Taking Chances (40 page)

“Brandon,” Mom
croaked and cleared her throat, “I hope you know how much we love you too.
We're so happy that you and Harper are together, we couldn't imagine her with
anyone else. We know you'll take care of her and Liam.”

“I will.
Forever.” He vowed.

I
was
uncomfortable. I was tired of no one letting me do anything for myself. I was
tired of constantly laying down, and I was just flat out tired. I was so big I
felt like I looked like a whale, even though Brandon continuously told me how
beautiful I was. He let me complain at all hours of the day, and always smiled
at me. I knew he was working hard to hold back his laughter, and I was grateful
for it. I knew how ridiculous I was being, I just couldn't seem to stop and if
he had laughed, I'd probably snap at him.

We'd had
another appointment two weeks ago, and Dr. Lowdry was even more concerned that
I wouldn't make it much longer. Per her instructions, we already had the
hospital bag packed, the rear facing car seat was already put in my Expedition
and I was no longer allowed to help cook. I had the most absurd urge to get on
my hands and knees, clean the entire house and go through all the drawers in
the nursery to make sure everything was where I wanted it. Again. Of course I
wasn't allowed, so I laid on the couch, and grumbled to myself or talked to my
little Liam.

Brandon had
started school again almost three weeks ago, but thankfully he'd talked to his
academic adviser before the semester started and found out he only needed to
take two more classes and he'd be able to graduate in December, a week before
our wedding. He was absolutely amazing, he was always getting me anything I
needed, and things I hadn't even thought to ask for. When he was at school, he
made sure Carrie or Mom were here to keep me company because he knew how stir
crazy I was getting. The only problem was the numerous fights he was doing.
He'd told Crow once the baby was born he was going to take a couple months off
from fighting, and even though we had more than enough money to get us by for a
few years, he was doing fights every other night anywhere from LA to San Diego to
save up as much as possible. I couldn't complain too much, he'd made over ten
grand last week alone, but I didn't like the fights anyway, and he only let me
come with everyone if it was going to be a lame match. He was afraid of the
crowds with the bigger fights, so more often than not, I sat on the bed
freaking out until he called to tell me he'd won.

He had dropped
me off at Mom's this morning, so I could go to lunch and have a pedicure with
her and Bree, and picked me back up for my thirty-six week appointment. Like I
said, they wouldn't let me do anything for myself anymore. No driving and no
painting my own toes, not like I usually did them or could reach them anyway,
but still. I wasn't allowed.

“Well Harper,
things look great, as does he. Continue to hold off on almost all activities
and lets cross our fingers that you last at least another week. You'll
technically be considered full term by then, but really he would be fine if he
came out now. I want to start seeing you once a week now, though I don't know
how many more appointments we'll get out of him.” Dr. Lowdry's smile was warm
as she spoke. “Are you both ready? Do you have any questions or concerns? Are
you familiar with the hospital?”

“We took the
tour and all of that earlier this week, and I don't think I have any questions.
I'm just ready for him to be here. I don't sleep at all.”

Dr. Lowdry
laughed and patted my leg, “That's common to be uncomfortable, just think of it
as your baby preparing you for waking up all hours of the night.” She laughed
again. “Brandon, what about you?”

“I think I'm
good, I'm just worried she's going to go into labor and I'm not going to be at
the house.” He gripped my thigh, “I don't want her to be alone when that
happens.”

“I understand,
but even if you aren't, most women won't have the baby for hours after their
water breaks, so you'll have plenty of time to get to her and bring her to the
hospital.”

He nodded, but
I knew that didn't help much. Every time he left for a fight he would tell Liam
if he had to come into the world that night, at least wait until he was back
from the fight. Brandon wouldn't even say hi to me when he called afterward,
first thing out of his mouth was always, “I love you. Did anything happen? How
are you feeling?” If I wasn't so afraid he'd come home with a broken something
or other, I would laugh at him for simultaneously kicking the crap out of
people and being terrified his fiancée was about to go into labor.

