Made To Love You (20 page)

Shit, this can’t be good.

“Have a seat.”

I take a seat and glance around the table to a few of the other guys from management. “How do you think you’re adjusting, son?”

Adjusting?
“I’m doing fine,” I answer honestly. It’s really not any different from A league.

“Good, because you’ve just been called up to AAA,” my heart starts pounding. “Brown’s got a knee injury and is out for the season, so you’ll be catching for the Iron Pigs.”

And my life just got a little sweeter. It sucks for Brown and all, but hot damn I went from having a shitty day to a great day. A little less bullshit to deal with every day makes all this so much better. A pay increase, better hotels, and better road trips. Only thing that could make this better is having Jaylinn by my side during every game.

Jaylinn

It’s the middle of March and Cooper will be here any minute. I’m eleven weeks pregnant and with each passing week my belly is getting more and more noticeable. I’ve been wearing oversized sweat shirts anytime I see one of our family members. At this point, I wouldn’t put it past one of the girls to know, Chloe especially.

She’s been coming over a lot lately to just hang out. I thought it was a little strange at first but then she told me that she and Jackson were having some issues and she just needed a break. I didn’t mind, I liked the company. Plus, Alex cracks me up. He’s such a Cahill with his charming looks and quick tongue.

Cooper and I have FaceTimed a few times and even some of those calls got a little hot but I always made sure to steer clear of my belly. I sort of want to see the look on his face in person when he gets here.

I hear Cooper’s truck pull into the driveway and I’m out the door running for him before he even gets out. He jumps down from the truck and scoops me up in his arms.

“Damn, I’ve missed the hell out of you.”

I kiss his cheek and then his lips. “I’ve missed you, too.” From the last few weeks of grueling hours with training, strength training and everything else I can see the work has paid off. Cooper is more lean and hard and is even sporting a nice tan now.

He sits me down and grabs his bag from the truck. We walk back into the house, he tosses his bag back down and I’m back in his arms again. He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I even missed the smell of your hair.”

I laugh and shove his shoulder. “That’s creepy.”

Cooper takes a seat on the couch and pulls me so I’m standing between his legs. He brings his hands up to the hem of my hoodie and pushes it up so he can see my growing stomach. His eyes get a little bigger when they land on my little baby bump. “Wow, you really did start showing?”

I nod. “I told you.”

“I know but I guess I wasn’t expecting this.” Cooper slides his hands around my hips and pulls me closer. He gently kisses my stomach and says, “Hey, little one. I missed you, too.”

Yes, I just swooned.

Cooper pulls my hoodie back down and pulls me down onto his lap. “It feels so damn good to be home. You’re a lot nicer to look at then those ugly mugs I’ve spent the last few weeks with.”

I loop my arms around Cooper’s neck not wanting him to get a second away from me. “When does Masey get back?”

Cooper digs around in his pocket and pulls his cell phone out. He taps the screen to check the time. “He should be home in about an hour or so.”

“We still going to your mom’s for dinner with the family?”

“No,” Cooper wraps his hand around my neck and pulls me in to kiss me. “I’m not going anywhere but right here.”

I moan into his mouth as his tongue brushes against mine. When we come up for air I cup the side of his face. “How about you let me take you to bed—” Before I can finish what I’m saying he’s carrying me back to the bedroom. “We’ll swing by your mom’s for dinner, or maybe just dessert.”

“Dessert and that’s if we even make it for that.”

I laugh as he lays me on the bed. His body covers mine and that’s enough to stop me from laughing. Hell, it’s enough to make me stop breathing.

Cooper and I are in the bedroom getting dressed to head over to his mom’s house. Our homecoming ‘reunion’ was interrupted and we were threatened that if we didn’t show they would all wind up here so it was our call. I slip a pair of jeans on which I can still wear for now. I walk over to the closet on Cooper’s side of the room and pull one of his sweatshirts off the hanger.

“What are you doing, babe?”

