Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #1.5)(50)

What. The. Hell.

I took a tentative step in the direction of the table, praying my eyesight had just declined significantly, and I wasn’t reading it correctly.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting was there, right in front of me. “This better be a f*cking joke,” I whispered to the empty room and noticed the top of a white bookmark peeking out of the top about a fourth of the way through. Taking a deep breath, I flipped to the page and saw that the bookmark was actually an ultrasound picture.

I was going to kill Konrad.

I pulled the ultrasound photo out of the book and let the book fall to the table again as I stared at my niece or nephew. The front door opened, followed by gasps and a low whistle before I heard it shut. I turned and was yelling before I could storm out of the kitchen and see my family. “Are you f*cking kidding me? How could you guys keep this from me? Where the hell is he? I swear to God, I’m going to kill him!”

“Chase!” My dad bit back at me, and took a protective step in front of Princess, Mom, and Bree. “Calm down. What is going on?”

Calm down? Calm down? Is he serious? “I saw the books, I saw the effing ultrasound pictures!”

Dad straightened his body and crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow raised. “And?”

“And? Dad!” I flung my arm toward the girls, pointing with the photo. “Bree’s knocked up, and all you can say is ‘and’?”

Bree crossed her arms over her chest, making her look just like Dad. “Please. I’m not as stupid as you. I’m not pregnant.”

“Breanna!” Mom hissed, her eyes wide.

Not as stupid as me? Wh—just . . . what? “Then what the hell is this?” I shoved the photo directly in front of her face and held it there with a shaky hand until Harper pulled the picture out of my hand. Her voice was soft and controlled.

“It’s mine, Chase.”

I looked over to my princess and was about to apologize for blowing up on her birthday when what she said finally hit me. It’s mine, Chase. The book, the ultrasound picture . . . were hers? My princess is pregnant? But she’d told me she’d only been with . . . oh holy shit. My legs started shaking as everything started clicking in my mind. I couldn’t stop the wide grin that crossed my face as I realized the girl I loved more than life itself was carrying our baby.

My gaze left her worried expression to travel down her body until I hit her slightly rounded stomach. Holy shit. How had I not noticed before tonight? “You’re pregnant, Princess?”

“Yes,” she answered softly.

I glanced up and smiled at her before looking back to her stomach, which she had just placed her hands on. “Is it—is it mine?”

“Of course it is.”

A surge of warmth spread through my body. I knew what she was saying. I knew what this meant, but I couldn’t stop asking her, “We’re going to have a baby?”

“Yes.”

I grabbed the ultrasound picture in her hand, my fingertips barely grazing her baby bump. “This is our baby?”

“Yes.”

Glancing back up at my gray-eyed princess, I studied her beautiful smile as the tears started pouring down her face. “We’re having a baby,” I said out loud.

She laughed and nodded as she watched me.

I huffed a laugh and ran a shaky hand through my hair, grabbing a fistful before letting go and looking from Harper’s stomach, to our baby’s picture, and back to her stomach. That was us. This baby was ours. And Harper’s smile was saying more than her words could. This beautiful girl was mine.

“I love you so much.” I took the last step toward her and brought my mouth down roughly to hers.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I straightened, lifting her from the ground as we moved our lips against each other. For the first time in almost three months, I felt alive again, and I never wanted to go back to a life without Harper in it. I set her back on the ground and kissed her one more time before dropping to my knees so I was eye level with her stomach. I gently ran my hands over the small bump, and my breath came out in a huff. I couldn’t believe I’d had no idea. Lifting her shirt enough to see the bump, my heart took off as I looked at her tattoo of orange lilies wrapping around so they barely touched the edge of where her bump was.

Mine.

Leaning forward, I gently kissed her small bump twice before running my hands over it again and standing up to cup her face in my hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Harper shrugged, her gray eyes glistening with tears. “I was scared; I still am.”

“You don’t have to be scared,” I whispered, and kissed her nose softly. “I’ll take care of us,” I vowed. Always.

She looked around to my parents and sister as she grabbed my hand. “Can you guys excuse us for a minute?”

I followed her up the stairs and to my room. As soon as we were in there, her next inhale was audible as she just stared at the bed for a few moments before going to sit on the edge of it. I fell into the middle of it and pulled her with me so we were lying down, me on my back, and her curled onto her side against me. We stayed silent for a minute, and I grabbed her hand, so I could link our fingers together before bringing it down to kiss her palm.

“I can’t believe we’re going to have a baby.”