Stealing Harper(68)
Harper started laughing and glanced at me quickly before looking straight down again, “He’s kicking! He’s kicking whenever you talk!”
Oh my God. My knees hit the ground, and I pushed my way in between Harper’s legs while letting my hands cover her rounding stomach. My heart was racing, and I had to take two deep breaths before leaning in close, my nose almost touching her belly. “You kicking Mom?” I kept my voice low, and said slowly, “C’mon, Gummy Bear, Daddy wants to feel you kick, too. I love you so much—” A light nudge hit my hand, and my head shot back to look at my princess. “Oh my God!” Bringing my head back to her belly I swear I fell in love with our son even more while I continued to talk to him. Each time, I was rewarded with a soft nudge, and I couldn’t help but laugh shakily at how amazing it was.
Mom, Dad, and Breanna all took turns feeling GB kick, all while I spoke softly to him. Once Bree was done, I went back to kneeling in front of Harper, but I didn’t feel him kick again.
“I think he rolled over,” Harper whispered, and I stood up, pulling her with me to capture her lips with mine. “That was incredible!” She laughed against my mouth, and I smiled.
“My thoughts exactly.” Without looking back at my family, I grabbed her hand and started towing her toward the stairs. “ ’Night, everyone.”
Harper giggled and turned to wave. “Good night!”
They all called out good nights, but I didn’t slow down for anything. As soon as we were in my room, I shut the door and locked it before pushing Harper up against it. “Babe—” I growled against her mouth, and she leaned away, running her thumb over my lips.
“I know, Chase. I love you, too, so much.”
“That was amazing. Thank you, Harper. Thank you for our son, thank you for loving me.”
“Always,” she whispered, and brought her mouth back to mine, our lips moving against each other slowly.
Lifting her shirt over her head, I dropped it next to us and immediately went for her bra. Her hands started undressing me as I pulled down her tight workout pants. She had just gotten the button on my jeans undone and was going for my fly when I removed her hands and turned us, walking her back toward the bed. After laying us down, I made a trail from her lips to her ear. “Let me love you tonight, Princess.”
Without waiting for a response, I kissed and sucked my way down her body, lifting her legs so her feet were planted on the bed, and her knees were bent. Trailing my fingers along her wet folds, she sucked in air and whispered my name. Hearing Harper say my name that way—seeing the way her head would fall back and body would arch off the bed when I ran my tongue over her heat, and feeling as her body tightened and shuddered around me as she came—was perfection to me. And that perfection was mine.
“COME ON, GUMMY BEAR, you gotta wake up for Daddy. Kick for me, buddy.”
Harper laughed softly, and her hands went into my hair. “I’m telling you, babe, he’s asleep. He’s not gonna wake up.”
“You’ll wake up for Daddy, won’t you? You don’t want me to go to the party; you want to kick the crap out of Mom’s belly while I talk to you, don’t you?”
Still nothing.
I sighed and ran my nose back and forth across Harper’s stomach. Graduation was on Sunday, so the guys at my house were throwing one last Friday night party . . . and I didn’t want to go. I’d started working a lot more back when Harper and Brandon were dating, so I hadn’t even been to a party in who knows how long; and it just didn’t interest me anymore. Besides, Princess wasn’t going, so if she wasn’t going, I definitely didn’t want to go. She’d been pushing me out the door, saying I needed a good weekend with my friends, and, as a last attempt, I told her that if I could get GB to kick for me, I didn’t have to go. But five minutes of talking to her swollen stomach, and he hadn’t so much as rolled over.
Harper tugged on my hair gently, and I reluctantly stood up. “Go to the party, Chase. Have fun.”
I grumbled, but cupped her cheeks and kissed her soundly. “I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Just have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shaking my head, I kissed her forehead and unlocked my truck. “I need you in my arms when I fall asleep tonight, Princess. I’ll text you when I’m on my way back here.”
Ignoring the urge to turn my truck back around to go be with her, I reasoned that at least I could grab the solitaire engagement ring I’d bought Harper last week. I had everything planned to propose after graduation on Sunday, and it felt like the next day and a half would drag by. Princess was always saying she didn’t need to be married just because she was pregnant. But what she wasn’t getting is that I couldn’t wait to marry her. I wanted to be with her forever and didn’t see the point in waiting to start my life with her.