Shield My Heart (Heaven Hill Book 9) (22 page)

She’d forgive him for anything as long as he never stopped loving her like this.

They were finding out the sex of their baby today. Something they’d debated on between themselves for two weeks. At first she hadn’t wanted to know and he had. Then they’d flip flopped. Finally they were on the same page, and both agreed to find out.

“You okay?” Dalton asked as he parked the car. “You were quiet the whole ride here.”

“Yeah.” She grinned over at him. “Just thinking about how far we’ve come in the past few weeks.”

“We have come a long way in a short amount of time,” he agreed as he turned the car off. “Don’t touch that door.”

She smirked as he got out and jogged around the car. Since they’d gotten back together, he’d also been a consummate gentleman. When he got around to her side, he opened the door before helping her out of the car. She’d gotten a belly since the last time she’d been here, and it had thrown off her equilibrium a tiny bit. “You good?” he asked, supporting her with an arm around the back until she felt steady on her own.

“Yup. Let’s go.”

Walking through the building, she couldn’t help but compare this to the last time she was here. When she’d known he wouldn’t show. When she’d sat in the waiting room on her own, hoping for something different. He’d surprised her and had shown, but today it was a much different feeling—walking into the office with him offering a supporting hand on her back. It made her feel like it was them against the world.

They were the first appointment of the day and were ushered back quickly. They were set up for the ultrasound, and Dr. Sparks came in to check on them, making small talk for a few minutes before she got down to business.

“Things still going well? Any issues?” she asked as they prepped Mandy for the sonogram that would show them the sex of the baby.

“Nothing.” Mandy shook her head. “I’ve actually been able to stop the nausea medication since I started the second trimester.”

“Good, that’s what we hoped would happen.”

They talked for a few more minutes until the tech told them she was ready. They turned off the light and watched, paying rapt attention as she pointed out different parts of the body to them.

Dalton sat beside Mandy’s head, grinning as she showed them the fingers and toes, the hands, and other parts. He wanted to thank Mandy for not giving up on him, for letting him be there, when by all accounts he shouldn’t have been allowed. He’d been such a dick all those weeks ago, scared to let his real feelings show, and scared to let this woman love him.

“Wait.” He laughed as he glanced at the screen again. Something had caught his attention, and he pointed. “Does that mean it’s a boy?”

The tech laughed along with him. “It does. Congrats you two, you’re having a boy.”

Mandy laughed too when she realized what everyone was pointing at. Pregnancy brain was a real thing with her, and it had made for some funny situations along the way. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry, not even when she heard the heartbeat again.

“No tears?” Dalton asked, surprised too. He’d come prepared with tissues and the promise of a trip to the coffee shop where they’d talked all those weeks ago. Looked like he wasn’t going to need either one of them today.

“No.” She shook her head, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. “Just happiness.”

That’s what they were focusing on now more than anything, and damned if it didn’t feel good.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Nine

“S
hould we tell everybody tonight?” Mandy asked as they roamed the aisles of the local grocery store, picking up the ingredients for S’mores. The clubhouse was having a bonfire tonight, and everyone was expected to be there—including Deacon and Samuel.

The trouble they’d waited for had yet to show up, and they were all excited to spend some time together. It was almost too quiet, but they were enjoying it.

“Everybody’ll be there,” he reasoned. “It’ll be way easier to do it once than to do it a hundred times; then no one will be allowed to spoil it for anyone else. I say let’s do it.”

She had never been one to do the cutesy stuff, and she was too excited to keep it a secret for long. Being able to share this with Dalton and her family was all she’d ever wanted to do in the first place.

“We got everything?” he asked as they took inventory of their cart. “Graham crackers, Hershey’s, marshmallows, and a package of Kit Kat’s for the lady in my life.”

She blushed. She’d been craving Kit Kat’s like nobody’s business and had demolished two miniature packs on her own. “Thank you.” She leaned in, kissing him on the neck as they stood in line to check out.

