Page 133 of Heartbroken Husband
Now, my daughters were happy, safe, and loved, and my husband was planning European vacations around crypts because our five-year-old preferred historical corpses over Disney princesses.
“I have a surprise too,” I admitted softly against his shoulder.
He pulled back slightly. “You do? What is it?”
My pulse jumped suddenly. I’d been carrying the envelope around in my purse, trying to figure out the perfect moment totell him, and this definitely felt like it. Slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out the black and white ultrasound pictures.
His features lit up immediately, softening and brightening simultaneously. “Is that…”
He knew I was pregnant. We’d found out the day after ourfakewedding, but we’d been keeping it quiet for the past few months. The girls didn’t know yet and neither did the family.
It’d just been ours so far, a tiny little bubble of joy where only we knew, and selfishly, I’d loved it. Zach took the ultrasound photos carefully, like they might break if he moved too fast. “You already had the appointment?”
“Yesterday.”
He flicked his eyes up to mine, but he didn’t seem angry or annoyed. Just surprised. Reverent. Excited. “You didn’t tell me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
His gaze darted over the images again, and he smiled. “I wish I could make out anything on these, but it’s the most gorgeous gray blob I’ve ever seen.”
I nodded, but I also felt a tiny pinch low in my stomach, that old fear ugly and instinctive. I knew Zach wasn’t Louis, but Jennifer had been a disappointment and Lu had been a disaster, and I hated that some part of me was still bracing for rejection.
Even now. Even with Zach.
“We’re having another girl,” I murmured, my voice so quiet it was practically a whisper as I waited for disappointment or anger.
For one horrible, split second, I even waited for that checked-out look Louis had gotten when he’d found out Lu was on the way. This awful, absent shimmer in his eyes as he’d nodded like that had been it—and it had.
Instead, Zach’s entire face lit up again, pure joy streaking across his eyes. “Oh, thank God.”
I blinked hard, shock making my heart trip and my face heat. “What?”
He looked genuinely emotional as he looked up at me. “I already put her on the waitlist for Ellison.”
I stared at him, completely and utterly dumbfounded. “You did what?”
“Yeah, well, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Oh, and I put her on the waitlist at the ballet studio too. Do you know how much money I had to donate to get the older girls in there? It was basically bribery. At least this way, no one can say I bought this one’s way in there too.”
I started laughing. “She hasn’t even been born yet.”
He grinned. “That’s absolutely no reason for her not to start getting ahead.”
“She’s the size of a peach.”
“Maybe, but she’s a very important peach. The most important peach who has ever peached.”
I laughed harder, tears suddenly burning behind my eyes as he pulled me against him again, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, and my mouth. I clung to him, unable to process how genuinely happy he was.
“I’m serious,” he said softly between kisses. “Another girl sounds perfect.”
The tears spilled over then, pure, overwhelming relief spiraling through me as I hugged him tightly and buried my face against his neck. It finally felt like everything was falling into place exactly like it should have from the beginning.
Zach and I were finally getting our happily ever after, and it was so much happier than I’d ever thought the girls and I could be—and it was all because of him, this wonderful, incredible man who had never stopped loving me.
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