Avenger(2)

“Baby clothes and baby shoes! Aaaah!”

“Babe,” Bentley pulled her against his side. “Calm down, and don’t go getting any ideas,” he chuckled.

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes, “I don’t want a baby yet, even though we would have the cutest kid ever. Just look at us,” she smirked, pointing at herself and Bentley.

Bentley shook his head, his lips quirking up at the corners as he fought a smile.

Nolan came over and sat down beside Caeden, clapping him on the shoulder. “Cay-berry, you must have some really powerful sperm.”

“I’m leaving,” Gram said, “when the topic of sperm gets brought up, my butt’s outta here,” she scurried from the room and towards the kitchen.

“I’ll talk to you two in a bit,” Amy said, following her.

“You really know how to clear a room,” I told Nolan.

He shrugged. “I can’t help it that people don’t like it when bodily fluids get brought up. It’s a fact of life.”

“Amen,” Bryce said. I was beginning to wonder if Nolan and Bryce were related…or at least from the same planet.

Caeden blushed and shook his head. “I—uh—actually I think I know when it happened…”

“What?” I snapped my head in his direction.

Rubbing his cheeks to hide the embarrassing redness, he coughed, “Um—in the shower, we didn’t—”

My eyes widened as realization hit me. “Oh my god. You’re right.” I cradled my face in my hands, shaking my head. “We are so dumb.”

“Dude,” Bentley snickered, “always wrap it up.”

“Shut up,” Caeden glared at his best friend. He took one of my hands in his and used the other to cup my cheek. “I don’t regret this, though. Believe that. I’m so incredibly happy. This is…amazing,” he lowered his hand from my face and pressed it against my stomach, even now there was still awe on his face.

I knew we were young, newly married, and with the threat of Travis still looming over our heads, now certainly wasn’t the best time for a baby, but like Caeden I was happy.

I hated to disturb Caeden, since he still had a hand pressed against my stomach, but I knew I really needed to find my dad.

“I’ll be right back,” I kissed his cheek as I stood.

It didn’t take me long to find my mom and dad. They were sitting on the steps and my mom was talking to him in hushed tones.

“Dad?” I questioned hesitantly, wringing my hands together.

He looked up at me and although he wasn’t crying anymore, his eyes were red-rimmed.

“Hey, baby girl,” he swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry for how I acted. I’m just…really surprised.”

“Well, I am married.” I cringed at my own words. Bad joke.

He tried to smile but failed. “I know…but us dads like to pretend our daughters are completely innocent.”

I closed my eyes and winced. “Can we please change the subject?”

My mom laughed, patted my dad on the shoulder, and said, “I’ll leave you two alone to talk.”

I watched her disappear into the kitchen and sat down on the stairs beside my dad.

“So…the kid isn’t going to call me grandpa, right? I’m too young to be a grandpa,” he bumped my shoulder.

“What do you want the baby to call you?” I asked, smiling.

“I don’t know,” he took a deep breath. “What about PapPap?”

“Whatever you want, daddy,” I laughed, shaking my head. “You have about eight months to figure it out.”

He stared at me for a moment and tears shimmered in his eyes once more. “You’re not my little girl anymore. You’re all grown up and that makes me sad. Don’t get me wrong, I love Caeden, but I miss the days when I was your favorite guy.”

“Dad,” I laid my head on his shoulder, “you’re still my favorite guy, you’re just tied with someone else now. I have plenty of love for the both of you. No matter what, you’re always going to be my dad. I might not be the little girl playing dress up and asking you to be my prince, but I am still Sophie.”

“I know,” he kissed the top of my head. “It’s hard on us parents to accept the fact that our children have to grow up and become adults themselves. Now,” he glanced at my stomach, “you’re going to get to experience that.”

“You know,” I smiled, “I’m going to need a lot of advice. I’ve never even changed a diaper.”

He chuckled. “You know this baby will be the most loved baby in the whole world. You have nothing to worry about, Soph. Between me, your mom, Gram, and Caeden’s mom, this baby will be spoiled rotten.”