“Well!” Dr.
Lowdry stood and gave me a hug, “If anything happens or you need anything at
all, just call me. If not, I'll see you both in a week.”

We thanked her
and headed home for another fun filled night on the couch. Okay, I really
needed to stop whining. Things could be so much worse. Brandon could not care,
or he could be irritated with my moods, or worse, he could not be here at all.
And I loved our nights at home, after dinner he would prop my feet up on his
lap and rub them until the swelling went down. After, he would crawl next to me
and press me close to his chest just so he could hold me while we watched TV.
Like I said, he's amazing. I've just been super irritable lately.

“Brandon? Do
you think we could do something tonight? Like maybe just go for a drive, or go
to the beach? I'm not ready to be cooped up in the house again.”

He bit the
inside of his cheek and looked at me for a few seconds before reversing out of
our driveway we'd just arrived in. “As long as you promise to tell me if you
get tired.”

I was already
wide awake and practically bouncing in my seat knowing we were going somewhere,
anywhere. “Promise! Where are we going?”

“Well it's your
night, where do you want to go?”

“Beach and
Pinkberry.” Seriously, I had frozen yogurt or ice cream every day now. It was
bad.

Brandon's husky
laugh gave me goose bumps and I couldn't help but smile just listening to it,
“Beach and Pinkberry it is.”

He pulled the
blanket out of the back of his Jeep and walked me towards the shore before
laying it down and sitting me between his legs, my back pressed against him.
After rolling my shirt up over my stomach, he started tracing delicate patterns
on me. Liam instantly started wiggling as soon as Brandon's hands were on my
bare skin.

“I'm so excited
to meet him,” His deep voice filled my body, “but I'm going to miss this.
You're the most beautiful pregnant woman I've ever seen Harper.”

I sighed and
molded my body to his even more, “Have I told you how amazing you are and how
much I love you recently?”

“I love you
too.” He brushed my hair away and pressed his lips to my neck. “What are you
most excited for?”

“Watching you
teach him things. Like how to throw a ball and surf…” I said quickly, I thought
about that all day long. “You?”

“Everything.”

“That's not
fair babe! You have to say something.”

He thought for a
minute, “I want to see you hold him.”

“You want to
see me hold him?” I deadpanned.

“Yeah. The way
you hold yourself whenever he moves or you're thinking about him, makes me fall
in love with you that much more. It's tender, and full of love even though he
isn't here yet. So I can't wait to see you actually hold him.”

“Oh.” And that
right there made me fall in love with
you
more. I turned so I could face
him and pressed a quick kiss to his neck, “You're going to be an amazing father
Brandon. Your dad would be so proud of who you are.”

“I hope so.”

“I know he
would.”

He shrugged but
was smiling at me, “I don't think he wanted me to fight for a living. He was a
business man, I always thought I'd do that too.”

“Do you want
to? Someday, I mean.”

“I'm really not
sure. I should probably figure that out soon. I can't fight forever.”

Thank God for
that. “We have time, we have enough money to last us for a long time. I want
you to just be with me for the first few months, I don't want you to worry
about a career yet, okay?”

“Not likely,
but thank you. I will stay home with you as much as possible for a while, but
I've already been worrying about a career for some time now, I just don't know
what I want to get into.”

“We'll figure
it out.”

“Yes we will.”
He kissed me thoroughly before turning me so my back was pressed against his
chest again.

We stayed out
there until after the sun went down and were now both lying on the blanket. My
shirt was still rolled over my stomach and we each had a hand on it while our
cramped baby tried to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in.

“It's getting
late sweetheart, let's get some Pinkberry and get you home.”

“Thank you for
taking me here, even if I was still laying down for most of it, it was nice to
be outside near the water.” I let him pull me up and helped him fold the
blanket back up.

