“Do not come between me and my child,” my mom hisses, trying to get around Kenton.

I don’t even know what comes over me, but the rage I have felt since I was young gives me the strength to get around Kenton’s body, which I swear is expanding before my eyes.

“How dare I? How dare I?” I shriek at the top of my lungs. “I’m sure you’re here because my father contacted you. How dare you keep him from me?! How dare you tell him I was dead and let him believe his only child was killed?”

“Do not talk to me like that. I did what was best for you. He was nothing.”

“Why? Because he didn’t fit into your perfect little world?”

“He was a garbageman,” she says snottily.

“And you slept with him for over two years!” I yell, my hand balling into a fist at my side. I feel heat from Kenton at my back, his presence offering me strength. I know that, with him, I will be able to face any demons I have.

“He wasn’t good enough for me or you.”

“He loved me!” I scream, and without thinking, I smack her. My hand stings from the impact, but seeing the red tinge to her cheek somehow makes me feel better.

Her hand goes to her face and her eyes get big. “You little bitch.”

“I’m not that scared little girl anymore, Mom,” I tell her when I see her hand start to rise again. “You hit me and I will hit you back.”

Her hand reluctantly drops to her side and her eyes start to narrow. “He’s suing me. After all these years, he showed back up in my life and threatened me. My fiancé left me and it’s all your fault.”

“I hope he wins, and your ex is obviously a smart man,” I hiss, and then I take a step back and slam the door in her face. My heart is beating out of control and I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my system, begging me to open the door and kick her ass.

She starts to yell, and Kenton picks me up, growling, “Stay,” before setting me away from the door and opening it. “You’re trespassing. I have a gun and will shoot your sorry ass if you don’t get the f**k off my property, and don’t even think about coming back. There will be a restraining order in place before the night’s up.” He slams the door closed then puts both his hands to the frame, his head lowering between his open arms.

I can tell by his breathing alone that he’s trying to control the urge to go back out there and make good on his threat, whether she’s leaving or not.

“I want to kill her,” he whispers.

I duck under his arm, put my face near his, and wrap my arms around his waist. “I know,” I whisper back. I can feel the anger rolling off him in waves so strongly that it’s almost hard to stand. “Do you think she’ll come back?” I ask.

“She will never get near you again.” He stands, his hands come up to hold my face, and his thumb moves over my cheek, which still feels hot from the slap. “I may not be able to kill her, but I swear she will not have the life she has now by the time I’m done with her.”

I can tell that there’s nothing I can do or say that will change his mind. I don’t even want to try to get him to let it go and let her move on with her life like nothing happened. She knowingly ruined my life—and my father’s—and it’s going to take a long time to build a relationship with him.

“I need to call Justin. Are you gonna be okay?” he asks after a few minutes.

“I’ll be fine,” I tell him softly.

He bends down, pressing his lips to mine in a quick kiss. I watch him walk away before heading upstairs to finish what I was doing. I somehow feel like a weight has been lifted and I was given my power back after what happened with my mom.

“It’s done,” Kenton tells me, coming into the kitchen, where I’m making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I look at the clock, seeing that he has been in his office for about five hours now. When my eyes go to him, I can tell that the stress and anger that were on his face before are now gone. I know that, with him as my man, I never have to worry about anything. He will always work to make the world a safe place for me.

“I love you,” I tell him, watching his face go soft.

“I know, babe.”

I smile bigger and go to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Now what do we do?”

“What do you mean?”

“There are no bad guys after me, and I’m sure you got rid of my mom for good, so now what do we do for entertainment?” I ask, and he starts walking me backwards until my back hits the counter.

“Now, we see how long it takes for me to plant my kid in you.”

“Really?” I whisper.

“Hell yeah,” he growls back, his mouth crashing down onto mine.

I have to say that I like the way he looks at keeping us entertained.

Epilogue

One Year, Three Months, Six Days, Twelve Hours, Fifteen Minutes, And Thirty-Six Seconds Later. Approximately.

I look in the mirror, my hands going to my waist, where my stomach has started to expand. I love this. I love knowing that our baby is growing inside me. We were worried for a while after we started trying to have a baby because I didn’t get pregnant right away, but the doctors all assured me that sometimes it just takes time. It was worth the wait. When I took that pregnancy test and saw the positive sign for the first time, I thought I was going to pass out from excitement. Kenton just looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe it had finally happened.

“Baby, seriously, we’re going to be late if you don’t move your ass,” Kenton says, walking into the bathroom.

Our eyes meet in the mirror and mine narrow. “I would be ready if I didn’t puke every ten minutes and pee every five from your child. So if you want to blame anyone for my lateness, you need to look in the mirror.”

“Babe, I got you up four hours ago knowin’ you get sick in the mornings and you need time to wake up and use the bathroom a million times before we can leave the house.”

I feel my eyes narrow further and my fists start to clench at my sides.

“I wanna meet my kid, baby,” he says gently, a small smile forming on his lips as his hands come around my waist, his thumbs moving over my bump. All the annoyance I was feeling seconds ago leaves, and then tears start to fill my eyes. “What am I gonna do with you?” he asks, taking in the tears filling my eyes.

“Love me,” I say as he pulls me into his chest. These pregnancy hormones are killers. One minute, I feel like I’m on top of the world; the next, I want to kill someone. Luckily, Kenton loves me all the time.

“So today’s the big day, huh?” the nurse says, handing me a dressing gown. I look at her and smile, nodding my head. “Well, I’ll just let you get changed, and the doctor should be in in a few minutes.” She closes the door behind her, and I start to get undressed.

“Are you nervous?” Kenton asks.

