in please?”
“On it!” Cody does what I ask, making the patio lights illuminate. I exhale, happy that all the hard work was worth it.
“Wow!” Cody walks up next to me, his head tilted back. “It looks so good. Mom’s going to flip.”
I’ve spent the entire day remodeling our backyard to create the perfect oasis for us to spend our afternoons. What used to be a huge empty slab of concrete now holds a dining table, a sitting area, complete with couches, a hanging chair, rugs, and pillows, as well as a built-in grill. Surrounding the space is a pergola that has drop-down screens to keep the bugs away in the summer, and I’ve hung outdoor lighting across the ceiling to give it a cozier atmosphere.
Cody thinks I’m doing this as a surprise for Katie while she’s at her teacher training today. I have much bigger plans than that for tonight.
The past few weeks since we got back from our vacation have been insane. We’ve both been playing catch-up from being gone the whole week.
I was able to buy the bar outright from Jimmy after he drew up the papers. When I brought them to Adam to help me ensure everything was on the up and up, he said, “You know you have the money to just buy it, right?” I responded with an emphatic no. He then walked me through the accounts he helped me open when I first started working at the bar. Turns out, I’d saved a shit ton more money than I thought over the years. Adam’s always been the one who has managed this stuff for me because I worried that if I knew how much was in there, I’d spend it on dumb shit.
Since then, I’ve been able to reinvest some of our profits into hosting events to bring in new customers while also getting a bigger paycheck. It makes it much easier to spoil Katie and Cody whenever I feel like it.
I’ve been trying to come up with a fun event to have for the bar’s thirtieth anniversary this summer, but I have yet to think of any great ideas. Before I bought the bar, I thought I had been doing everything an owner does, but I was very wrong. There’s so much more I have to pay attention to now. It’s been an adjustment, to say the least.
Katie has been busy gearing up for state testing, which means she’s trying to do everything she can to get her students prepared. Teaching about subjects that may or may not be on a test is not easy to do. Especially given how little time she has to make sure all her students feel confident going into the exams.
I check my watch. “Okay, Mom should be here in about ten minutes. Do you think we’re ready?”
Cody nods. “I can’t think of anything else we could do to make it better.”
We head back inside to wait for Katie to get home. I’m nervous. The good news is, if she hates my idea, I can cancel everything. Something tells me she’s not going to hate it, though.
Katie walks into the house a few minutes later. She drops her bag on the floor and slips out of her shoes by the time Cody rushes toward her.
“Mom! We have a surprise for you.”
“Hey, baby. You do?” She looks up at me with tired eyes. I walk around the couch to kiss her hello.
“Hi, yes, we have a surprise. Do you want to go change into some comfy clothes first?”
Her shoulders drop. “Yes, that is exactly what I need.” She heads toward our bedroom, and I hear her murmur, “And a large margarita, but I don’t get one of those until…” The rest of what she says is too quiet for me to understand, but I can guess what the ending was about.
“Why has Mom been extra tired lately?” Cody asks as he flops back down on the couch. We still haven’t told him about the baby yet. I want to tell him tonight, but I’m not sure if Katie’s ready yet. Her doctor confirmed that she’s almost ten weeks along now. I’ve been dying to tell my whole family, but we haven’t had a chance to discuss it since she told me to keep it a secret for now.
I sit next to Cody while we wait for Katie to get changed. “She hasn’t been sleeping as well as normal.” It’s not a lie. She’s been waking up at four in the morning to throw up for a couple of hours. Then she’s good to go for the rest of the day. I think the copious amounts of peppermint tea she’s been inhaling has helped some.
“What’s this surprise you have for me?” Katie asks when she gets back to the living room. Her hair is piled on top of her head, and she has soft joggers and one of my old T-shirts on. I want to peel every layer off her, but I’m going to be good and wait until Cody goes to bed.
Cody springs off the couch towards the back door. Cash jumps up from his spot on the floor, hoping he can go outside, too. Katie raises an eyebrow, but I hold my hand out for her to lead the way without saying anything.
As soon as Cody opens the back door, Katie gasps. “What the fuck is that?” She races down the steps of the deck toward the pergola.
