The Rhythm of My Heart (32 page)

He trails his finger down my face. “I love you, Sweet Cheeks. Please move in with me.”

Now, that’s a proposal I can accept, so I don’t hesitate in giving him my answer. “Yes, I’ll move in with you, baby. I want all those things, too. Just promise me one thing though, Cole.”

“Anything,” he quickly replies.

“Let’s just hold off on the marriage stuff, okay. Thanksgiving is less than a month away; by the time we organize my moving in and what I’m going to do with my house, Christmas will be here. Let’s enjoy the holidays and watching me get fat.”

“I can deal with that, but I will be revisiting that topic, Gracie, sooner rather than later. And just so you know, you’re not going to get fat. You’re going to be the most beautiful pregnant woman the world has ever seen.” Then kissing my belly for the millionth time he says, “Isn’t that right, little one? Isn’t your mommy the most beautiful woman in the world?” And of course, our little miracle chooses that moment to kick again as if in reply to its daddy’s question.

Cole’s face lights up with sheer happiness. “See, he already agrees with his daddy.”

I raise my eyebrows in question. “He?”

“Yeah, he’s definitely a boy. Trust me,” he smirks.

“Well, if you’re right, then I’m in serious trouble.” I laugh and Cole joins in.

Marrying Cole is, definitely, what I want, but for now, making a home together, watching our baby grow, and completely rebuilding our relationship so that it can survive anything, is the priority. Right now, as we plan to move forward, I couldn’t be happier with the way my life is heading.

I’m twenty-two weeks pregnant. It’s a very surreal feeling being this far along in my pregnancy when I only took the home pregnancy test eight weeks ago. I already have a good-sized baby bump sticking out in front and thankfully, maternity clothes aren’t too bad, especially since it’s November and the weather has changed.

We’ve been busy the last few days organizing my move into Cole’s house and deciding whether to sell mine or rent it out. As much as I love my cozy little house, Cole’s house is bigger; with the pool and deck, it’s better for entertaining and having family over. Making his house our home wasn’t even a decision we had to discuss. And as luck would have it, Allison had overheard Cole talking about my place this morning and has asked about it because her lease has run out and she has been looking for somewhere else. So now, we’ll be keeping my house and renting it to Allison. It’s the perfect solution for everyone.

Because I’m leaving everything but my personal items at my house, it hasn’t taken me long to pack everything up. Dad has given me a few days off to get it done, and after Thanksgiving next week, we’ll be having a big moving weekend. Cole and his family, my dad, Charlie, and Ashley are all helping move my stuff first; then, we’re helping Allison as she only has her mom and younger brother to lend a hand. We should get it done in no time.

Closing the lid on the final box, I check the time and realize I had better leave if I’m going to make my appointment with Sam at the hospital. I really hope Cole can be there so he can see our baby for the first time.

I’m lying on the exam bed and Sam’s about to start the ultrasound, but there’s no sign of Cole yet. I really thought he’d be here but I guess he’s busy in the ER.

“I really need to start, Gracie,” Sam says, looking apologetic.

“I know. It’s just upsetting that he’ll only get to see the pictures again, you know,” I reply, and I can feel the prickling at the back of my eyes. My damn hormones are all over the place.

“We’ll make certain the rest of your appointments are on a Friday; that way he’ll have the day off and won’t miss them.”

“I guess we should have thought of that, huh?” I chuckle. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Sam squeezes the gel onto my stomach, and just as he’s about to start, the door flies open and my gorgeous man hurries in, face flustered and breathing heavily like he just ran all the way here. “Did I miss it?” he asks wide-eyed and panicked.

Tension, which I didn’t realize I had, falls away and a bright smile of relief and joy forms. “You’re just in time,” I tell him, and he huffs out his own relieved breath.

“Thank God. I was so worried I missed it,” he says, as he takes the seat beside me, laces our fingers together, and leans forward to give me a soft, sweet kiss.

“Cutting it fine there, buddy,” Sam smirks.

“Yeah, well, I just spent the last half-hour extracting a marble from a kid’s nose. Something, I guarantee, this little one won’t do.”

“Kids are full of surprises, Cole; never say never,” I tell him.

“Nope! Our little one is going to be perfect.” He smiles and kisses my forehead.

The amazing sound of our baby’s heartbeat fills the room, and Cole is rendered speechless. I lie still watching him intently as he absorbs what he’s hearing.

“The heartbeat is nice and strong,” Sam informs us.

I squeeze Cole’s hand; he turns and looks at me, his eyes full of wonder.

“Looks like we have a thumb sucker,” Sam says, breaking Cole and me out of our trance. “See there.” He points to the screen where we can see the baby’s head and the hand up to its mouth. “We’ve got a really good position today, if you guys want to find out the baby’s gender.”