I turn to look at him, my eyebrows coming together. “Why would I be nervous?”

“You know, what if it’s a girl?” He shrugs.

I smile and start to laugh. All of his cousins have girls; it seems their firsts are always girls. I don’t know what’s bringing this on now, but we’ve talked about the sex of the baby before and he’s always said that he would be happy with whatever we have as long as he or she is healthy.

“What’s bringing this on?” I ask him as I finish getting undressed and putting the gown on before hopping up on the table.

“I talked to Nico last night. He was telling me how different it feels having girls than boys and how, with the girls, he’s worried nonstop, but with his boy, his emotions have seemed to even out some.”

Nico and Sophie had a little boy a few weeks ago. I’m sure it is different having boys, but I can’t imagine it being that different. “So now you’re worried?” I guess.

“I think about you nonstop all day long,” he says softly, causing my breath to pause. “I just worry that I won’t have enough of me left over.”

I let out a breath, and my heart lightens. “You have the biggest heart of anyone I know.” I hop off the table and go to him, pushing my fingers through his hair. “No matter if we have a boy or girl, I know you will find room for all of us.”

His head tilts back and his eyes meet mine. “Love you, babe.”

“Love you too.” I bend my head down and kiss him just as the door opens and the doctor walks in.

“How are you guys today?” Denise, our doctor, asks.

Kenton stands to greet her with a hug, and Denise smiles and hugs him back with a pat to his cheek. Denise is about seventy years old and should probably retire, but she told me the first time I met her that she will probably be working until the day she dies. She’s the same doctor who delivered Kenton and would be delivering our baby if everything goes as planned.

I go back to the table and hop on top, lying back before answering, “We’re really good.” I smile at her, running my hand over my stomach.

“Well, you look really good, and all the work-ups we did look perfect. I just need to check you over to make sure everything looks okay, and then we can see what you’re having.”

“Sounds good,” I say.

She smiles at me and then Kenton before proceeding with the internal exam. Then she lets me put my pants back on before having me lie back on the bed again. She tucks a paper towel under the edges of my leggings and lifts my shirt farther up, exposing the rest of my stomach before squirting lubricant there.

Kenton comes to stand next to me, wrapping his hand around mine. The loud sound of a heartbeat pulses through the room, and I watch the dark screen next to my head, trying to make out our baby. When I see the figure emerge through the black, tears start to fill my eyes as they always do when I see our child.

“Look at how big he is already,” Denise says, and my eyes go to her before my head tilts back so I can see Kenton’s face.

“We’re having a boy?” I ask when I don’t see Kenton react at all. I wonder if he even caught on to what she just said.

“You are.” I hear the smile in her voice as Kenton’s head tilts down and he looks at me.

“Well, Daddy, what do you have to say about that?” I ask him.

“Thank you.” He bends, kissing my mouth. Before he pulls his lips away, he whispers, “I want a girl too. You’re right. I have enough room for a lot more.”

I nod and lift my head slightly, pressing a kiss to his lips as I feel tears slide down my cheeks. I’m looking forward to sharing that with him.

*

Three years, one month, six days, twenty-two hours, six minutes, and two seconds later.

“Honey, you need to put her down,” I tell Kenton as I walk into the living room.

He’s sitting on the couch, wearing a pair of sweats and nothing else. The football game’s on the TV, the sound low in the background as our sleeping daughter lies in his arms and our son sits at his side, his head laying against his chest with his eyes closed. Half the time, I wonder if he pretends to be asleep just so he can spy on us. He knows far too much for a three-year-old.

“She just knocked out,” he says softly, looking down at her before looking at me again.

I roll my eyes and shake my head, knowing that he’s lying. If he’s home, the kids are on him. I love seeing him with them, but when he’s not home and I have our kids, when I’m alone and they both want to be held all the time, it makes it hard to get stuff done around the house.

“Your mom’s on her way over with Viv. They want to look at the backyard and measure to see if they can fit a play set back there.”

“She doesn’t give up, does she?” he gripes, looking down at Annabelle again.

I know exactly what he’s thinking. The minute his mom walks in the door, the kids are no longer ours. They are all Grandma’s, and he hates it.

“You have something in common.” I smirk.

“Well, seems like she will be useful while she’s here after all,” he mumbles.

“What does that mean?” I ask, my eyes narrowing as I watch a smirk form on his lips.

“You’re gonna find something to do with that smart mouth of yours while Mom takes care of the kids for us for a little while.”

I feel a tingle begin and am all of a sudden very anxious for Nancy to show up.

“Strip. Then get on your knees, babe,” Kenton grunts, backing me into our bathroom.

As soon as Nancy walked into the house, Kenton handed the kids off to her. I could tell by the twinkle in her eyes that she knew exactly what was going on. Thank God Maz was awake so she couldn’t say anything that would have me turning red.

I quickly strip and drop to my knees, watching as Kenton locks the door to the bathroom behind him.

“Finally, she listens,” he mumbles.

I ignore that comment and just enjoy watching him walk towards me. His hands go to his sweats, one pushing them down until his c**k springs free, the other hand wrapping around himself, stroking as he walks to me.

“Open.” His eyes lock on my mouth as I open for him. The second the head of his c**k touches my tongue, I moan. “I think you love sucking me off more than I like it, and I like it a whole hell of a lot.”

His hand runs down my cheek, his thumb going to my chin. He pulls down on my jaw, making me open more as he slides deeper into my mouth, hitting the back of my throat. His hand lowers, running down my neck then over each nipple, giving them a tug. I moan around him and us one hand to cup his balls before wrapping around the base of his cock, twisting on each thrust, while my other hand goes between my legs.