“Caine,” I warned, “you tell me now or I will think the worst.”
“It’s not bad.” He rested a reassuring hand on my knee. “Baby, it’s not bad at all. I just … I’ve put off discussing it because you’ve been so busy, but I’m beginning to realize that you’re going to be busy right up until the wedding and that’s still four months away.”
I smiled curiously at the consternation on his face. “What is this about?”
“I want a kid.”
I froze at his abrupt announcement.
“I want our kid.” He grabbed my hands, searching my face as he attempted to read my reaction. “I want to try to have a baby with you.”
The sudden rush of emotion at his declaration overwhelmed me. Any response was strangled in my throat as I fought to fight tears.
“Lexie?”
For the past year I’d pondered the idea of having a baby with Caine, until the pondering became more insistent, until it became a longing. With our schedules I hadn’t known how to bring it up. Back in the beginning of our relationship, Caine had mentioned kids in an offhand manner, but we’d never really discussed it, so I didn’t know when it would become an option. We’d gone through so much in the last few months with the trial that it just didn’t ever seem like the right time.
So his words that morning meant everything to me.
It meant that Caine and I, God willing, would finally have a family.
“Is this real?” I grinned, causing tears to spill down my cheeks.
Caine hauled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed the tears away and held me tight. “Baby, it’s real.”
It was so real.
Finally.
I had what I’d always wanted.
And Caine … he had what he’d always needed.