Love Me to Death (40 page)

“No, I’m sorry but I don’t know anyone called Sophie.”

“Yes, you do! It’s me! Mommy, Uncle Bwennan’s being silly!”

“He does that a lot,” I hear Layla say in the background.

“Uncle Bwennan, it’s me!”

“Who’s me? I thought your name was Sophie?”

“It is!”

“Well I only know one Sophie but her name is Princess Sophie and she lives in a magic castle.”

“I
am
Princess Sophie!” She squeals.

“Oh, forgive me, your highness. I didn’t realize it was you. You forgot to use your royal title.”

She giggles loudly.

“I’m fwour years old and I’m Princess Sophie, silly.”

“Well, it’s lovely to speak to you Princess Sophie, how is Prince Alex?”

“He’s ok, he did a big poop and now he’s sleeping.”

“Oh my, which one of the palace servants did you get to clean up the poop?”

“Daddy.” She chuckles.

“Good answer, kid.” Layla laughs. “Say bye now.”

“Bye now,” she shouts before Layla’s voice fills my ear.

“Hey, Bro,” she says as she laughs.

“What an elegant princess.”

“She takes after her
royal uncle
.”

“What an excellent role model,” I say.

“Mmm, well that’s a matter of opinion.”

“Ouch.”

“How are you?”

“I’m good … great now that I’ve heard from you guys,” I say honestly.

“Yeah, it’s been a little while, we miss you guys. How’s Ned doing?”

“She’s great, Lay. She still looks beautiful.”

“I’m not surprised. I’ve been meaning to visit but I wanted to give you guys some time to yourself.”

“Thanks, how’s Jamie?”

“Jamie is Jamie, you know. He’s not back from work yet which reminds me that I need to get dinner started.”

“Lucky him. I need to train Ned, these days I come home to find her sleeping on the couch.”

“Ned is not the kind of woman you can train and besides would you have it any other way?”

“Hell no … I live for those moments.” Staring at Ned while she sleeps are some of my favorite times.

“I still can’t believe my baby brother is in love and having a baby! It’s so freaking cute.”

“What’s fweaking, Mommy?” Sophie’s voice calls.

“Yeah, that’s my cue to go.” Layla chuckles. “You sound well, Bren and happy.”

“I am.”

“Good, I love you.”

“Love you, too,” I say before hanging up.

By the time I get back to the penthouse I find Ned lying on the couch watching one of her rom-com movies. I roll my eyes and switch the TV off with the remote.

“Hey! I was watching that.”

“It can wait.”

She scowls. I hold up the bag in my hand and wave it in the air.

“Really? Because I brought chicken.”

“Best. Boyfriend. Ever,” she squeals as she jumps to her feet and grabs the bag from me. I smile as she retreats into the kitchen like a woman on a mission. She already has a piece of chicken in her mouth by the time I walk in.

“Mmmm, this is sooooo good,” she says as she takes another bite.

“I would have never guessed by the way your mouth is ripping it to shreds like that.”

“Don’t judge me besides the baby loves it.”

I laugh.

“Babe, I can’t believe you’re using our unborn child to cover up your sick addiction to food.”

“Shut up and grab me some barbecue sauce.” I shake my head and laugh. I grab the sauce and slide it along the counter toward her.

“Happy?” I ask with raised eyebrows as she squirts some onto her piece of chicken.

“Very.” She grins.

“Good because I have more good news.”

“Really?” she replies with her mouth full.

“You are really lucky that I already love you because that right there is gross,” I say pointing at her.

“What?” She looks utterly confused.

“Speaking while your mouth is full of food …
gross
.”

She laughs.

“It’s no worse than how you eat, Mr. Spit and Chomp.”

Now I laugh.

“Babe, I’m a dude, I’m supposed to eat like this.”

“So sexist.”

“I call it as I see it; now do you want this news or not?”

“Yeah, yeah give it to me,” she says. I raise my eyebrows. “Not that kind of ‘give it to me’! Your mind is always in the gutter, Cole.”

“Believe me, my mind was not in the gutter. It was in a much better place.” I wink. “Anyway, Terrence has given me two weeks
paid
vacation.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea. Jerry gave me some excuse about how hard I work but I think he’s trying to give us more time to spend together.”

