Chapter 30

30

Silas

I flutter my eyes open when my alarm sounds, turning it off and pretending it didn’t sound at all since work is the last place I want to be right now.

Once I knew Kara forgave me last night and I had her back in my arms, I did not want to let her go. We might have slept the past few hours, but those feelings have not changed.

When I don’t move, she asks, “Don’t you have to get up?”

I hold her tighter. “Nope. Not yet.”

She laughs as she pushes me away from her. “Go to work.”

“Ugh,” I moan, but do as she said, then lean in to kiss her forehead before I go to hop in the shower.

While I’m there, all I can think about is how I’m going to be a dad. Me. The shock of it all is still so fresh, but now that I’ve taken it in and calmed my internal freak-out, I’m actually okay with it—excited even.

I know I’m going to wrap that kid in a bubble, and Kara is going to have to be patient with me as I work through my fears, but I think I’m going to be okay.

Once I’m out of the shower and standing at the sink, brushing my teeth, Kara walks up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and placing her head on my back.

I rinse my mouth, then hold her arm close to me as I look at her peeking over my shoulder.

“I love you,” I say.

“I love you too,” she replies.

I turn and drop to my knees to speak to our baby. “And we both love you.”

She laughs, running her fingers through my hair. “Are you going to talk to my stomach the entire nine months?”

“Absolutely.” I stand to face her. “I’ve heard that it’s the best thing to do because when they are born, they recognize their dad’s voice as someone close to them.”

“Oh, really?” she says with a grin.

“Yep.” I kiss her lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Do you want to just stay here so you are here when I get home?”

“Whoa, boy. Step by step. I’m not moving in yet.”

I pull her close to me. “But you will, right? We’re doing this. I wasn’t just saying that. I will marry you as soon as you allow me to.”

She smiles and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. “We’ll talk about it. I have a lease.”

“Lease smeesh. I’ll buy it out.”

She pushes me away from her with a laugh. “Go to work.”

I give her one more kiss and head out the door with a cheesy grin on my face.

Once I’m at the fire station, I walk straight up to Myles, who holds up his hands in a defensive manner.

“Whoa, hold on. I need to prepare for which way this is going to go.”

I grin. “Just wanted to say thank you.”

He straightens his stature. “Oh. Okay. Yeah. No problem.”

“I’m serious. That was a solid thing you did.”

A sharp laugh escapes his lips. “I thought you would either be thankful or beat my ass. Glad I took the chance.”

“I’m glad you did too.”

He places his hand on my arm. “Are you all ready for this?” He announces to the other guys, “Rhett and Asher aren’t going to be the only new dads in our little fire station here.”

“Hey!” a few yell out, and everyone congratulates me.

I inhale a deep breath. Yep, I’m going to be a dad.

Tones echo throughout the station.

“Engine 47 and Medic 47, car accident involving a head-on collision into a tree. There’s an unconscious woman in the driver’s seat and a three-year-old boy in the back seat, who looks unharmed.”