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

We go shopping and find Chelsea a dress that is perfect for a beach wedding, have lunch with the Macs, and then head over to the Diamonds’.

Lori knocks on the front door.

“Oh my goodness,” Mrs. Diamond says, looking at Lori. “You’ve dropped.”

“Do you think?” Lori asks.

“What’s that mean?” I ask.

“When you drop, it means you’re carrying the baby lower. It’s usually a sign of impending birth.”

“Oh, cool. So, that’s good!” I say.

“Yes! I’m so excited!” Lori smiles.

“Why don’t you two go sit in the study?” she says.

Mr. Diamond comes in and gives us each hugs. Then, he and Mrs. D give Lori and me souvenirs from their trip. Gorgeous, soft intricately woven shawls from Greece.

“What are those scratching noises?” I ask.

Mr. Diamond smiles at me. “I have a housewarming present for you.” He turns to his wife. “Go get her.”

“Her?” I ask as a black blur tears into the room, jumps onto my lap, and licks my face. “You got a puppy? She’s so cute!” I say, petting the little black Labrador retriever. “Oh my gosh, look at her face!”

“She’s yours,” Mr. Diamond says.

“What do you mean?”

“I bought her for you. I went out to a client’s farm before we left on our trip, and I was remembering how I used to shoot skeet there with your dad. So, he takes me inside and shows me his new puppies. All the puppies in the litter were male, except for her. The others were running around, biting each other, playing. She was looking at me with those big, adorable eyes. My client was sharing all their names, and when he told me hers was Angel, I just knew you had to have her.” He looks somber as he adds, “Yesterday was your dad’s birthday. I can’t believe it’s been almost five years.”

Tears fill my eyes. “Her name is really Angel?”

Mr. Diamond gives me a hug. “Yes. So, what do you think? Do you want to keep her? Mary had a fit when I brought the puppy home today. Told me that I should have asked you first. It’s peed on our carpet more times than it’s gone outside. I told her we needed new carpet anyway. Doesn’t matter now though; she’s in love with the puppy, too. Angel can come stay at Grandpa’s anytime.”

The puppy runs around in a circle, chasing a little ball. She’s so adorable. I pick her up to snuggle her again and notice her pretty pink rhinestone collar.

“What a pretty collar.”

“Did you see her name is on it?”

I look under her pudgy little neck and see a princess crown dog tag with Angel engraved on it.

It reminds me of the princess charm on my bracelet.

“Does Phillip know about the dog? He’s always wanted one.”

“Nope. I wanted to surprise you both.”

I set the puppy down to hug Mr. Diamond. “Thank you.”

“I went today and got everything you need. Kennel, food, leashes, collars, toys.”

“I don’t know how all this is going to fit in my car,” I say. “It’s packed full of baby shower gifts.”

“Why don’t you take my SUV?” Mr. D offers. “We’ll be coming down to KC when the baby is born. We can switch back then.”

Mr. Diamond’s SUV is a gorgeous black Mercedes.

“Uh, sure,” I say. “That’s really nice of you.”

“Why don’t you play with Angel while I load everything?” he suggests.

I sit back down on the floor. Angel bounds onto my lap and covers my face with rough tongue kisses.

“You are so cute,” I tell her, rubbing her ears.

She jumps off me and runs across the room like a rocket, grabs a chew toy, and barrels back to me, her feet slipping on the hardwood.

“She’s going to be a bit of a handful,” Mrs. D says.

“Uh, yeah, but she’s so darn cute. And I’m sure he named her Angel for a reason. She’s probably a super-good little puppy.”

Angel drops her chew toy in my lap, so I toss it down the hall for her. She takes off running again.

“I’d recommend crate-training her. That’s what she’s used to,” Mrs. D explains. “And we’ve got a whole binder with all her shots and medical information. She’s AKC breed, and her parents are both Field Champions.”

“Awesome. Thank you,” I say. “What do you think, Lori?” I ask, trying to involve her.

She hasn’t said anything about the puppy.

“Cute,” she says, but I get the feeling she doesn’t really mean it.

The puppy comes running back toward me with a different toy in her mouth. She jumps up on my lap, curls up in a ball, and goes to sleep.

“She’s so freaking adorable. I just love her.”

“All loaded up,” Mr. D says. “Let’s take Angel out back and run her around for a while, and hopefully, she will sleep the whole way home.”

When Lori and I are almost home, she finally says, “I just don’t understand why they would get you a dog but not their own son one. He was telling them at the Super Bowl party how much he wanted a puppy.”

