Jesse had been the one to bring up the topic of adoption, determined that he wanted Lucy to know exactly how much he thought of her as his. Lucy needed to be asked twice, and six months after we had gotten married she had officially become our daughter. It had been weird at first. Lucy didn’t know if she wanted to call us “Mom and Dad” or not. We had let her figure all of that out on her own. It took some time, but after a while she had slipped into calling Jesse “Dad”. She and I were still figuring out if she wanted to call me “Mom”. From time to time she slipped from calling me “Layla” to calling me “Mom”.
I grinned down at her as I fluffed up the pillows on the sofa. “No, baby. He hasn’t gotten home yet.”
“Thank goodness.” She hugged me tight and flopped down on the sofa. “I didn’t even want to go to school today because I was scared I wouldn’t be here when Dad got home.”
“Emmie texted me about an hour ago, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.” I assured her as I continued to straighten up the living room. I loved the house that we had made a home. Actually, it was as perfect as it could get, but I needed to do something to keep busy or I might lose my mind!
“I wish we could have gone with him this time.” Lucy sighed. The last few times Demon’s Wings had gone on their mini tours, Lucy and I had gone with them. This time it hadn’t been possible because Lucy had school. Ever though she was now in a private school, she couldn’t be missing that much school at a time, especially with all the extra work she had from her creative writing classes her teachers had put her in.
“Me too, baby.” I dropped down beside of her on the sofa and pulled her close. For two weeks, it had just been me and her. No going down the beach to see Emmie and Mia whenever the mood struck. It had been kind of lonely for us, but we had gotten through it together.
To distract ourselves, I turned on the flat screen and we settled down to watch one of Lucy’s favorite shows. I tried not to glance at my phone every five minutes to check the time or see if Jesse had texted me, but my eyes were drawn like magnets.
The front door opening startled me, and I jumped. I heard something heavy hit the floor in the entrance hallway and then the door slammed shut. “Where are my girls?”
Lucy was already up and skipping out of the living room. I was slower to get up and by the time I reached the hallway, Lucy was already in Jesse’s arms. He swung her around a few times, making her giggle. When he sat her on her feet, he pulled her close and gave her a tight hug. “Missed you, Lu,” he murmured against her curly head.
“I missed you too, Dad.”
I stopped a few feet away, taking in the man I loved more than life itself. He looked tired. Dark shadows under his eyes told me that he hadn’t been getting much sleep since he had been gone. Neither one of us could sleep well without the other. He needed a shave; dark stubble shadowed his jaw and head. His shirt was wrinkled, and his jeans had a stain on one thigh that attested to too much fast food. All in all, he was the sexiest, most heartwarming sight that I had laid eyes on. “Well I definitely missed you!” I informed him with a welcoming smile.
Jesse’s bald head snapped up, and I watched in fascination as his eyes rapidly changed colors. I would never get over his eyes. Even after two years of marriage they still made me melt. Right now, they were eating me up and I had to fight the urge to drag him upstairs. “Welcome home, Jess.”
With the speed of lightning, he had me in his arms. His fingers tangled in my hair and his lips devoured mine. I kissed him back, desperate for a taste of him. You would think we hadn’t seen each other in years instead of mere weeks. When he finally raised his head, we were both breathless.
Jesse pressed his forehead against my own. “Yeah, this isn’t going to happen again!” he muttered. “You either go with me or I’m not going.”
“Agreed.” I brushed a quick kiss over his lips and then took his hand and tugged him into the living room. “Are you hungry? I haven’t cooked yet, but I can make you a sandwich or something.”
“No, babe. I’m not hungry.” He flopped down on the sofa and pulled me down beside of him. Lucy took her usual place on his other side and the television was forgotten as we made him tell us all about the tour. For more than an hour, he indulged us.
“What’s been going on around here?” he asked after a while. “We’ve talked every day, but that doesn’t mean you girls tell me everything.”
I glanced over at Lucy who was eyeing me questioningly. She and I had been keeping something from him this last week. It wasn’t exactly something that you told your husband over the phone and I had been so anxious about it that I broke down and confided in Lucy… “What?” Jesse laughed.
I bit my lip. “There is something…” I began.
“But we wanted to tell you face to face,” Lucy cut in.
“Did you two adopt another pet?” He raised a brow at Lucy. “Please tell me it’s a dog and not another lizard, Lu. Or a freaking snake!”
Lucy had a thing for exotic animals it seemed. She had conned Drake into buying her an iguana last year for her birthday without talking to us about it. Then for Christmas Lucy had actually asked for a python. The girl was crazy about the yellow and white snake that she had named Zippy. Big, bad rock star Jesse Thornton? Not so much. He steered clear of Zippy and Lucy’s room.
“No, Dad. It isn’t about a pet.” Lucy was quick to assure him.
“Jesse, remember before you left you said you thought it was time to start on a few additions..?” I stopped when he turned those ever changing eyes on me. “I hope you really are ready.”
“Layla are you trying to tell me you’re pregnant?” he demanded.
I grinned. “Maybe.” We had been talking on and off about having a baby from the day we got married. But it seemed like every time one of us was ready something would come up and we would put it off for a little longer. This time it had been completely taken out of our hands because I was still on the pill until I had found out that I was pregnant.
He growled and pulled me onto his lap. “Really? You are really pregnant?”
I nodded. “Yes. I saw the doctor last week when I realized I was late. I’m eight weeks pregnant.” I pulled the little picture out of my back pocket where I had put it that morning. The night before Lucy and I had stared at it for hours until we had fallen asleep on mine and Jesse’s bed.