Accidental Surrogate

Cora

I blow lightly on my cup of tea, doing my best to cool it and concentrate on the book that’s open in my lap. But even as I try, my eyes continually drift to the picture window in front of me that overlooks the front of our property, including the driveway where Roger’s going to pull in any minute now.

At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the past two hours.

I sigh, frustrated. I sent him a text a while ago asking him to let me know when he’d be home not that I really need to know, I just…wanted to know.

But Roger is notoriously bad at keeping an eye on his phone, and I know that he and Sinclair have had a particularly stressful day today. So, I’do my best to just…exercise my patience.

But I sigh because, even though patience is usually one of my virtues…

Today? I’m finding it a little hard.

Happy!

The baby’s little tap comes skipping down the bond out of nowhere, and I burst into a grin, looking down at myself.

“Oh, so are you liking the ginger tea, little guy?” I ask, laughing a little as I stroke a hand over my belly.

He doesn’t respond because…well, because I asked him out loud, and he can’t hear me, but I smile nonetheless, taking another sip.

Happy? I ask, sending the word and the feeling down the bond to him.

His answer comes back in an instant. Happy happy!

I laugh again, desperately pleased at this, and wondering what’s going to come next with him. Because he’s getting bigger, I can almost feel him growing by the day, and soon he’s going to start feeling all sorts of new things. But will he even have words for them? Will we feel them before he does, and be able to pass the same emotions back and forth, asking questions like we do with happy? Will it be –

But even as I ponder it, excited, headlights flash across the drive and my face bursts into a grin.

“Daddy’s home, little baby,” I murmur, taking another sip of my tea before putting it down on the coffee table as I watch Roger park the car, and step out, and storm for our front door.

“Ut-oh,” I sigh, watching his every step and continuing to stroke my stomach. “Daddy’s in a mood, baby…”

making me

anything but happy,

already with his jokes. God, I love

it, pushing it shut behind him and already looking up the stairs,

towards me, stopping so fast in his tracks that he almost trips over

in here?” he asks

him up and down. “I’m sorry,” I say, my voice

a second and running a hand through his hair before looking up at me again. ” I’m sorry,” he says, and

hell of a

sighs, and

here,” I say, reaching for him and folding my legs

up the stairs. “Can

going a little still. ” You’re not hungry,

his head again, almost begging for a moment. “I just want to go to bed. With you. And

little disturbed now. Because I don’t frequently see him like this. Once we broke into Roger’s tough shell, he revealed himself to be funny, and sweet, and full of jokes. This Roger, which exists even

showing me this side…he must really

in a second. “Sure,” I say, nodding to him and taking his hand. “Let’s

to me once, tugging on my hand and pulling me

to take a short shower, washing off the day. I’m silent as I change into my nightgown, laying out a pair of pajama pants on the bed for him, because I know that’s all

on the fire because I want the warmth and a little light to see by, but otherwise shut off all the

face serious and his eyes far-off, thinking through something that I know he’ll tell me about in a few minutes when he’s ready. I can’t help admiring him a

despite my efforts to keep it to myself, Roger raises his head a little and smirks at me. But I just shrug, because I mean,

mate’s hot. What am I supposed to do when he shows up all naked in bedroom, the

and slipping beneath them. I scootch across the mattress, pressing myself to his side, and Roger lets out a wicked little growl as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close, resting his cheek against my chest and letting

still-damp hair and cooing softly to

deal of laughter and teasing. But tonight? Tonight, I can tell

lightly over the skin of his back in a way that I know he likes. And Roger, to my content, starts almost to purr with the pleasure of it. Interestingly, for how much we usually want to tear into each other, there’s not too much that’s sexual about this moment.

me everything, baby,” I murmur,

pleased surprise, comes