Chapter 16

My head turns toward the bathroom door when I hear Lucas let out a whistle. He leans against the bathroom door, his arms crossed as he checks me out, giving me a once over. He whistles again which makes me roll my eyes, unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face as my husband devours me with his eyes.

He steps away from the door and heads toward me, placing his hands on my hips when he reaches me. “Holy shit, baby,” he murmurs, moving my hair to the side so he can place a kiss on my neck. “You look so fucking good.”

I let out a chuckle, turning back to face the mirror, loving how my husband is still crazy attracted to me after three years of being married.

“Are you sure you’re not going to upstage Gabi in this dress?” he asks, smoothing his hands over my dress.

I lift my head, our eyes meeting in the mirror, and let out a scoff. “Trust me. There’s no way anyone can upstage her. Her dress is so beautiful. Rosie spent a whole year making it for her,” I tell him, looking at him over my shoulder. “And you know how expensive her dresses are.”

It’s crazy to think how far she’s come since college. When I met her, she was innocent, and too good for this world. But now she’s the CEO of her own designer firm. I couldn’t be more proud for her .

Lucas makes a noise, trailing his lips against my shoulder. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to tear my eyes off of you long enough to even glance at her dress,” he says, which makes me chuckle before I turn around to face him.

My hands rest on the lapels of his tux, seeing his gorgeous face grinning down at me. “You look really good,” I tell him.

His grin widens, and he lets out a soft laugh. “Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” I confirm with a nod as I let my hands run over the fabric of his tux. “Really good,” I emphasize, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.

His low, raspy chuckle makes my core throb. “That’s good,” he says. “Since you picked my tux and all.”

“I wanted us to match,” I say with a shrug. When Gabi let me decide the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses, I chose a dusty pink, which complimented her dress perfectly. And of course, I had to make the men match, so I had them wear a matching dusty pink pocket square.

Lucas hums, sliding a hand to clutch my face. “You did your job perfectly,” he says. “We look like a match made in heaven.” He leans down and brushes his lips against mine, our kiss soft and sweet and full of love.

I get lost in him, completely disregarding how long we stay here making out, or the fact that his hand is completely messing up my hair. “Lucas.” I pull back with a hum, my vision a little hazy when I open my eyes to look up at him. “My hair,” I murmur, reaching up to smooth it down, hoping it’s not too messed up .

He chuckles, wiping a thumb over my lips, and that’s when I remember my makeup is no doubt messed up too. “You’re so fucking beautiful, princesa . I can’t help it.”

I shake my head at the same time as my lips curl into a smile. “You can mess it up later, I promise.” I turn around to face the mirror, my eyes widening when I see the smudged lipstick, and my hair out of place. “We can’t get off track,” I tell him, fixing up my makeup. “Besides, we need to leave in …” I glance over at my phone, my eyes widening when I see the time. “Now.”

“Right now?” he repeats, arching a brow. “Are you sure we don’t have any time left?”

I let out a sigh, hating how well he knows me. “Fine, we need to leave in thirty-minutes. But I want to be there early,” I say, picking up my perfume before spritzing some on my skin.

Lucas immediately buries his face in my neck, letting out a groan, and I chuckle as the vibrations of his voice ripple through my skin. “Lucas,” I say, a little breathless as he starts to kiss all over my neck.

“Just two more minutes, baby,” he murmurs, leaving soft kisses on my skin as his hands curl around my waist. “Let me just hold you for a bit.”

My shoulders drop and I let my eyes fall closed as Lucas kisses me. But it doesn’t last long before my phone goes off with a ring, and my eyes snap open.

“I swear if that’s Gabi again,” Lucas grunts.

I let out a chuckle, reaching for my phone. “She probably has a makeup emergency or—” I freeze, the words stuck in my mouth as I glance at the screen.

“What?” Lucas asks, stepping around me, with furrowed brows. “What is it?”

I slowly lift my head, the phone ringing between us, and swallow hard. “It’s not Gabi.”

His frown deepens. “Who is it?”

My heart is lodged in my chest as I hold up the phone to him, and see his eyes widen when he reads.

Lakeside Adoption Center

“Fuck.”

