Page 12 of King

Natalia

He sits beside me on the sofa and pulls me into his arms.“Natalia…”

For a moment, he has no words.Then, he kisses me, his hands on either side of my face, and I can’t hide the smile on my lips.“Oh, my God, Natalia…” he says, his voice breaking.

All he does is hold me, but when he pulls back, his eyes are wet, and he’s smiling.At the sight of his smile and his tears, my heart swells with a sense of joy that shocks me.He’shappythat I’m pregnant.

With his baby.Ourbaby…

When he looks deep into my eyes, I know he isn’t angry or sad.“You’re not upset?”

He pulls back, frowning.“Upset?”He wipes his eyes and laughs.“Why would you think I’d be upset.Oh, my God, Natalia.Our baby…”

He pulls me back into his arms, and we kiss once more, this time more deeply, more passionately on my part.He’s happy…

When the kiss breaks, I’m in tears.“I was so afraid you’d be mad.”

“Why?We talked about this.We want a family.Both of us missed out on a stable, loving family when we were growing up.A stable, loving family for our children.That’s what we both said, remember?”

I nod and wipe my eyes, smiling through my tears.“I remember.But I was afraid you were saying those things to make me happy.”

“I said those things to makemyselfhappy.I want a strong, stable, warm, loving family for our children, just like you.We both missed out on that while we were growing up, and there’s nothing I want more than to have that for us, and for our children.”

“But can we?”I say, thinking about our lives and all the complications we’ll face raising a baby.“Look where we are andwhatwe are — assets for the FBI, working to bring down a Mafia crime family.How can that be stable?What if?—”

“Shhh,” he says and presses a finger against my lips to stop me.“No what ifs.We are going to make this work, no matter what.We’re both strong.We both want this.We’ll make it work.”

He kisses me again, and I let him pull me back into his embrace.

For a few moments of pure bliss, we hold onto each other, my head resting on his strong shoulder, the noise of the street coming in from the window the only sound.

He’shappy.He wants this baby.Maybe after all, we will be all right.Maybe, even good.I exhale a long sigh and snuggle deeper into his arms.

“You should go to bed,” he says and strokes my hair.“You have an early shift tomorrow.”

“I know,” I say and wipe my eyes again, a smile still on my face.“I was so worried about this that I couldn’t sleep.But now I can.”

“Good,” he says, standing up and taking my hand, so that I stand beside him.“Go and sleep.”He kisses me once more.“You need it.I’ll be there in a few minutes.I have a few things to do before I come to bed.”

“Okay.”I leave him in the living room, but see him heading to the kitchen, probably for a glass of water, before he does his nightly routine.

I go to our bedroom and leave the door open so I can watch the stairway, then after a quick trip to the bathroom, I lie down on my side of the bed and wait.Out of curiosity, I get up from the bed and stand at the top of the stairs, listening.I can hear Harrison speaking, his deep voice low, but the words are unclear.I come down the steps and see that he’s standing at the window beside the grand piano, one hand on the lid and the other holding the phone against his ear.

Is he calling someone to make new arrangements because I’m pregnant?I can’t hold back a yawn, but I’m curious about who he’s talking to, and can’t help myself.I take the stairs down to the main floor and go to him, slipping my arms around his waist from behind.He startles a bit and turns in my arms, nodding when he looks in my eyes.

“Yes, thanks.I’ll meet with you tomorrow, and we can go over the details.Yes, that sounds good.Thanks again.I appreciate the quick response.I know,” he says and smiles.“It’s a great time in our lives.See you then.”

He puts his cell into his pocket and wraps his arms around me.“I thought I told you to go to bed, Mrs.O’Connor.”

“You did, Mr.O’Connor, but I want you there with me.I’ll fall asleep faster with you beside me.”

“I know.I just wanted to make a call first.You go back up and get into bed.I have to get some water and then do my nightly ablutions.I’ll be ten minutes.”

We kiss, and then he playfully pushes me out of his embrace and moves me over to the stairs leading up to the loft.“Go.I’ll be up as soon as I can.”

I smile and climb the stairs to the loft and get back into bed.I turn and watch the stairway, waiting for him to join me.

For the first few moments, I wait, smiling to myself, happy that he’s clearly pleased about the pregnancy in a way I didn’t anticipate.Then, after ten minutes go by, I frown to myself and slide out of bed, taking the stairs to the main floor.He’s standing at the window overlooking the city and is talking on the phone, a few sheets of paper in his hand.He’s reading them and speaking into his cell, like he’s reciting something.