I push my hands into the arms of the sweatshirt. “Getting dressed,” I say rolling my eyes. What the hell does it look like I’m doing?

Cooper stops me from pulling the sweatshirt over my head. “Let’s tell them tonight,” his eyes are pleading.

“Are you sure?” I don’t want him to feel pressured to do it tonight. He did just get home. “We can wait a few days.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t want to wait.”

I smile. “Okay, let’s do it then.”

I toss the sweatshirt back in the closet and get one of my long-sleeved shirts from my side of the closet. It’s not tight but it doesn’t exactly hide my stomach. If no one knew any better they could think I was just really, really bloated or I was shoving my face full of food all day.

I walk back over to the mirror and check out my profile.

Cooper’s groaning has me whipping my head back around. “Okay, maybe you should put the sweatshirt back on. I’m not going to be able to take my eyes off of you.”

My eyebrows bunch together. “Are you serious?”

He comes over and wraps his arms around me from behind cupping my boobs. “These have gotten bigger and I’d rather stay home and play with them. I
really
don’t want to go to dinner,” he pushes my hair off my shoulder and kisses my neck. “I’d rather strip you out of those clothes and stay naked until I have to leave in two weeks.”

Whew, I was really nervous there for a second. “I don’t have a problem with that but your sister said they’d just come here. Do you really want them here with me naked?”

Cooper bites that sensitive spot where my neck and shoulder meet. “Hmm, naked.”

Shaking my head back and forth I push him back. “You just had me an hour ago. I think you can wait a few more hours for round three.” Cooper wasn’t satisfied with having sex just once; nope, it had to be at least twice.

Cooper frowns. “One hour max, Jay. That’s it.”

“We’ll see about that once they get a look at me.” I run my hand over my stomach. “I just hope by waiting that we didn’t piss anyone off. They have to respect that we wanted to wait, right?”

“Right, and fuck’em if they have a problem with it. It’s our lives, our baby, our decision.”

“Well then, let’s go.”

We pull up in front of Elle and Andrew’s house with the driveway full. Everyone is here, including Eli and Fallon. “This should be fun.”

“Might want to keep the truck running,” I joke.

“I should. Tell them I’m having truck problems and I can’t turn it off. Maybe then we can only stop in for a few minutes and go back home.”

I laugh. “Yeah, that’s not going to fly.”

“Let’s get this over with.”

When we open the door the house is a complete zoo. Kids laughing, crying, screaming, running around, and crawling. The first person to greet us is Ryder.

“Uncle Cooper!” he yells and runs directly for Cooper. He bends down just in time as Ryder launches himself right into his arms.

“What’s up, Chaos?” he ruffles his hair. “You being good for your mom and dad?”

“Ryder!” MacKenzie yells. “Why can’t you ever stay still for two minutes?” She comes over and holds her hands out for her son. “Nice of you to show up. Late!”

Cooper throws his arm around her shoulder. “Be glad I showed at all.”

She shrugs his arm off. “We would have just showed up at your house.”

“And you would have walked in on a whole lot…” he waggles his eyebrows.

“That’s Hailey’s job. She’s looking for a new couple to start walking in on since she can’t get into my house anymore without setting the alarm off.”

We follow MacKenzie down the hall to the kitchen. I’ve stayed behind Cooper so she hasn’t noticed my belly. I pull on Cooper’s hand stopping him before he walks in. “How are we doing this?”

“Doing what?”

I look down. “This.”

He chuckles and puts both hands on my belly. “Let’s see if anyone notices. If not, we’ll tell them before anyone leaves.”

“Okay.”

Jackson and Chloe are sitting at the kitchen table glaring at each other. Nothing new there lately. They’re having some trouble in paradise. Hunter is washing Olivia’s face, Mason is sitting on the floor while Caleb and Alexis crawl all over him, and Ryder just ran off towards Alex. Mom, Elle and Andrew are sitting at the kitchen table with Eli and Fallon who’s eating chocolate ice cream.

