Protecting His Forever(46)

He takes the hairdryer from me and asks, “What’s wrong with it?” Shrugging my shoulders, he looks down into the dryer. “Now,” I tell Arabella.

She absolutely soaks him and he looks at her shocked. She giggles. Clicking the reset button on the plug, the dryer starts and covers him in baby powder. All you see is a white puff of powder that coats his face and neck. Only thing showing is his eyes open and his nostrils. Clutching my belly, I roll around on the ground. Arabella is lying beside me laughing.

“I’m giving you a thirty second head start! You better run before I catch ya.” He then starts counting. “One!”

Arabella looks at me in panic. Taking her hand, I lift her off the ground. We run down to the steps as fast as we can. She giggles the whole way. We head straight outside. I can hear him yelling from inside the house just as we get to the barn. Taking a horse out of the stall, I lift Arabella onto it and then I step on a stool and jump on bareback. Kicking the house in the side gently, he takes off.



Kane walks in the barn just as we head out the other side. He laughs, and I can hear another set of horse hooves on the ground a few seconds later.

“Hurry, Mommy, he gonna get us,” Arabella whispers while looking over my shoulder.

She’s sitting so her belly is against mine, her legs on top of my legs. She has her arms wrapped around my waist. My arm is wrapped around her to keep her steady.

“We got this, love bug.” We go as fast as I will dare with Arabella riding with me. Looking back, I see Kane is coming up fast behind us.

“Oh, shit!” I whisper to myself. I know we are caught. Kane cleaned the baby powder off his face and has a new shirt on. He comes up beside us. Slowing down to a trot, Kane pretends to be mad at us both. Arabella knows this considering she has him wrapped around her little fingers.

“Hey, Daddy,” she says in the sweetest little voice. Giving her an approving look, she giggles quietly.

“Hey, sweetheart.” His face softens.

“I wike your white hair.” She gives him a sweet smile.

I laugh silently at his facial expression.

“I bet you do,” he grunts out.

“Can I wide with you, Daddy?” She’s got him.

“You sure can, baby girl.”

I stop the horse and lift her off mine as Kane reaches for her. He leans over and whispers in my ear. “I’m going to spank your ass for that shit tonight.” He bites my earlobe and turns back to Arabella. My whole body shivers. Maybe I should do this more often.

~*~

We take our time riding back to the barn, enjoying the morning sun. Closing my eyes, I smile because I’m incredibly happy. One hundred percent happy for the first time in my life. Life can only get better from here on out.

Leading my horse to Kane, I go straight into the house with Arabella. Kane comes in a few minutes later. SMACK! “Ouch!” I yelp and turn around to glare at Kane.

He’s giving me a shit-eating grin. Rolling my eyes, I open the fridge to get a bottle of water and immediately gag. Putting my hand over my mouth, I run to the bathroom. Slamming the door behind me, I fall down to my knees, vomiting my breakfast into the toilet.

Hands pull my hair away from my face. A cold washcloth is placed on the back of my neck a second later. Letting out a ragged breath, I try to control my nausea. I feel immensely better, but still feel sick.

“Are you okay, baby?” Kane asks while rubbing my back soothingly.

I nod my head. I’m not ready to answer with words because I’m still queasy.

“Do you want me to carry you to bed?”

I shake my head no, but he doesn’t listen. He lifts me off the cold floor and up into his arms. Laying my head against his chest, he carries me up to our room and gently lays me down onto the bed.

He smooths my hair away from my face lovingly, then leans down and grabs a throw blanket and tucks it under my chin.

“Rest,” he tells me sternly.

“Okay,” I whisper and close my eyes. Nothing is worse than having an upset stomach and throwing up.

I was fine until I opened the refrigerator. The smell of different meats hit me in the face. I can gag at the thought. That’s never happened to me before. Closing my eyes, I try to relax.

Then it hits me like a freight train. My mom told me when she was pregnant that opening the refrigerator made her get sick every single time. She would have to plug her nose. I

can’t be pregnant, right? No way. I’m on the shot. I must be getting the stomach flu. But what if I am? What will Kane say? Arabella? Oh God, Arabella. My poor baby girl. What will she say? Will she be jealous? I will love her just as much as any of my own kids. I’m scared.

Pushing off the bed, I walk to the night stand. My nausea long forgotten. I’m going to have Brae and Jessica pick me up and take me to get some pregnancy tests. I want Kane there, but I want to be alone to confirm it.