My heart knocks loudly against my chest. “What do I do?” I ask, desperately as the phone continues to ring.

“Relax, princesa ,” Lucas says in a calm voice that makes my shoulders ease as he holds my face in his hands, and leans down for a soft kiss. “Everything is going to be okay. Just answer the phone, and breathe .”

I stare at the phone ringing in my hand, and shake my head, feeling my whole body tense up. “I can’t.”

“Do you want me to answer it?” he asks.

I immediately nod, and Lucas takes the phone from my hand, and answers the call, bringing the phone to his ear. “Hello, this is Lucas Silva.”

I watch as he listens intently to the other side, nodding a couple times, letting out a few ‘mhmm’ and then a, “Thank you so much.”

When he hangs up the phone, he places it on the vanity, and grips the side, letting out a heavy breath.

“So?” I ask, feeling my heart lodged in my throat as he lifts his head and looks at me, the muscle in his jaw ticking. No. No . This can’t be it .

Lucas steps away from the vanity, reaching for my hand, and brings it to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “Do you want to know now, or wait until after the wedding?” he asks.

There’s no point in delaying the inevitable. I don’t want to spend the whole wedding wondering, and hoping, and having my mind somewhere else. Tears build in my eyes as I shake my head. “Just tell me now,” I tell him. “I can handle it,” I lie, letting out a shaky breath. “I already knew this would happen.”

This is exactly why I didn’t want to put it out into the world. If I never let myself speak about what I wanted, I could pretend I didn’t care that ultimately it would get taken away from me. But I do care. I care so much. I really wanted this. And it breaks my heart that my dream of having a family is crushed between my fingers.

“So did I,” Lucas says, leaning in to kiss me which makes me break out into a sob. “I always knew we’d have a baby.”

I pause, my head lifting to see Lucas with a smile on his face. “Wait.” I blink away the tears, seeing his smile widen by the second. “What?” I ask, wondering if he really just said what I think he said.

“We got chosen, baby,” he says with a huge smile as he leans down to kiss me.

“We… we did?”

He nods, rubbing his thumb over my cheeks. “Of course we did. I knew we would be. Samantha called, and said there is a baby that needs a home, and will be in touch soon to finalize the paperwork. ”

More tears fall down my face, and to hell with my makeup. I shake my head, unable to believe it. “We’re going to have a baby?”

Lucas nods, his own eyes tearing up as he clutches my face in both of his hands, wiping away the tears. “We’re going to have a baby,” he confirms. “You’re going to be a mom.”

“And you’re going to be a dad,” I say, shakily as tears blind my vision. He nods, letting out a laugh before he leans down and kisses me. “I can’t believe it,” I murmur, still in complete disbelief.

“Believe it, princesa ,” he says, wiping away my tears. “There will still be a lot we need to do, but we’re on our way, baby. We’re going to have a family.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, his eyes locked on mine.

“This means we can start telling people, right?”

He nods. “We can tell our friends whenever we’re ready.” He lets out a chuckle. “I already know Adrianna is going to buy the baby a thousand different outfits.”

A laugh bubbles out of me, knowing that’s definitely true. When we told our family, they were all very supportive, but especially Adrianna. It’s been amazing seeing Lucas’s sister grow into the beautiful young woman she is today. And taking after Leila, she decided to start a fashion page, showing girls with all different body types that they can dress however they want.

And while I love her, she goes a little overboard. When we told her we were thinking of adopting, she went ahead and bought ten different outfits. It was a little hard seeing the clothes around the house since we didn’t have a baby. But now, I can’t wait to tell my child that their auntie Adri bought them their first clothes.

“You’re an amazing actress, we’re so close to having your dream house built, and now we’re having a baby.” His eyes are full of joy as his lips curve into a smile. “You’re getting everything you ever wanted.”

A long time ago, all I wanted was my career. I wanted to become an actress. I wanted to do what I loved, and I got it. And now…

“All I’ve ever wanted was you,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Thank you for being the best part of my life.”

His eyes tear up and he leans down to kiss me. “Thank you for being my life,” he says. “I love you so much princesa , and I can’t wait to build a family with you. I can’t wait to see you be the best damn mother ever.”