Cole is completely transfixed by the images on the screen. He hasn’t uttered a word since Sam started, so I’m constantly glancing between my beautiful little baby and the man I love beside me.
What on earth is he thinking?

He then turns to me his eyes brimming with tears. “We did that,” he says. “That precious little baby is ours, Gracie. It’s really ours.” Suddenly he’s up out of his seat, grabbing my face and kissing me with so much passion and love that I’m left breathless. When he finally pulls back, he leans his forehead against mine. “I love you so damn much, Sweet Cheeks. You really have no idea how much I love you.”

Grabbing hold of his wrists, I gaze into his eyes where a few tears have managed to escape. “I love you too, baby… So much.”

A minute goes by and Cole moves back to his seat. “Do you want to know the sex, Gracie? I can already tell since our child seems to have no modesty at all, but if you don’t want to know, I’ll do my best to keep it a secret.”

I really hadn’t thought about if I wanted to know the sex or not. I don’t think I do, but it’s going to be really hard for Cole, and even Sam, not to slip up in the next eighteen weeks. Actually, it might be fun watching them try to keep this secret. “No, I think I’ll wait to be surprised at the birth.” I smirk.

“Really?” Cole asks, probably knowing full well that he’s going to struggle not to tell me.

“Yep, really.” I smile innocently.

When Sam’s finished everything, he needs to do, and I’m given the all clear that everything’s progressing along perfectly, Cole and I leave the office. He’s still gazing at the ultrasound picture of the baby sucking its thumb as we get in the elevator hand in hand. “We’re really having a baby, Gracie,” he says, his voice full of emotion again.

“I know. It’s amazing and scary, isn’t it?”

Turning me so I’m facing him, he wraps one arm around my waist and with his lips almost touching mine, he breathes. “It’s amazing, but I’m not scared because, with you by my side, I know I can do anything. And I promise you, Gracie; I promise you and our little one, right here and now, I will do everything I can to be the best dad there is.”

“I know you will, Cole,” I confirm, and I place my hand over his heart while I stand on the tip of my toes to kiss my amazing man.

When the elevator comes to a halt and the doors open, we step into the corridor. “Are you going to be at home or your place tonight?” he asks, and my heart pulses quickly like it does every time he refers to his place as our home.

“I finished packing the last of my stuff this morning, so I’ll be at home waiting for you.”

“You’re already finished? I hope you didn’t lift any boxes or move anything.”

“Of course not. That’s for all you strong men to do.” I wink at him.

“Good. Now go home and rest. I’ll bring some take-out home with me, so don’t worry about cooking either.”

Those words are quite possibly every woman’s dream, and I’ll make damn sure that he’s rewarded for being so wonderful later tonight. “You’re kind of perfect, you know that?” I tell him.

“I’m not perfect, Sweet Cheeks, just a man who loves a woman and wants to take care of her.” He gives me one last kiss and his pager goes off, signaling that he’s needed back in the ER.

“Gotta run, baby, but I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“Love you, too, babe.” I almost shout as he walks backwards away from me. Then he turns and hurries through the swinging double doors.

I head for the exit, grabbing my keys out of my purse and looking for the ultrasound picture. With the realization that Cole still had it in his hand as he walked away, I suddenly feel sorry for all the staff in the ER this afternoon because I have no doubt that the proud daddy-to-be is going to be driving them crazy as his gushes over his little one.

Chapter 40

Cole….

It’s moving weekend. Sam and I have both been able to have the weekend off to help move Gracie, and then Allison’s things. Allison moving into Gracie’s house is perfect. Not only is she getting a great place, but also she’s getting it at a lower rent, fully furnished, and with no lease. At twenty-five, Gracie already has the place paid off, thanks to her keen business sense and investments. It’s good to know she can keep it and have someone we know looking after it.

So, since I have the entire weekend off and I just finished my Friday shift that I swapped, I’m headed for home and Gracie. When I reach my Jeep in the staff parking lot, I notice a piece of paper stuck under my windshield wiper. Knowing that people canvas the parking lot regularly with advertising fliers, I take it off and throw it on the passenger side floor next to my bag. Just as I’m about to close the door, the messy handwritten message on the paper grabs my attention, so I snatch it back up and read what it says.

If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay the fuck away from her.

What the hell?
I quickly glance around the parking lot looking for any sign of who might have left the note, but there’s no one in sight. Confused by what it says, I figure that whoever left it has put it on the wrong car because I sure as hell don’t know who or what the message is referring to. Since there’s no trash can nearby, I crumple the paper up, throw it back on the floor without any further thought, and go around to the driver’s side. My only goal now is getting Gracie some dinner and spending the night with her in my arms, knowing that as of tomorrow, I get to wake up with her there every single day from then on.