Page 67 of Blueline Baby

Jack closes his eyes. “Don’t.”

“Russell?” Lorelei whispers, delighted, and not quietly. “Like the dog?”

“Like the defenseman,” Jack says, to a room where nobody believes him. Dean already has his face buried in both hands.

The officiant waits, probably because working in a courthouse means she’s seen weirder than this before ten in the morning. “Are we ready?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry.” I wipe under my eyes, still giggling. “Go ahead. Please marry me to the terrier.”

She reads the standard vows, but when she reaches Jack’s part, he opens his mouth and nothing comes out.

I look up at him. All his usual cockiness is gone. His eyes are shining, and he’s looking down at me like the words in his throat are too much for him to say.

“Take your time,” the officiant says.

He clears his throat. “Chloe. I’ve been ready for this since you told me to go sleep on my own couch. I’m going to spend the rest of my life being the guy who gets to stand next to you. That’s my whole speech. I do. Obviously, I do.”

The officiant turns to me. “And do you⁠—”

“I do.” I don’t let her finish, because I have never been more sure of an answer in my life.

On the courthouse steps, I stop Lorelei with a hand on her arm. “I need you in the delivery room. Standing guard over the paperwork, in case he tries what his father tried.”

“He is one hundred percent going to try that,” Lorelei agrees.

“I would never,” Jack says, offended.

I just look at him.

He holds out for about three seconds. “...I probably would.”

We get back into his truck, and he takes my hand and holds on.

“Wife,” he says, testing it out. He’s grinning at me, his eyes still a little red.

“Don’t wear it out, Jack Russell.”

“We’ve been married for five minutes and I’m already a dog breed. Unbelievable.”

“You’re a very good boy.” I reach over and pat his cheek. Then I pull his hand down and press it flat against my bump so he can feel the baby, who hasn’t stopped flipping and kicking since we walked out of the courthouse. “You have a game tonight.”

“I do.” He traces his thumb over my knuckles at the red light. “And you’ll be sitting in the family section wearing my jersey. The whole building is gonna know you’re mine.”

“For the record,” I say, “you cried at the courthouse and I didn’t.”

“I’m painfully aware. Dean and Jude had a lot of money on it.”

Lorelei walks me down to the player tunnel right before the game starts, and that’s where I’m standing when the team comes clattering out of the locker room toward the ice.

Jack sees me and peels off from the line without a second of hesitation.

He’s in full gear, up on his skates. He has almost a foot on me on a normal day, and right now he towers over me.

“How’d you get down here?” He sounds delighted. He bends down and nearly scoops me off the ground, while his teammates file past us toward the ice.

He doesn’t wait for the answer to his own question. He presses his lips to mine and ignores everyone around us.

“Watch me win, wife,” he whispers against my mouth.