Page 55 of Pretty

She pulled back and smiled at me. The smile that was on her face was worth the bag I’d dropped on her for Christmas. I would do it a million times over again.

I wiped the tears from her face, and she reached inside of her coat pocket. “You’re not the only one who can give great gifts. I have one more gift to give too.”

“What gift?” I asked, staring at the envelope in her hand.

Pretty handed me a thick manila envelope. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

She kissed me, and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as her smile brightened even more. Despite the fact that the smile was on her lips, there seemed to be nervous energy hovering around her.

I opened the envelope and pulled out paperwork.

I scanned the details as I set the envelope on my lap. I was confused about what I was reading, but it seemed to be some sort of medical document.

Just as my eyes dropped to some details at the bottom of the page, the envelope slid forward. I grabbed it before it fell and felt something else inside of the envelope.

I reached inside and pulled out an oblong cream-and-blue stick.

“Baby, is this what I think it is?”

“It depends on what you think it is.”

I glanced at the paperwork again and then the stick. “We’re having a baby?”

“Yes, and I’m seven weeks along.”

“Is that why you didn’t go skiing?”

“Yes,” she replied, laughing. “I wanted to, and I hated to disappoint you, but I needed to be safe.”

“How long have you known, babe?”

“I first noticed that I was getting sick a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, but I didn’t think much about it. I thought I had food poisoning or something. When I missed my cycle right after Thanksgiving, I knew something was up. Last week, when you were out of town, I finally decided to go see what was going on. I stopped by the hospital to visit Lauren’s sister who had just had her baby, and I decided to get a checkup of my own. I know that you’ve gone through a lot, so I want to offer you any reassurances that you need. I’ve done some research and found that prenatal DNA testing isn’t as dangerous as it once was. There are much safer options.”

“Come on, Pretty. Baby, I don’t need all that from you. Since day one, you’ve been a woman of integrity, character, and virtue.”

“I don’t know about all that. I was riding your dick the first night that I met you.”

“That’s because I was just that charming,” I replied, cupping the back of her head and tonguing her.

When she pulled back, she laughed. “No, I want this for you, for us. I don’t want there to ever be a doubt or question between us. I want our little one to have the same assurances as well.”

I screwed my face up because I didn’t really need that, but she seemed to want me to have it. I placed my hand on her belly and lowered my head. She giggled when I pressed my lips against her belly and whispered through her coat, “Hello, little one. I’m your daddy.”

Pretty rubbed my head, and I rested it against her belly for a while. I closed my eyes and imagined the life growing inside of her that was a combination of our love.

“This is the greatest gift you could ever give me, sweetheart—the gift of life.”

“The greatest gift you could have ever given me is this little seed growing in my belly, Drew. Thank you for breathing new life into me—when I thought all was lost.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” We exchanged several sweet pecks before we opened our mouths and sampled each other’s tongue. Her kiss was as intoxicating as the sun descending behind the mountains across from us.

The gift of a baby had topped the gift of my holidays being spent in an Aspen ski resort.

TWO MONTHS LATER (FEB.)

In another five weeks, spring would be here. I couldn’t wait for it, but I was enjoying the winter. My fiancé had finished the NFL season, now that the Super Bowl was over. Although Drew was still working, his schedule wouldn’t be as hectic, and he would be home more.

We had discussed renting our houses as rental property and starting our new lives in a brand-new house. We were scheduled to meet with an architect and some realtors for land next week. In the interim, we were living in his home.