Hold (Gentry Boys, #5)(29)

But first Stephanie straightened up and looked me straight in the eye. She ran one fingertip lightly along my lips and then dropped her hand with a sigh.

“By the way,” she said, “I’m pregnant.”





CHAPTER TEN


CORD



I knew she’d stayed up way too late trying to finish just one more chapter so when the alarm started buzzing I switched it off lightning quick and tucked the quilt around her bare shoulders.

Saylor stirred and murmured in her sleep before settling back into the pillow with a soft sigh. I spooned my body carefully around hers for a stolen moment, just enjoying her warmth and knowing that for the rest of the day my mind would keep returning here.

In the week that had passed since my brothers and I had driven down to Emblem, something had been weighing on me. Something I couldn’t name, something that might not even be real. But it seemed to hover close with a silent threat all the same.

A series of soft thumps turned into the sound of small footsteps and the girls appeared in the doorway, two little sleep-tousled cherubs who smiled at me lazily.

I put a finger to my lips, motioning for them to be quiet, kissed Say on her cheek and hunted around the floor for my shirt before climbing out of bed.

“I’m hungry,” announced Cami with a trace of impatience.

“Me too!” agreed Cassie, bouncing on her toes.

“Hush,” I whispered, ushering them out of the room and gently closing the door behind me. “Mommy’s still sleeping. I’ll get your breakfast.”

My daughters automatically went to either side of me – Cami on the right, Cassie on the left – and reached for my hands. I walked them down the hall to the bright kitchen. Say had absently left the half-filled coffee carafe on the counter. She’d been putting in a lot of hours lately, trying to meet a deadline for her fifth book.

“I want Marshies,” demanded Cami as she climbed onto the padded wooden bench at the table. Her sister followed her.

I had to crack a grin as I found the cereal box after a quick pantry search. The girls were in the habit of calling it Marshies for short. It was Chase’s favorite cereal. He used to buy boxes by the dozen when we all shared an apartment. It occurred to me that I had no idea if he still did.

“Juice too, Daddy,” chirped Cassie.

“Of course,” I answered, pouring three heaping bowls of cereal with a generous amount of milk.

My girls dove right into their breakfast the second I placed the bowls before them. I sat down at the table and happily watched them eat for a few minutes before tackling my own bowl. I had well over an hour before I needed to be at Scratch and it was only a five minute drive away.

“I had a bad dream, Daddy,” Cassie said suddenly. She dropped her spoon on the table and propped her chin in her dimpled hands with a troubled look.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I told her. “What was it about?”

She looked at me mournfully. “You.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You.”

I took a drink of orange juice. I’d suffered horrible nightmares since I was about the girls’ age. Mine were different though. Mine were based on the truth, where a terrible giant chased relentlessly, always threatening to annihilate the only good things that lived in that desolate world. It seemed those nightmares had faded substantially when Saylor came into my life but even now sometimes I awoke in the middle of the night washed in a cold sweat, my heart pounding. The girls would have no reason for such nightmares.

I set the orange juice back down, my mouth dry even though I’d just drained half the glass. “It was just a dream, honey. Daddy would never do anything scary.”

The little girl frowned. “No. You weren’t scary.”

“Why was it a bad dream then, sweetheart?”

“You were lost.”

“Lost?”

She nodded her blonde head seriously. “We couldn’t find you. We couldn’t find you at all. You were nowhere.”

I leaned forward and stared into my daughter’s eyes. “I’m not lost, Cassidy. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”

“Promise?” she whispered in all earnestness.

“I promise,” I whispered back and crossed my heart emphatically.

“Mommy!” shouted Cami with delight and I looked up to see the most beautiful woman in the world walk into the kitchen.

“Morning, Gentry family,” she yawned, pausing by the table to kiss the girls on each of their heads. They both gazed up at her with pure adoration. I knew just how they felt.

I pushed my chair back from the table a few inches and opened my arms. “My turn.”

Saylor gave me a happy smile and settled right into my lap while the girls giggled. Many years in the future, when my daughters were grown women reflecting on their childhood, I wanted them to remember without a shred of doubt that their father absolutely idolized their mother. I wanted them to believe that they deserved no less from any man.

“What’s wrong?” my wife asked as her green eyes scanned me with a touch of concern.

“Nothing,” I assured her with a squeeze. “Just enjoying a gourmet breakfast with all my favorite girls.”

I would have liked to stay right in that spot all day but the clock was ticking. Reluctantly I left my little family and all their bright breakfast chatter to go jump in the shower and transition into work mode. As I was still toweling off I heard the distinct sound of my phone buzzing on the bedroom dresser. I didn’t run in there and grab it, figuring it was probably just Aspen chiding me for running a little late because in Aspen’s world, ‘late’ meant not twenty minutes early.