“Cooper,” Elle says cheerfully as she comes over and kisses Cooper’s cheek.

“Hey, Momma.”

“Jay,” Elle hugs me. “How are you doing?”

I smile. “Good.”

Cooper and I take a seat at the table and everyone says there hellos to Cooper and asked how things are going with being bumped up to the new team.

“Babe, can you grab me a beer?” Cooper asks.

I nod standing up and turning around. Then it’s like tires trying to find their traction on a rainy day. “Jay!” Hailey screeches. I hadn’t seen her yet because she wasn’t in the kitchen.

“Hey,” I say keeping my voice nice and even. I’m not sure if she’s just excited to see me and talk about the wedding planning or if she’s noticed our surprise.

Mason stands and pulls her back against his chest. He leans down and whispers something in her ear. She whispers something back. This is really fucking weird. I step around them and reach into the fridge for a beer. I turn back around heading to the table and their eyes are following my every move.

Mom gives me a knowing smile. They’ve seen it.

“Well,” MacKenzie taps her fingers against the counter. There is a chance she saw too from where she was standing. “I guess it’s time for us to start hitting the gym,” she chuckles. Cooper takes the beer from my hand. “You know, to work off the extra weight we’ve all gained over the winter.”

Cooper throws his head back laughing. “I don’t see a problem with any of you. And even if you all gained some weight who cares anyway.”

I kick his foot under the table. He’s instigating her.

“Awe! That was sweet,” Chloe grins at Cooper.

“Jay,” Hailey calls my name. I turn around in my chair so I can see her. “Come check out this wedding magazine. There’s a pretty dress that I wanted to show you that would look perfect for your
shape
.”

Okay, seriously, this shit is getting really weird. I stand up, push my chair in cause I’m sure this is going to take a while. Hailey links her arm through mine and we walk out towards the front room of the Cahill’s.

I glance down at the step so I don’t trip walking into the room. God, I can’t tell you how many times people have fallen over this little ass lip. Knowing the Cahill’s, they probably have some kind of camera set up to catch every fall so they can laugh at them over and over again.

When I glance back up I’m completely and utterly floored. Someone places their hands on my hips which I assume is Cooper. My hand comes up to my mouth. How, when, why are all questions running around in my head.

I look back behind me to see everyone staring at me. “What is all this?”

“It’s your baby shower, silly,” Hailey says pushing past me.

“But how?”

“Well, the planning starts when someone is pregnant,” MacKenzie pats my stomach when she steps past me and into the room.

“When did you all find out?”

Mom reaches for my hand and threads her fingers with mine pulling me into the room. She leads me over to the overstuffed chair in the corner. “Well, you see,” Mom kneels down on the floor next to my chair. “You’re not as secretive as you think.” She winks at me. “Turns out that these two over here,” she nods towards MacKenzie and Hailey, “put the puzzle pieces together. A few days ago I stopped over here and heard them talking in the kitchen. I wouldn’t tell them anything, said I had no idea what they were talking about.”

Eli and Fallon walk in with a huge ass box and set it down next to me. “Fallon insisted on this gift,” Eli explains.

Chloe walks over with a big yellow bag. “I know you tried hiding your little bump but I noticed.”

Elle comes over next and places another big box on the other side of my chair. “We know you’ve been dealing with a lot and then Cooper was gone.”

Hunter, my big brother, a person I look up to the most hands me a little green and yellow bag. “I called mom and then I called Cooper.”

Mason smirks and hands me a pink package. “And then I called Cooper.”

Cooper sits on the arm of the chair I’m sitting on. “And I was told they were throwing you a baby shower whether I was going to admit that you were pregnant or not.”

“So you haven’t told them?”

Cooper shakes his head. “Nope, but that didn’t change their minds. I think Hailey said something like if she doesn’t need this stuff now she’ll need it sooner or later.”