“He’s a good guy, isn’t he,” Ned says smiling. I owe Terrence for putting that look on her face.

“He is, yes. So I’m going to be spending two weeks making sure you are the happiest woman alive.”

I walk toward her and pull her into my arms.

“You already do that,” she whispers.

“Well then, I’ll do it better,” I say before kissing her lips. “Gosh, you taste like chicken.”

She shoves me in the chest before laughing.

“You really know how to make a girl feel good, don’t you?”

“I know how to make
my
girl feel good. Apparently by buying her chicken to devour.” She laughs again before pausing for a moment and looking down at the half eaten bag of chicken.

“Oh my gosh, did you want some?”

I start laughing at the look on her face. I shake my head as I walk closer to her.

“Nope, I’m good. I just wanted to see you happy.”

I wrap my arms around her waist again and pull her closer.

“I am happy … very happy … deliriously happy.” She smiles as she snakes her arms around my neck and stands on her tiptoes so she can kiss my lips. “You know, we’ve become one of those cheesy couples from one of my romance novels,” she whispers against my lips.

“So what you’re basically saying is that I am book boyfriend material?”

“You’re better.” She smiles.

“I want that in writing as evidence in case you try to deny it. So I’m up in the hall of fame with the rest of the book boyfriends of today then?” I ask happily.

“No, because you’re real. They’re a little more perfect. You’re flawed.”

“I thought they were flawed too?”

“They are but in a fictionally perfect kind of way. You’re human flawed … you’re
real.
”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I say pulling her closer.

“Yes, I find your flaws incredibly sexy.”

“Is it weird that you finding my flaws sexy actually turns me on?” I ask as I smirk at her.

“Being with you has forced me to make weird my new normal.”

“Works for me,” I say as I lift her onto the island and step between her thighs. “Gosh, I want to get you pregnant all over again.”

“See what I mean? That is
so
weird.” She shakes her head.

“You like weird,” I say before kissing her lips.

“No, I like you and you just happen to be weird.”

“You like me huh?”

“Very,
very
much.” She nods.

“Enough to marry me?” I ask as my lips brush hers.

“What?” she gasps as she pulls back and looks at me.

“Not quite the answer I was hoping for.” I chuckle.

“I don’t understand.”

“Understand that I love you and I want you to have the same name as our child. Neddie Cole. Damn that sounds hot.”

She looks perplexed.

“Are you asking me to marry you?”

“Kind of. This isn’t a formal proposal; this is just me making sure that if I ever decide to ask you in public, in the most romantic way ever, you’ll say yes.”

Her head falls back and she laughs loud.

“Freddy, the ego is here isn’t he?”

“He is. So is that a provisional yes then? Because I
am
going to marry you, babe. One day.”

“So, technically you’ve already answered for me.” She has a little smile on her face.

“Yes but just in case, I need to check that you are not going to embarrass me and Freddy when we’re down on one knee.”

She laughs again.

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

“You mean, mean little woman.”

“Just call me Christina Grey.” She winks.

“That was sexy,” I breathe. “No more talking. We’re getting married … the end. Now lie back so I can make love to you.”

“Yes, sir,” she teases.

“Sorry little guy this is going to be a bumpy ride.”

“Eww, don’t talk to the baby about sex and I already told you it’s a girl!”

I just laugh and then I make love to her several times. Yep, that was definitely a bumpy ride … sorry little guy!

12 weeks into pregnancy
… end of the first trimester …

The doctors say our baby can form a
fist
now.

On the bad days, Ned is so weak she can barely lift her hands. On a good day, she can form a
fist
too.

27 weeks into pregnancy
… end of the second trimester …

The doctors told us that our baby can store fat now and that it will have gained quite a bit of weight.

On the good days, Ned and I go out to eat. We’ve even been back to Paradiso despite her constant protests that we can’t go back since I embarrassed her there when we last visited. On the bad days, Ned can’t even drink, she’s lost a lot of weight.

Ned doesn’t get to the end of the third trimester … she goes into labor.
Early.