My family already knew what I had planned for it, but you could see the relief in Mom’s and Dad’s eyes as Harper excitedly showed them her new car and told them all about joining our bank accounts. When we were sitting at the table for dinner, we told everyone we were having a boy, and Mom had immediately ran to the kitchen to get the baby-name book, and we started through it right then. We must have highlighted three dozen different names before shutting the book for the night, and I watched as Harper lovingly ran her hands over her small stomach and talked to our “Gummy Bear,” as she’d come to call him. God, I was so in love with her.
After dinner, I packed my bag and threw it in my truck before giving Brian a call at the shop.
“Hey, man! Shit, took you long enough to call, Riss is freaking out texting me every ten minutes wanting to know how everything went.”
I snorted a laugh. “Tell her to calm her ass down. Everything went great, we’re—” inhaling deeply, I shook my head at the ridiculous smile I had on my face—“we’re having a boy.”
“Yeah?” He laughed loudly and shouted the news to whoever was in the shop before coming back. “Hate to break it to ya, Chase. But I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided you’re seriously confused and just think that this is your baby.”
My heart stopped, and my smile quickly fell. “The fu—”
“I mean,” he cut me off with a snort, “everyone knows it’s my baby. You’re just in denial.”
As soon as his words registered, I laughed out loud. “Seriously, I was about to go kick someone’s ass.”
“Just sayin’, I even told Riss. That baby is mine.”
“All right, I’ll let Princess know, too.”
“Damn straight you will! As long as we’re all on the same page, we’ll be good.”
“You’re such a dumb-ass.” I laughed again. “Tell Marissa that the rest of the day went well. Harper’s really happy, and we’re about to leave for the last part of tonight, er, this weekend.”
“You lucky bastard. All right, have fun but make sure my baby mama doesn’t overdo it.”
I shook my head. “See you Monday.”
We hung up, and I jogged back into the house and into the living room, where I wrapped my arms around Princess from behind the couch.
My lips skimmed that sensitive spot behind her ear before I whispered, “Can you do me a favor?”
Her head had rolled to the side, and her arms were covered in goose bumps. “Anything.”
“Go pack a bag for a few nights and meet me down here in ten minutes.” Lightly nipping on her ear, I lowered my voice even further. “You won’t need many clothes.”
Her eyes flew open, and she turned to look at me, an odd expression passing over her face. “Are we going to your house?”
I wanted to ask what had freaked her out so much but decided I might not want to know since Brandon was at my house. Whether it had to do with him or not, I’d been making sure he and Harper didn’t see each other anymore and really didn’t want to discuss him with her. “Nope, but it’s a surprise, so I can’t tell you.”
Her face relaxed, and she rolled her eyes with a light laugh. “You and your surprises. Okay, ten minutes, and I’ll be ready.”
While she was packing, I called Brad and told him about the appointment, the sex of the baby, and made sure everything was all right at the house. By the time I was hanging up, Princess was coming down the stairs with a very small bag, and I couldn’t help but smile. Apparently, she’d taken my words seriously.
Since we’d gotten together, Harper and I hadn’t slept together . . . in any way. We would curl up on her bed in my parents’ house and talk until she fell asleep, and I’d quietly make my way back to my room. I knew my parents didn’t care—after all, she was already pregnant. But even though she’d taken time between breaking up with Brandon and telling me about the baby, I was terrified of pushing her away like I’d done so often during the school year. And she hadn’t asked if I would stay with her, so I’d continued to let her sleep alone.
But this weekend, I had other plans. I know I’d told her not to bring many clothes, but that’d been a joke. All I wanted was to fall asleep with her and wake up the same. If she was still uncomfortable, I’d gladly sleep on the floor if that’s what she needed. But I figured it might be uncomfortable for her either at my house with her ex, or at my parents’ with them there. So I was taking us for a weekend of just us. And hoping I didn’t screw it up.