Page 121 of Hired Husband

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. “We’re going to have a baby.”

We’re pregnant. My wife is pregnant. She’s going to have my baby.

Laughter tore of me as I jumped up, still holding her in my arms. “Are you serious? You’re pregnant?”

She shrieked and grabbed my shoulders, suddenly laughing through the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Of course, I’m serious. I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Adjusting my grip on her, I spun her around. “Is it a Thailand baby? Or a Spain baby? Or a South America baby? Do we know yet?”

She buried her face against my shoulder, still laughing even as she started sobbing. “We don’t know yet.”

I held her tighter, my heart racing and suddenly feeling like it had already tripled in size. “That’s okay. I don’t really care. It’s our baby. That’s all that matters.”

Gently lowering both of us back down onto the couch, I kept holding her, unable to believe that this was really happening. We hadn’t been trying to prevent it since the wedding, but it still seemed impossible that right now, there were three people in this room.

Honestly, I’d never thought it would happen this fast, and while I had no idea what we were supposed to do from here, I already knew that our future was going to be even more amazing now than we ever could’ve dreamed.

Jasmine and I were starting the greatest adventure of all together. Parenthood. At least, that was what I’d heard. Our baby was coming, and strangely, I wasn’t afraid at all.

EPILOGUE

JASMINE

Seven months after we’d welcomed my niece into the world, I finally understood why Deja had kept saying that she felt like a ship that week we’d stayed with them. I waddled out of the studio feeling exactly like the SS Jasmine, the Cairo heat blasting my skin like I’d walked into a furnace and my center of gravity no longer a center anymore so much as a suggestion.

“I’m done with this,” I declared to Rashid, not even caring how dramatic I sounded. “If I expand more than I already have, I’ll pop. When is she coming again?”

He chuckled, helping me into the backseat because I couldn’t even do that by myself anymore. “You’ve only got about another week left, Miss Saad. Patience.”

I groaned and leaned back against the seat, beyond grateful that he’d left the air-conditioning running in the car while he’d waited for me. “Patience is not a virtue I was blessed with.”

“I know,” he said, smiling fondly. “Perhaps you should consider taking it a little easier from here on out, hmm?”

I scoffed. “Pregnancy is not a disability. I’m fine.”

He chuckled. “Very well. Home?”

“Yes, please.”

My eyes drifted shut and my hand slid to my swollen belly of its own accord. Despite how bloated I felt or how much this last month had felt like it’d been four years long, I smiled when our daughter nudged my palm.

Logically, I knew she was probably just stretching. Space was definitely a limited commodity in there right now, but I was obsessed with feeling her kick, so in love with every movement that I honestly just couldn’t wait to hold her.

I would have spent the rest of my life feeling like a whale for this little girl, and I hadn’t even met her yet. Rashid possibly just had a point about taking it a bit easier for however much time I had left before she arrived.

On the other hand, I also only had that amount of time left for the photo shoots that included my baby bump, and Deja and I needed those pictures for our new line of baby and postpartum products. Because naturally, we’d had a single conversation about it a few months ago and now, with our father’s blessing, we’d actually created a whole new line under the White Water Lily umbrella.

At least no one could accuse us of being lazy.

I smiled again as I stroked my belly, desperately looking forward to seeing my little niece again. After Violet’s surprise-but-not-surprise arrival on Christmas Day, Deja had been wanting to bring her back to Egypt, but they’d been waiting until she was a little older before they traveled with her.

Now, they were finally coming. In just a few days, I’d get to see my niece, my sister, and possibly even my own baby. Life was pretty darn good as far as I was concerned.

The only issue I had right now was that our daughter still didn’t have a name. As it turned out, actually naming a human being was surprisingly stressful. She would have to live with whatever we decided for the rest of her life. It seemed excessive.

I sighed and pulled out my phone, wishing Isaac was waiting at home instead of being stuck in Sharm for work. He answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Are you ever coming home?”