We went to
Pinkberry and my mouth was watering, Brandon thought my sugar cravings over the
last few months were adorable, but I swear I turned into a crazed animal
whenever I knew I was about to have some. Only problem was, if there were
choices, I could never decide, which is why he usually went alone and picked
for me. I stood there looking at everything and Brandon remained patient, he
knew we'd be here a while. He wrapped his arms around my belly and planted his
chin on top of my head, every now and then bringing his face down to kiss
behind my ear and whisper how much he loved me and Liam. Then he'd start a
trail of kisses down my neck and I'd have to start the decision making process
all over.

“You're not
helping babe.” I reached my hand up to run my fingers over the back of his
buzzed head, I knew that would keep him from distracting me for a while. I
glanced to the right and saw two female workers sigh with a dopey-eyed look.
Looking over my shoulder to see that the wall was the only thing next to us, I
glanced again and saw they were indeed watching us. “Jeez, no matter what you
do, women drool over you.”

“What do you
mean?”

“You fight in
only a pair of shorts, and women practically climb over each other to get to
you. You walk around at school or a store, and they trip over themselves to
keep watching you. You talk or laugh, and their jaws drop and they get goose bumps.
Then you do something as sweet as wrap your arms around your very pregnant fiancée
and whisper sweet nothings in her ear, and they start swooning.”

His body tensed
and I could practically feel his eyes looking everywhere, without moving his
head, “That's kind of creepy. Wait, how do you notice this stuff?”

A quick glance
to make sure they were still sighing and watching us together and I whispered, “I
notice because I know what it's like to look at you, and I do the same thing.
They’re at our three o’clock, by the way.”

“Does that
bother you?” He teased, and when he shot a quick glance to our right he
chuckled softly.

“Not at all,
you're mine. It makes me laugh, knowing how much everyone else wants
my
man.”

“I'm giving you
fair warning, I'm about to show them how much I am yours.”

I giggled, “Oh
really now?”

“Hey if they
want to watch, might as well give them a show.” He turned me around and
captured my mouth with his, moving his lips against mine.

I put a hand on
either side of his neck so my thumbs could trace his jaw, knowing they could
see my humongous ring and almost burst out laughing at how stupid I was being.
Not that they had any doubt before, but they for sure knew we were together
now. I pulled away and smiled at him, “That was ridiculous.” I grabbed his hand
and pulled him towards the wall of yogurts.

“That was hilarious.”
He corrected.

“Yeah, except
now they're going to fantasize about you kissing them. Good job honey, I'm
pretty sure they're goners now.”

His deep laugh
made me shudder and bite my lip, “I'm not going to lie, that was fun. I make
sure guys know that you're mine all the time, it was fun to let girls know I'm
taken.”

“You do not.” I
smacked his chest playfully.

“I do. I
thought guys stared at you too much when we first started dating, you should
see it now. It's frustrating the hungry looks in their eyes when they look at
you.”

“Liar.”

“Harper,” he
turned my chin so I was looking at his green eyes and talked soft and low,
“Maybe me telling you you're beautiful isn't helping, so let me try another
way. I know you think you look bad, but you're sexy as hell. Pregnancy looks
damn good on you. Trust me. It takes everything in me not to rip your clothes
off and finally make you mine despite what the Doctor says. And when other guys
look at you, I see that look on their faces, they're fantasizing about the exact
same thing.”

I rolled my
eyes but planted a quick kiss to his lips anyway. After filling up my cup with
frozen yogurt, I leaned into him and whispered, “It
was
a little fun. I
flashed my ring their way when you kissed me.”

Brandon's next
laugh bounced off the walls, “That's my girl.”

A male employee
helped put the toppings on and took our cups to the register, there were now
three girls huddled around it staring at Brandon. Brandon huffed a light laugh
and shook his head as he wrapped an arm around me to pull me outside. We ate
our Pinkberry in his Jeep in the parking lot and he had just turned the car
back on when his phone rang. It was Scarecrow, Brandon put it on speaker.

“Man you gotta
be there, this could make us more than we've ever got before. I already have a
few bets and they're high.”