“Are you mad?” she asked.
“Oh, baby. Shocked, yes. Mad? Hell no. You’re amazing. You’ve given me the best present. I get to be a dad. I’ll admit I don’t know the first thing about how to do that, but I’ll figure it out along the way.”
She wiped her tear-soaked cheek on his shirt. “But you have school and work and the center. How are you going to be able to handle this?”
He smiled. She thought all that other stuff would matter after this news? “Nothing is more important than my family. You and the mutt, and now our son or daughter are my top priority. The other stuff can be juggled. Were you afraid to tell me?”
She looked up at him. Damn, she had been. “I didn’t want you to feel trapped.”
Trapped? “This is the best news I’ve ever heard. I’m going to be a dad. What in the world could be better than that?”
“Oh, Sean.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him against her. “I wanted to hear you say that. I really needed you to be happy about this.”
He pressed another kiss on her forehead, trailed his lips down over her wet cheek to slip his tongue between her lips. Her soft mouth gave in easily, letting him deepen the kiss. “I know you are my angel. You were sent to me from heaven. God must have known I would need you. I’ve been a total bastard most of my life, but he showed me mercy. He gave me you.”
“And you gave me this precious life inside me. I love you, Sean.”
“I love you too, baby.”
Abigail rubbed her belly where their baby was safe and sound. “I guess this means we’re going to need a bigger place.”
“We’ll start looking tomorrow. I have to check my account, but we should be able to have some sort of down payment within a couple of months. We can stay with Eric until then.”
He felt her little hand tug on his shirt. “I can use some of my savings too.”
“I told you, I’ll take care of my family. You save that for baby stuff. Do you think it’s a boy or a girl? I heard if you can’t sleep at night then it’s a boy…or maybe a girl. I forget.” He looked over just in time to catch her pretty smile. “Well, I don’t care which it is. Either way, he or she is going to play baseball. I always wanted to play baseball but never got to. Maybe she’ll want to dance or play the guitar. Did I ever tell you I taught myself how to play the guitar?”
“No. You’re full of surprises, Mr. Drennan.”
“Um,” he said, “about the Mr. Drennan thing. How about the Mrs. Drennan thing?”
He loved the way she smiled. “Mrs. Drennan?”
“Yes, how about you get a name too?”
“Sean, are you asking me to marry you?”
God, his palms were wet, and his heart felt like it could crack in half. The thudding in his head hurt, and thank God he was in bed, because his knees felt like they would to give out. Yeah, he was proposing. “Yes.”
She slung her arms around his neck. “Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you!”
He hugged her soft waist. “God, I love you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Abigail grabbed his cheeks, pulling his lips against her own. “Thank you, for saving my life, for giving me this precious life inside me, for loving me when I didn’t think anyone could. I love you so much.”
Sean dipped his head to slide his tongue across her soft lips. He’d never get enough of worshiping her gorgeous mouth. “Anytime, baby. Anytime.”
Epilogue
Abigail finished scooping the rest of the low-fat ice cream into the bowl. She filled the other bowl with chocolate caramel crunch for Sean. He’d know the difference in a heartbeat if she’d sneak him some of her low-fat ice cream into his bowl. The man still had a sweet tooth that could rival the Hershey factory.
She carried the two bowls into the living room of their new home. The boxes were barely unpacked; Caden’s nursery still had gift bags in the bottom of his closet. Her sisters had come to Savannah to throw her a baby shower and sent a thousand outfits after they’d gone home. Jenny had even sent a tiny wet suit!
Sean had been a bit overwhelmed when her family came to Savannah after receiving the news of the attack, but when they came to see the baby he’d been much better prepared for the open arms and welcoming affection. Where he was tentative and suspicious before, he opened his arms and welcomed her siblings and parents with cheerful hospitality.
“He’s still awake,” he said and shifted Caden in his arms so he could take the bowl of ice cream. “Thank you, baby. That’s just what I needed. You didn’t give me any of that low-fat stuff, did you?”