Chapter 12

Twelve

CAMMIE

“ O h Holy Night,” I breathed, using my sister’s turn of phrase.

How could we have been so stupid?

I had no freaking clue how Soren would react to this…it wasn’t exactly a slow pitch of a surprise. It was more like a wicked curveball.

And he’d been vague about this part of our future, so I was worried he might be upset and want to?—

“Baby!” Soren broke the silence in the cabin as he walked in and slammed the door behind him. “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do…” I whispered, still staring at the stick in my hand. “But probably not about what you’re thinking.”

“Cammie?” He was in the bedroom now, and his footsteps were growing closer to the bathroom.

Crap! I quickly wrapped the test in toilet paper and shoved it in the trash can underneath some other rubbish just before the door opened.

“Hey,” he said softly, his mouth turned down in aworried frown. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah. Just feeling a little under the weather.”

His frown intensified, and he bent down to scoop me into his arms. Thankfully, the nausea had passed, or the swift movement would have caused me to throw up all over my fiancé, and then the cat would definitely be out of the bag.

“I’ll call the doctor.”

“I am a doctor,” I joked.

He wasn’t amused. “Did you hire Sian, yet?”

“Yes, but she won’t be on-site until the medical suite is finished.”

With all the growth at the resort, Caleb, Raven, and I had talked about hiring a full-time doctor, not just a medic. And after being snowed in four weeks ago, we’d come to a unanimous decision.

There were doctors and a hospital in town, but anytime they closed the roads, people on the mountain were left with only the resort medics, who were EMTs.

We’d offered the job to my friend Sian, but she would only be on-site a few days a week until we turned one of the cabins near the inn into a state-of-the-art doctor’s office.

“Then we’ll go into town,” he muttered, carrying me out to the bed and gently setting me on it.

“I don’t need a doctor, Soren,” I sighed. “Not yet, anyway.”

I probably shouldn’t have added that last part out loud. At least I didn’t add that she wasn’t an OB-GYN, so not the kind of doctor I needed anyway.

“Look, I promise to explain everything to you, and then if you want to take me to a doctor, however unnecessarily, I’ll go.”

“Good.”

“But first…”

Soren blew out a frustrated breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Should’ve known that was too easy.”

“Yes,” I quipped with a smirk. “You really should have.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “First?” he prompted.

“Tell me what you wanted to talk about.”

“What?” He looked genuinely confused, and I couldn’t help giggling.

“When you came home, you said we needed to talk.”

“Oh, right. It’s not important right now. I’m worried about you.”

“Spit it out, Alexander,” I growled.

One corner of his mouth lifted, and I sighed. It was unfair when your man thought your anger was cute or sexy. Not that I was complaining about what happened when my ire turned him on. But that was how we got into our current situation. The one I was trying to avoid telling him about.

“Caleb and I talked today about what’s next when the training facility is complete.”

My face fell, and I blinked rapidly, trying to stave off tears. Holy crap. The hormones were already rearing their ugly heads.

When Soren and I decided to be together, we’d talked about how to find a solution that made us both happy in our careers. He refused to even consider letting me walk away from my position at the new facility. But, while we tried to figure out his next career step, he’d have to take a new job, which meant we’d have to live apart during the week.

He’d come home every weekend, but it was still a less-than-ideal arrangement.

And now, we’d have another factor to throw into the mix.

“Hey,” he whispered. “What’s with the tears? I hate it when you cry.”

Well, he’d better get used to it. At least, for the next eight months or so.

“I changed my mind,” I blurted.

Soren huffed and shot me a look of reproach. “You are not leaving Winter Falls, Cambria. That’s final, and I’m not having this discussion again.”

“I just meant that I want to talk about my thing first.”

“Oh. Great, I can’t think about the other stuff right now anyway.”

He sat next to me on the bed, and I took a deep breath, trying to decide how to start.

“I want to talk about our future,” I stated, figuring it would be helpful to feel him out on the idea before telling him right off the bat.

“If you’re worried about my job?—”

“That’s not it,” I assured him, then realized that wasn’t exactly true, so I amended my statement. “Well, that’s mostly not it. Anyway, I realized we haven’t talked about a few things.” I tried to think of the best way to word my question, then just blurted it out. “Do you want kids?”

Soren looked taken aback, which was understandable since I’d thrown that at him out of thin air.

“I didn’t.”

My heart sank.

“I was happy being the best uncle in the world.”

