That Baby: A Small Town, Friends-to-Lovers Romance (That Boy Series Book 3)

I wake up to find Phillip staring at me.

“What are you doing?”

He gives me the sweetest grin. “Just looking at you.”

“I know that. But why?”

He skims his hand across my chest, which is hanging out of the tank top I wore to bed.

I roll my eyes at him. “So, in other words, you were looking at my boobs, not me.”

He chuckles. “Sorta. Maybe. They seem bigger. Do they hurt?”

“Um, not really.”

“Danny said that Lori’s killed her during the first trimester. He said he could look but not touch. I felt sorry for him.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s like getting a new toy and not being able to play with it.”

I playfully smack him. “You’re goofy.”

He presses his body fully against mine in what I’m supposed to think is a sweet hug, but it’s really a plea for morning sex. And I have to admit, Phillip is so sexy in the morning; I can never resist him.

I nuzzle his neck and kiss the side of it.

He quickly responds by sliding his hand up my shirt.

But then he breathes out morning breath.

“Oh gosh!” I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom.

And puke.

Sorta.

It’s really more of a gagging than a puking. I sit on the bathroom floor and hold my face in my hands and breathe out in an attempt to calm myself down. But then I realize my breath is a culprit, too. I stand up, gag again, and then quickly brush my teeth, which makes me gag some more.

Phillip wanders into the bathroom, his boxers leading the way.

I burst into tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.

“Brush your teeth,” I sob.

He brushes his teeth and then pulls me back into bed with him. He runs his hand across my face. “Why are you crying?”

“Is this what pregnancy is going to be like? You’re going to make me gag? What did we get ourselves into? I don’t know if this is a good idea, Phillip.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that,” he says. “Unless something unfortunate happens.”

I suck in a big breath as my heart takes residence in my throat. “I didn’t mean that! I don’t know what I mean. I don’t know what I’m saying. I don’t want something unfortunate to happen!”

“I read that miscarriages are really common in the first few weeks. In the first trimester really. It sucks, but it’s reality.”

“That’s not going to happen to us, Phillip! Don’t say that! Don’t even think it! It can’t happen to us!” I’m in a bit of a panic now. “We named it Baby Mac. I’ve already written in the journal!”

“Princess, calm down.”

“Don’t talk to me about reality and then tell me to calm down. You sound like you expect it to happen! Did you lie to me? Are you really not excited? Do you want me to have a miscarriage?”

“Of course not. I was sad when I thought you weren’t. You know that. I’ll admit, I am still in shock. But that brings up a question. When do you think we should tell our family and friends?”

“I don’t know. Before this morning, I would have said right away.”

“That surprises me,” he says, sliding his hand through my hair to calm me. “You usually want to keep stuff a secret.”

“I think your parents will be excited.” I stop and consider something I don’t want to consider. “But, if you’re right about the miscarriage thing, I guess I feel two different ways. Part of me doesn’t want to tell them until we know the baby is okay. The other part of me thinks, if something bad happened, I’d need them to know.”

Phillip gently kisses across my forehead. “I swear, everyone will take one look at you and know.”

“How?”

“You’re glowing.”

“I am not. I was just puking.”

He kisses me again. “It was just gagging, and you don’t look sick. You look beautiful. What if we tell them at the Super Bowl party? We could wear the shirts, see if anyone guesses.”

“That sounds fun.”

Before I go to work, I stop by Lori’s house to see how the kitchen remodel is going.

I look around at the mostly empty shell. The room is in shambles.

“Well, it’s coming right along! You could come to work with me sometime, if you want to get out of here. Or go hang out at my house anytime you want. You shouldn’t be around all this dust.”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “I’ll make sure to ring the doorbell first.”

“After the other night, that’s probably wise.” I laugh.

She pulls me away from the construction zone and into the den. “You know, if you want to get pregnant, what you were doing won’t work.”

“Having sex won’t get me pregnant?”

She does a little cough. “Are you serious about wanting to be pregnant, Jade?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Didn’t you listen to all the stuff I told you the other day?”

“Of course I did.”

“No, you didn’t. Your eyes glazed over. Wait a minute. You were doing it on your couch! Don’t you have your period?”

“Oh, uh, it was really light this month. The pill, you know.”

She narrows her eyes at me.

She’s going to kill me when I tell her on Sunday that I’m already pregnant. But this conversation is cracking me up, so I let her keep going. And who knows? Maybe I’ll need to know this for our next baby.

Oh my God. Did I really just think that?

I think back to the marriage test we took. How Phillip said he wanted four kids close together, and I was thinking one sounded good. But I can so see us with a house full of kids.

Or maybe that’s the pregnancy hormones talking.

I resist the urge to put my hand across my belly.

She’s still going on about how I should put a pillow underneath me and not get up for at least ten minutes.

“How far along are you now?” I ask her, hoping to change the subject even though she just told me a few days ago.

“Twenty-eight weeks.”

“You look great,” I say even though she’s looking a bit disheveled.

She runs her hand through her hair. “I’m still tired, and the workers are here at the crack of dawn. I’m not sure why we decided to do this now.”

“Because you wanted it done before the baby comes.”

“That’s right. I need to keep reminding myself.”

“Do you have to be here the whole time they’re working?”

“Um, well, no.”

“Why don’t you go over to my house, take a long shower, take your time getting ready, and then meet me for a late lunch? Then, we could go look at nursery furniture. I know you’ve been wanting to do that.”

And, honestly, I kind of want to go look myself. I’m dying to design our baby’s nursery.

“Oh, that sounds fun. I can’t believe you’re offering to go shopping. Am I going to have to buy you drinks first?”

“No. I’m starting to like shopping more and more. I’ve been having a lot of fun, choosing all the fixtures and furniture for the office building.”

“Well, I’ll take it. I have a list of four stores that are supposed to have the best stuff. We’ll start with that. Are you sure you can take off the whole afternoon?”

“Yeah, I need to swing by the job site and meet the engineer this morning and then go to the office, but I’ll meet you at one. Just text me where.”

“That sounds good.”

“All right, I’d better get going.”

She gives me a tight hug, her plump belly hitting my still-flat one. “Thank you. You know Danny hates to shop.”

I get tears in my eyes, thinking about how our stomachs just touched.

“What’s with the tears?” she asks, her own eyes quickly filling up.

“I was just thinking how our kids will grow up to be best friends.”

“Awww. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

On my drive to the job site, Danny calls me.

“Sounds like I owe you a thank-you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re going nursery shopping with my lovely bride. Not to mention, the show the other night.”

“I wondered when you were going to bring that up. You’ve been way too quiet about it.”

“I think it’s awesome. Enjoy it while you can.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Pregnancy changes things.”

“And Lori hates change.”

“Yes, she does because she can’t control it.”

“So, your second pregnancy will go smoother.”

“Let’s just see if we can make it through the first one. I feel like I’m dancing in a minefield, and I never know when I’m going to make a wrong step and blow up.”

“I’ve heard pregnant women are emotional,” I say, thinking about how my emotions are already everywhere.

Danny chuckles. “That’s an understatement. You ready for the Super Bowl party? My parents want to stay with you since our house is a disaster zone.”

“That’s fine. I should be cleaning, but instead, I’ll be shopping with your wife. Maybe, since I’m doing that, you should go over to my house and dust.”

“Maybe you should hire someone.”

“You know how Phillip is with money and now that we’re p—”

“Now that you’re what?”

“Uh, preparing to have children.”

“Preparing, huh? Looked more like doing something about it the other night.”

“Shut up, Danny,” I say, hanging up on him.