One thing that had changed with the two of them was their PDA. Before, neither one of them hardly ever touched the other in public. Now, they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other; she liked to thank pregnancy hormones for that. Mandy figured it was a normal progression in their relationship, and while it had been embarrassing to her at first, now she loved it.

*

Dalton was more excited for this than he’d been for anything else in his life up to this point. Telling his family what they were having was an option he shouldn’t have. By all accounts, Mandy shouldn’t have taken him back, she shouldn’t have forgiven as easily as she had, and she damn sure shouldn’t be looking at him the way she did now. He figured, like everything else though, it was a personal preference, and he was lucky she was willing to overlook the stupid mistakes he’d made. No one was more grateful than him, but he was scared it’d be taken away at any given moment.

“Did you leave any at the store?” Drew asked as he came to help Dalton carry the bags back to the bonfire.

“A few, not many though; I know how this crowd is.”

Their friendship was getting back to normal, but it was slow going. Drew was still pissed he’d been left out of the loop, and Dalton was willing to gain his trust back, just like he had Mandy’s.

“It looks good on you,” Drew told him as they gathered up the bags.

“What does?”

Drew stopped what he was doing, giving Dalton his full attention. “Fatherhood, responsibility, love. It all looks good on you. There’s no doubt in my mind you got this. Let yourself enjoy it.”

Those words coming from his friend were enough to bring emotions he’d thought he’d gotten long past. But in actuality he’d been waiting, hoping for Drew to accept him again. “Linked together forever, huh?” Dalton grinned. “The way we always thought we would be.”

“Blood means nothing, but I’m glad my nephew or niece will have yours.”

One thing had popped to his mind as soon as they were told it was a boy. Would he have the family curse? Would all the things Dalton worried about come back to haunt him again?

He felt a responsibility to make sure his child didn’t have to worry the way he had. He’d make sure his son knew love, home, family, and what his word meant. He knew that everyone in this makeshift family would too.

“I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” Dalton dropped his bags and pulled his best friend into a hug. Relationships were healing, and that’s all he could ask for.

*

Hours later they all sat in front of the bonfire eating S’mores. Mandy sat in Dalton’s lap, his jacket around her shoulders. “Should we tell ’em?” she asked as she leaned into him.

“Now’s as good a time as any.” He fed her a gooey marshmallow, shooting her a hot look when she purposely used her tongue and teeth to get the sticky concoction off his finger.

He glanced around, noticing that everyone was in fact there. He could see Steele and Jagger, Rooster and Roni, Jess and Christine were over in the corner doing Addie’s hair, Tyler and Meredith sat huddled up together while B helped Carter roast a hot dog. Glancing around to make sure the most important people, Denise, Liam, Drew, and Charity along with Deacon and Samuel, were around, he whistled loudly.

“Can I have your attention?” he yelled over the talking.

Everyone settled down quickly, and he squeezed Mandy’s hip, letting her know he wanted her to tell them.

“While we have you all here tonight,” she made sure to look at everyone in turn, “Dalton and I wanted to let you know. We had a doctor’s appointment today, and they did a sonogram, so we know what we’re having.”

There were loud cheers as everyone yelled their choice for what they were having.

“Shhhhh!!!” Drew quietened everybody down. “I need to know if I’m teaching this kid to shoot, or if I’m teaching this kid to kick a boy in the balls.”

Everyone laughed, but turned their attention to Dalton and Mandy.

“So…” She grinned, letting suspense build slightly. “We’re having…”

“Oh c’mon,” Liam yelled.

She giggled. “A boy.”

There were equal parts cheers and equal parts boos. The girls in the family wanted another girl, and the boys were excited to add onto their count.

Dalton hugged her closely to him, his heart the fullest it had ever been. As they accepted congratulations after congratulations, he realized he wouldn’t change this for the world—wouldn’t even change what they had been through because it’d brought them out on the other side. They were stronger, braver, and hopefully smarter than they’d ever been.

‡
Chapter Thirty