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“Especially with another little one on the way.”
His gaze flicked down to my stomach. I could feel him go rigid. His throat worked as he swallowed. He took in a shaky breath.
I touched his cheek where the thin, white line of a scar was the only indication of the fight between Joel and the Desert Howlers in that grocery store. The bare knuckles that had cut him up, made him bleed while he defended us, protected us. I would never forget seeing my quiet, soft-spoken Joel turned into a man possessed to keep us safe.
“I want you in this baby’s life, Joel,” I said. “I want you to see their first steps. And coax their first word out of them. I want to see you fret with concern on their first day of school. I want you in Cam’s life because she loves you so much and you make her so happy. I want you in my life as my husband and the father of my children.”
For several long seconds, he didn’t say anything. Then he pushed my t-shirt up, exposing my stomach as he smoothed his thumbs over my stretch marks and loose skin.
When Joel met my gaze, his eyes were bright.
“Do you mean that?” he whispered, his voice cracking.
I nodded, touching his lips after hearing him speak so breathlessly.
“Every word of it.”
Joel looped his arms around me and pressed his face into my neck. He held me so crushingly tight that I knew he was too surprised to speak. With one hand, he coaxed me up to wrap my legs around his hips.
Carrying me out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, he laid me back against the bed. His hands roamed everywhere—along my stomach, over my ribs, cupping my breasts and grazing down my thighs. My robe came off first, followed by my panties before Joel kissed his way down my body until his head was buried between my thighs.
He didn’t talk much. That hadn’t changed over the years.
But this would never change—Joel showing how much he cared through his actions. And as stars burst across my vision and pleasure flooded through me, I knew this man would love me and our children until the day I died with every inch of his heart and soul.
