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Thatthat turns into a sob, before she sniffs again and wipes her eyes with the heels of her hand "No, Cannon, it's" She shakes her head, cla her mouth shut, apparently unable to even speak about it, it's that bad

Then she hands it to me, and my eyes widen

Suddenly, all at once, I understand

Suddenly, I' as I pull her againstin shock "Is this?"

"Yes" She finally sht for sore eyes, the way she beah her tears Because those weren't tears of sorrow, not at all She's been weeping with joy

I turn the pregnancy test over in ht of the telltale little pink plus sign at the base of the stick "Oh my God, Rina"

"It's finally happening," she whispers into my chest, before she tilts her head back to let me kiss her, deep and slow "Cannon" She meets my eyes with a bleary smile thather "Cannon We're having a baby"

And in thatthose words, for the first tiether, can accorip her to my chest, hoist her off her feet, and whirl her in a circle as she laughs, unable to stop myself

Then, realizing, I drop her back to her feet with a worried frown and loosendown at her "Oh, God, did I hurt you? Did I hurt the baby?"

She laughs and rolls her eyes, shaking her head as she leans in to kiss my cheek "The baby is fine, Cannon Perfect We all will be"

My eyes light up as they rin onto have a family"

"We are" She grins, and I bend down to kiss her again "So h, hard

"Fuck NSA," I reply Then I kiss her again, for real this tih her hair, and we're distracted all over again by the fa feel of one another

"You're going to reat father," she whispers to h my body

"Only because you're already the perfect , she slips her hand into mine, and checks over my shoulder at the clock on the wall between the distant elevators

"What do you think, baby daddy?" Her eyebrows rise, suggestive "Do we have time to sneak home for lunch break today?"

My gaze drops over her, roa across her perfect body Her perfect body, which is now carrying our child "What do you know?" I reply "An urgenthas suddenly come up For both of us In the bedroom"

With a giggle that turns into a squeal, she lets entler this time, and with her cradled in et back to ravishing the gorgeous, soon-to-be mother of my child

Epilogue

Rina

Eight Months Later

God, I'hthis way and that to see hoell the newfits

To be honest, I hate the way al looks onthat he loves it "You look sexier than ever," he tells ets, and what's ry look in his eyes as he sizesthat he means it

"It's sexy to know that you're carrying my child," he always explains, whenever I ask how on earth he can find me sexy on days like these

As forand strong But frankly, at this point in the pregnancy, I just can't wait to have the baby—sooner than later, if possible My due date isn't for another teeks, but already I'er to pop this kid out

We don't know yet whether it is a boy or a girl, so we prepared for both As it turned out, Cannon and I wound up h not exactly in the circuined when I first decided to try for a baby all on ht a house a little bit outside of town—only a fifteen-minute cos But it's worth the drive for the adorable house itself It has five bedrooms, because we've already decided that, after this little rascal comes out, ant to have at least two more, as quickly as possible

Yes, it will be crazy to raise three kids who are all young and close in age, but we think it will be fun, too We want our kids to have siblings to goof off with, siblings close enough in age to sy pains

And, we're already thinking ahead to our retirement By the tirown and successfully living off in the world Leaving , if that's e have in mind

Everything about our lives is falling perfectly into place Exactly the anted things to pan out It's like all of oals I never even knew I had—like settling doith someone I didn't knoanted that I never drea—even now, I don't really plan on it Cannon and I figure we'll get legally s easier for our kids, but I don't like the idea of spending hours and hours ofan elaborate celebration with an overpriced dress I just want to celebrate with et a justice of the peace to stop by So easy, simple Just like me and Cannon

Who knew I could want all of this? I thought I only wanted a child ofa child with someone, someone I consider to be the love of my life no less, would feel even more incredible

Better than incredible It feels like a living dream

Well, aside froht now, as I rest a hand on the s to bend down to slip on my shoes

"Here," Cannon insists, bursting out of the closet, his tie half askew "Let me help" He kneels in front of roan and roll my eyes skyward

"Thank you," I say "I could have done it though"

He laughs at my stubborn insistence to remain as independent as possible, the way he always does "I know, Rina But it's easier if I help"

I concede that point, and hold his hand as he cli halfway to plant a fat kiss on ain e need to dress up for this?" I ask

"Because Chris wants to surprise Lacy," Cannon explains "She thinks they're justher with a big fancy dinner nearby"

"With all her work friends?" I say, tilting my head to crack it as I follow him out of our bedroo" Personally, I love huge parties, especially now that everyone in both our lives knows that we're together, so we don't need to hide anything fros in with a few friends type

"Don't worry" Cannon squeezes my hand "You're always so worried about details! Lacy will love it Chris knows her, after all"

That he does, surprisingly I wasn't sure about the in a little too fast with the office playboy But then again, I suppose I'm not one to talk And ever since he finally confessed to her how he feels, Chris has been completely devoted to Lacy, in a way I've never seen him do before

Who knows? Maybe they put sorin to myself at the private joke as I follow Cannon outside, and let hi to have to upgrade to a er vehicle once the baby is born—this one is cute and sporty, but it won't fit a car seat easily,eventually

But far froht of all the things we'll have to accoether in the future—actually ether, we make the world's best tea this baby in the first place, we'll be able to accomplish We er

I'hts—when Cannon steers us onto the highway Only then does so off

"Hey wait a minute," I say "The movie theater is the other direction"

"It's a different theater," he explains with an easy smile "A fenships over Close to the restaurant we're using to surprise Lacy"

"Oh" I sit back in"I didn't realize there was a theater in this direction" We've lived here for the same amount of time, after all

But Cannon just shrugs a shoulder "It just opened last year I think"

Hmm Well It's not the ain, in retrospect, I haven't been to theat ho our house and our lives ready for this baby "Didn't realize," I say as I lean back inon long I'm tired"

"Don't worry I' out with your friends," he promises

That again "Listen, are you sure Chris thinks Lacy will like this?" I add, frowning

Cannon laughs "Relax, Rina" He reaches across the driving panel to squeeze o all worried Mama Bear on me yet"

"Okay, okay," I reply, though I' you, this is a terrible idea Lacy isn't me"

"I know And you're the one who loves huge events, right?"

I snort and rollable to share my life with everybody"