Free Twice in a Lifetime (Love Found) by Ruthie Henrick Page B

She planted her lips on his when he edged up beside her. “Boots.”
    With a look down he frowned, toed them off one after the other.
    “I called my folks today. They’re so excited, said the baby was better than the trip to Paris they had planned for the spring.” She lifted a lid, gave her pot of stew a stir. “And Reese is already shopping for onesies.”
    “Happy, huh?”
    “You could say. How about your dad?
    “He cried.”
    Her brow furrowed even as the wooden spoon halted. “He’s not happy?”
    “Good tears. We’re supposed to refer to him as Papa starting immediately.” Ben took a stack of bowls from the cupboard, passed them around the table. “And I asked Jake to dinner. He’ll be here any minute.”
     
    She ladled stew into Jake’s bowl, passed it to him. Did the same for Ben. Let just the right amount of casual ride in her voice. “I stopped by the doctor’s office today.”
    Jake lifted his eyes, ping-ponged a questioning gaze between her and Ben. “Everything okay?”
    “Oh, everything’s fine.” She passed him the rolls, waited until he snagged one, bit into it. The taunt was devilish but much too hard to resist. “Just had to pee into a little cup.”
    To his credit, his food stayed in his mouth long enough for him to swallow. “A baby?” He pinned a glare on Ben. “You’re married what, three months? Jesus, you know what causes that, right?”
    Ben only grinned. “You jealous? Find your own wife, knock her up.”
    Jake’s eyes dulled, quickly brightened and were accompanied by a loopy grin. “Yeah, easy for you to say. You got the good one.” He got up from the table, kissed Allie on both cheeks and slapped Ben on the back. Hard.
     

     
    Allie once again shifted against the headboard, propped up at the end of a busy Monday. She was once again herself—maybe a slightly larger self—but chasing the schoolkids around all day wore her out.
    “Are you glad it’s a boy, Ben?” She was pretty sure he was, but he’d been kind of quiet since they returned from her sonogram earlier in the day. “I mean, most guys want to have a son, don’t they?”
    Ben stretched, lifted her pillow so she could get comfortable. “Sure, it’s great. But you know I would have been good with a little girl, too.” His absentminded pat on her arm did nothing to reassure her.
    “Thanks.” She wiggled into her nest. “What’s the matter? You look pale. Do you not feel well?”
    “I’m fine.” Using a finger, he marked his place in the book on his lap and stared off into middle space.
    “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone with me today. Some guys get kind of freaked out about the whole growing the baby thing. Is that it? Did it bother you to see him on that monitor? I thought it was pretty cool, myself. And then to hear his heartbeat. Woosh, woosh, woosh .” She imitated the sound the best she could. “It was really fast. I didn’t realize babies’ hearts beat that fast.” She was babbling, but Ben was really pale.
    “What about his nickname? Are you sure you’re okay with it? Because I really like that name, Trey. It means three, and well, he is. The third, I mean. Your dad is Bentley, you’re Ben. And I don’t want anyone calling him Benjie. That sounds like a dog.”
    “Trey’s good, sweetheart. That’s a good name.”
    Oh, God. He wasn’t having second thoughts about the baby, was he? Because really, it was too late for that now. She took a hard look at him, stiff against his own pillow with his eyes glued to the cover of that baby book on his lap.
    “What are you reading, Ben?”
    “What the hell’s an incompetent cervix?”
    Oh, good God ! She grabbed the book from him and twisted to rearrange her pillows, scolding him with her best teacher voice as she tried to get comfortable. Again. Still. “Jeez, Ben. If you’re going to worry about every single thing you read in those books I’m going to take them all away from you.”
    But Ben was not intimidated. He speared her