“I’m sure they would have gotten Danny a puppy if it wasn’t for the fact that his wife said, ‘No way in hell.’ She also said that a baby would be enough to manage. They wouldn’t want to upset his wife or cause trouble in his marriage.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have trouble if you weren’t Little Miss Perfect.”

This pisses me off. It takes a lot to get me mad, but I’ve about had it. And, if it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t want to cause her to go into labor, I’d let her have it.

“I have nothing to do with the state of your marriage, Lori. That’s between you and Danny.”

“He’s been acting all secretive lately. Barely talks to me. I haven’t spoken to him since last night.”

“Well, he probably barely talks because, no matter what he says, you think he’s either wrong or dumb. And he probably doesn’t want to hear you bitch about him having a little fun last night. You want your husband to be faithful and love you, then you have to treat him with love, trust, and respect back. It’s not his fault you don’t feel good. It’s not your fault either. It’s just the pregnancy you were dealt. Why don’t you try dealing with it together instead of letting it tear you apart?”

She doesn’t reply.

As I pull into our neighborhood, I call Phillip. “Hey, what are you doing right now?”

“Waiting for my gorgeous wife to get home.”

“Is Danny there, too?” I ask.

“He is. We’re watching ESPN and having a beer.”

“Awesome. You’re not going to believe the surprise I’m bringing home.”

He lowers his voice. “Do I need to get rid of Danny?”

“No, this is something he’ll want to see, too.”

“Baby stuff?”

“Not exactly. See you in a few.”

After I carefully maneuver Mr. D’s car into the garage, I tell Lori, “Danny and Phillip are in the basement, watching TV. I’m going to let Angel go potty in the backyard and then take her in the basement door. Go on in. We can have the boys unpack the car later. They’ll be so excited to meet Angel.”

“That’s kind of a dumb name for a dog,” she says, cutting me to the bone. “I don’t understand why Danny’s dad thought it was so cute that he had to get it.”

“Because Angel was my dad’s nickname for me.”

“Oh,” she says. “Um, I’m just going to head home. Night.”

I don’t bother to try to convince her to stay. If she wants to go home, she can go. I don’t care right now.

I let Angel run around the backyard. She’s bounding through the grass, chasing her tail, sniffing the fence, and running up to give me kisses. After she finally decides to go to the bathroom, I pick her up and knock on the basement door.

Phillip lets me in.

“What the heck? Whose dog is that?” He grabs Angel out of my arms. “Look at this, Danny. Have you ever seen such an adorable face?”

Danny pets the puppy and lets her lick his cheek. “Well, aren’t you the cutest thing ever?” he says to her.

“Look at her pretty little pink collar,” Phillip says as the puppy chews on his hand. “I want to keep her.”

“That’s good,” I say. “Because she’s ours. Boys, meet Angel.”

“Ours?” Phillip asks excitedly. “Where did you get her?”

“She’s a gift from Danny’s dad. I have a carload of baby gifts and puppy gifts.”

Danny looks around. “Where’s Lori?”

“Uh, she went home.” I try not to purse my lips.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure, but I think she’s mad that your dad gave me a dog and didn’t get one for you.”

“Well, no shit. When I mentioned a dog, she said something like, ‘Over my dead body.’”

“Yeah, she did,” Phillip says. “I remember thinking the way she said it was really rude.”

Danny sighs. “Two more weeks, people. Two more weeks. Then, we’ll have the baby, and everything can go back to normal.” He rubs the puppy’s ears and says to her, “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow morning. You’re a cutie.” Then, to me, he says, “Do I need to unload your car tonight, or can it wait until morning?”

“It can wait until morning.” I study him. “Are you still hungover?”

He points to Phillip and laughs. “It’s all his fault.”

Phillip laughs, too. “We had fun though.”

“Yeah,” Danny agrees. “It was a good night.”

Phillip and I play with the puppy until she collapses in my lap and goes to sleep.

“So, we have a new addition to the family,” he says with a grin. He hasn’t stopped smiling. “Did you choose the name Angel for her?”

“No. Remember how our dads used to go out to that farm and shoot skeet?”

“Yeah, I went with them sometimes.”

“That’s where she was born. They had already named her Angel.”

“Your dad always called you Angel.”

“Mr. D said, as soon as he heard her name, he knew he had to get her for us. Do you think it’ll be okay if we take her to work with us?”

“Of course. Everyone will love her,” he says, softly petting her.

“She’s going to get all your attention now, isn’t she?” I fake pout.

Phillip laughs. “You just might have some competition.”