Could I be happy just being the best aunt in the world? I wondered. It wasn’t something I needed to consider anymore, though.

“But…” He glanced away guiltily. “I probably should have said something at Christmas.”

“About not wanting kids?” I choked out, trying to hold back more tears.

“Well, no. I’d already changed my mind by the time I asked you to marry me.”

I snorted. “You mean demanded that I marry you?”

“Potato, potahto. That’s not the point.”

His passing comment suddenly popped to my attention. “Changed your mind?”

Soren nodded. “I know I should have mentioned it the moment I realized…but…”

“We never talked about kids, Soren. You don’t have to feel bad for not telling me you’d changed your mind.” I chuckled. “Especially when you went from not wanting kids to wanting them. The other way around would have been more difficult.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Baby, you still haven’t realized it, have you?”

Perplexed, I shook my head. “Realized what?”

“I forgot about a condom that first night when I fucked you. Not that I had any there, and honestly, I probably would have done it anyway. But I didn’t even think about it until Christmas night when we made love and you agreed to marry me.”

“Was tricked into agreeing to marry you,” I corrected.

Soren rolled his eyes, but his lips were curved in an amused smile. “Fine. When I coerced you into agreeing to marry me.”

“Ha! I win.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Don’t be a sore loser, babe,” I chirped. Once again, my brain had taken a while to catch up, probably the baby fog I’d heard about. “You knew we weren’t using protection and didn’t say anything?”

“Not on purpose. I meant to, but it just kept slipping my mind.”

“Were you trying to get me pregnant?”

My jaw almost hit the ground when I spotted a barely detectable shade of pink coloring his cheeks.

“No. But the idea certainly wasn’t unappealing.”

I smacked my forehead, then fell back onto the mattress and tried to make sense of everything that was happening.

“I didn’t realize it would upset you this much,” he murmured, his expression filled with concern. “You’d mentioned having a baby, so I assumed you wanted kids.”

I burst into laughter, my body shaking with mirth until tears rolled down my cheeks.

Soren watched me with an annoyed frown. When I eventually caught my breath and calmed, his tone was droll. “I didn’t think the idea of having a baby with me was all that hysterical.”

“It’s not,” I assured him, a grin still splitting my face. “I couldn’t help laughing at our situation because it is straight out of a freaking romance novel. Guy fucks girl bare, girl freaks out when she gets pregnant, guy tells her he wants her to have his kids, and?—”

“Hold up,” Soren interjected, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Did you say, girl freaks out when she gets pregnant?”

“Yes.” It was entirely possible that my giant smile was going to break my face.

“You’re pregnant?” Soren stared at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

“Why are you so surprised? You’re the one who was basically taunting fate.”

It took a second, but the astonishment slowly morphed into smugness. “I win.”

I gasped, ready to argue, but truthfully… “I think this time, we both win.”

Soren’s eyes shone with love and happiness. “We both win.”

I was in such a fog over Cammie’s announcementthat I’d forgotten all about the news I’d intended to share when I got home.

We were cuddling on the couch, my arms around her with my hand resting on her flat stomach. “Do you want to know what Caleb and I discussed this afternoon?”

“Oh, right. I forgot all about that.”

“There were more important things on our minds,” I mused with a chuckle. “Anyway, Caleb said he’s been struggling to hire someone to manage the new training facility. He hasn’t found anyone he trusts and feels like would be right for the job.”

Cammie turned to face me, clearly trying not to get excited, but her blue eyes were filled with hope.

“He wants me to take the position.”

“Is…” Her voice was hesitant. “Is that something you want?”

“Are you kidding?” I laughed joyfully. “It’s a fantastic job in an incredible place that has come to feel like home. And it means making my amazing wife-to-be happy. How could I not want it?”

“Really?” she breathed.

I placed my palms on both sides of her cheeks. “Really, baby. What do you think? Do you want to stay in Winter Falls together, make it our home, and raise our kids here?”

“Yes!” she shouted, throwing herself into my arms.

Her lips met mine, and we shared a soul-binding kiss. Our need was quickly building, but she pulled back before it took over.

“You know what this means, right?”

I cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to explain.

“I win!” she crowed with an exuberant grin.

Laughing, I pulled her into my arms again. “I’ll agree to that, but with one caveat.”

She narrowed her eyes, and her mouth pursed in an adorable little pout.

“As long as I have your love, I’m always winning.”

Cammie melted against me and sighed. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” I told her with a tender smile. “Forever.”