Page 30 of Knocked Up By The Mountain Man

"I was just thinking about how fucking lucky I am to be with a woman like you. And I know that having a kid with me probably wasn't in your plans, but I'm damn glad that the birth control failed. I'm glad that fate brought you back to me."

I approach her, gently opening the quilt and wrapping it around us both, enveloping us in warmth and pressing her naked curves to my bare chest.

It feels right. More right than anything has felt in a very long time.

"I don't want to scare you off," I whisper.

"You won't," she vows.

But I'm not so sure.

"Then you won't think it's too soon for me to say that I love you?” I ask.

She smiles, glancing down at the slight bump between us.

"I don't think there's such a thing as too soon anymore,” she says. "We're kind of on the fast track to forever, aren't we?"

"The fast track to forever," I repeat. "I like that phrasing.”

She rises on her tiptoes, and her soft lips press against mine.

And all feels right with the world.

EPILOGUE

ONE YEAR LATER

I put the finishing touches on Elliot's hat.

A little crocheted green spiral coming off of the stem of the pumpkin.

"You really have infinite talents," Jack comments. "I can't believe just a month ago you didn't even know how to crochet."

I grin at him.

"It's not so hard," I say. "Something to keep my hands busy while I'm watching TV and looking after Elliot."

He shakes his head.

"Between you and Carla, I'm convinced we wouldn't need to buy another stitch of clothing for the rest of our lives."

"No way," I say. "I'm not nearly as talented as Carla. She can sew and knit. I can't do that. Just crochet."

I adjust the elastic on the hat.

Elliot's down for a nap. Otherwise, I would measure it right now, making sure that the little hat fits snugly on his cute, round baby face.

Dressing up my son as a pumpkin for Halloween is something I've been looking forward to ever since I found out that I was pregnant in the first place.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and fat little babies in funny costumes are my ultimate weakness. Especially when it's my own baby.

I was nervous about becoming a mother unexpectedly. I mean, I didn't even have my own life figured out before I became pregnant with Elliot. How on earth was I going to manage the life of another small human being who depended on me for all of their basic needs?

But navigating this change with Jack has been easier than I ever imagined.

He took care of everything difficult for me: building the crib, painting the nursery. I just tell him what I want, what color, and where to put it. He does the hard part for me.

Labor went as well as labor can go, and Elliot was born after twelve hours with all of his fingers and toes, a perfectly healthy baby boy.