Kristo“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” she remarked nervously, fiddling with a loose thread on the side of the bed. “I mean, it’s going to change everything. And your family—”“My family has already dealt with the weirdest shit from the two of us these last few months,” I reminded her. “I really don’t think this is going to upset them. You know how long my nonna has been waiting for great-grandchildren? She’ll be here every day, helping out.”“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” Amaya joked, and then she shook her head again. “But with Jolene, I don’t know.”“Amaya, not everything can be planned in advance,” I reminded her. “I know you like having control over everything, but you need to let go. If we’re going to have this kid, you can’t bother clinging onto order. Everything’s going to change, and you need to be all right with that.”She looked at me and bit her lip. I could see the fear on her face, sure, but I could also see the excitement, too, buried underneath it.

AmayaI headed home as early as I could that day, the nights I’d spent late in the office finishing up work down to the last little detail long out the window. I was starting to feel ill again as I drove home, and I made a mental note to ask Kristo to hire me a driver so I didn’t have to worry about getting myself to and from work. He had been so sweet all day, bless him, bringing me water when he heard me throwing up and talking me through my panicked round of nerves the day before. I couldn’t have asked for a better man to help me through all of this.He seemed as enthusiastic as I was, if not more so, but then, he didn’t have the pukiness to deal with, so maybe he was still a little more optimistic about the whole thing. I would catch up as soon as I was out of this trimester. I had looked up all this stuff about pregnancy hormones and symptoms and how they would hit me and when they would recede. So I knew at least that this wasn’t going to last forever. As soon as I had this out

KristoI hurried up the stairs to join them, and Amaya headed to the kitchen as soon as she was inside.“Wow, that smells good.” She inhaled deeply, pulling the lid off one of the pots and looking at what was inside. “I should get you to cook for us more often.”“As if I don’t do all the cooking already,” I replied, shooting a wink at Jolene, who grinned. Amaya rolled her eyes at me and came over to join us on the couch.“How long do we have until the others arrive?” she asked, and I glanced at my watch.“About a half-hour,” I replied. “Enough time to figure out some more details for when Jolene is living here with us.”“I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Jolene shook her head, fiddling with the charms on the bracelet we’d purchased for her a few days earlier. “I’m going to be living here. Here! Have you seen this place? It’s like a palace.”We chatted a little about exactly what we would need to do in order to make the place as friendly to Jolene and her wheelchair as possi

AmayaKristo stripped me down swiftly, tossing aside his own pants and boxers, and laid down on top of me carefully, so as not to put too much weight on me. I ran my nails over his back, loving the feel of his muscles beneath my fingers. Hell, if this was what the rest of pregnancy was going to be like, then you could count me in, nausea or no nausea.“You look so beautiful right now,” he murmured, and I kissed him, starving for his touch, his mouth, for anything I could get.“I need you inside me, Kristo.” I repeated his name once more, and as though it was a charm, he obliged. Sliding between my legs, he parted my thighs and took his cock in his hand. I had a momentary panic about us not using a condom, but then I remembered what he’d mentioned earlier. We wouldn’t need one now that I was pregnant. Skin on skin, together with no barrier between us at last. I ran my hands over his neck and his shoulders, and he looked deeply into my eyes as he guided himself into me.“Fuck,” he groan

Kristo“I guess I should probably let you get back to work.” She sighed and dragged herself to her feet, as though it was some great trial to even pull herself upright. “And can you get me Darla’s number from Amaya? I guess we were a little distracted the first night we met, and I forgot to ask for it.”“Just drinks, huh?” I teased again.“Just drinks,” she repeated, but she was grinning like she was sitting on a secret. I gave her a quick hug and saw her to the door.“Take care of yourself, okay?” I ordered her. “I’m going to need you running properly these next few weeks. The wedding’s coming up, and then …”“And then we’re going to have to start putting shit together for the nursery.” She clapped her hands together in excitement. “Oh my god, I can’t wait to meet my little niece.”“Or nephew,” I reminded her. “We don’t know the gender yet.”“Yeah, I have a feeling.” She tapped her nose.“Just make sure anything you do get is gender-neutral,” I suggested. “Just on the slight chance y