Tessa Teevan - Inflame

“And that’s my cue to leave.” Wade gives Charlie a hug then shakes Knox’s hand. “Congratulations, you two.”

Once Wade’s out of earshot, Kale starts speaking. “If you two are up for celebrating later with your clothes on, why doesn’t everyone come over to our place tonight and we’ll give Charlie the big reveal and celebrate Knox being a kept man.”

Knox shakes his head but grins down at Charlie, who shrugs. “We’re in,” she says to us, and Jace nods in agreement.

I continue to fawn over Charlie’s ring as the guys make arrangements, and before I know it, Kale’s whisking me back to the car and taking me home.

Kale

ONCE HOME, we get to work setting up the nursery. It already had a crib, a dresser, and a changing table, but with the additions from the store, it finally feels like a real nursery as we add wall art, bedding, and a mound of stuffed animals. Lucy finishes unpacking a box of books then stands up and moves to the middle of the room. Doing a quick spin, she has a satisfied look on her face as she hugs her belly.

“Everything about today has been so perfect, Kale. From the baby name book, to the appointment, to the shopping, and then with the proposal. We have so much to celebrate tonight. Speaking of, we should probably get ready for that since you up and offered our place.”

I set the last of the clothes we splurged on in the drawer and move to circle her waist as I rest my head on her shoulder, taking in the newly transformed room. “And just think, in less than five months, we’ll have even more to celebrate.” Pushing her out of the room, I lead her down the hallway and into our bedroom, where she gives me a confused look that I ignore. Leaning down, I place a kiss on her forehead. “Rest up, baby. I’ll go get everything ready for tonight.”

“I’m too excited to sleep. Plus, I want to help you. I already figured I’d toy with Charlie tonight and not tell her right away.” She gets off the bed and we head to the kitchen to prepare. After rustling through the pantry, she pulls out a bottle of food coloring and grins at me. “This is exactly what I need.”

Later on, when everyone shows up, the women spend their time gushing over the ring as Charlie relays the story of the proposal to Lexi. I hand each of the guys a beer then toss one to Charlie. Lexi turns me down as she looks nervously at Jace, who clears his throat. She gets up from her spot on the couch and goes to where he’s standing.

“Well, since everyone’s sharing all sorts of good news today, we have something we want to announce,” Jace says as Lexi beams up at him. “It looks like the Montgomery baby is going to have a new playmate a little sooner than we expected.”

Lucy gasps then squeals as she runs up to hug Lexi, and Charlie joins them, equally as ecstatic.

“You’re pregnant?!” Lucy asks, practically jumping up and down.

Lexi laughs as she nods. “We’re almost eleven weeks along. A total honeymoon baby. To call it a shock is an understatement, but we’re thrilled.”

“You know, someone once told me these things happen in threes,” I say, looking at Knox and Charlie.

She waves at me with her middle finger before holding up her hand for me to see her ring. “Don’t even try to jinx me like that, Kale Montgomery. With my luck, whenever Knox and I have kids, we’ll end up with triplets. I am so not ready for that. Plus, I’ll have your kids to spoil. We don’t need our own yet. Speaking of, will you please finally spill the beans? I am dying from anticipation to know what you’re having.”

Lucy gives me a sly smile and nods. Turning to Jace and Knox, she smiles sweetly at them. “You two have any money riding on this one, too?” she asks, and Jace chokes on his beer. “Yeah, we know all about your little bet. I’m expecting one hell of a baby shower gift, Jace.”

Jace grins sheepishly. “Consider it done. We knew he was a goner long before he did. I just had a little more faith in your abilities to get Kale to fall into your web than Knox did.”

“Whatever, dude. She was just as hooked on me as I was on her,” I tell him.

“Yeah, but you were too much of a pussy to tell her,” Knox chimes in, causing Charlie to elbow him.

“Right. What should I have done? Gone to the nearest bar and professed my love with a song?” I tease, and it’s Lucy turn to give her man the elbow, causing me to wince as she connects with my side.

Knox scowls, but Charlie just laughs. “It doesn’t matter. We’re all here now, happy, in love, and about to find out if they’re having a girl or a boy. Now tell me already.”

Lucy leaves the living room and reenters with a tray of cupcakes. Setting them down on the coffee table, she gestures to Charlie. “I know it’s not the most original way to reveal it, but it’s all I had time for. Go ahead, Charlie. You wanted to know so badly. You do the honors.”

Charlie leaps up from her chair and grabs one of the cupcakes. As she slowly unwraps it, her eyes widen and she looks back and forth between the two of us and then at the rest of the group waiting impatiently for her to reveal the gender.

“Well, what is it?” Lexi asks.

“They’re having a boy!”

Congratulations come from all around, and I watch Lucy’s beaming smile light up the room. I honestly didn’t care what we were having, but when Dr. Foster pointed out the tiny—sorry, little guy—forming male parts on Sprout, my heart swelled at the thought of having a little mini-me running around. It was surreal and I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I was almost in a daze for the rest of the day, and Lucy picked out everything she could find in blue and brown, adding in some green because, after all, he’s our little Sprout.

Jace and Knox both give me slaps on the shoulder while Lucy drags the girls down to the nursery to show off the goods from today.

“With all the estrogen in your life, I was sure you were going to end up with a girl. Lily’s going to be so disappointed,” I hear from behind me and turn to see Xavier, who’s late to the party. “Congratulations, man. You deserve this. That little boy’s going to be a lucky one.”

“I’m glad you could make it, man,” I tell him, and I mean it. If there’s anyone besides Lucy I want to share this with, it’s him. “I think Lily will get over it when she meets her new honorary cousin.”

He knows what I’m trying to say, and he nods. “About fuckin’ time, Montgomery.” And I nod back.

After all the shit in my life, I can hardly believe I’m here. I’m having a son.

Lucy

“AS MUCH as I adore our friends, I thought they would never leave,” I tell Kale as we settle into bed for the night. Once Xavier showed up, the guys just had to start up a game of poker, so the girls and I spent the night creating Pinterest boards for both baby things for Lexi and me and wedding planning for Charlie.

It was a blast being able to look at strictly items for baby boys, but it’s still daunting how much stuff out there that they suggest you get. Kalli texted me earlier to remind me to start a registry for the baby shower, and I decided that Pinterest could totally market that because they have some of the coolest baby gear. Not to mention, Charlie has about fifteen different wedding favor ideas on her board, and we had to stop her from adding any more. As fun as it was, when everyone left at nearly two in the morning, I was more than ready for bed. But now that I’m settled with the baby name book in my hands, I feel a renewed energy and want to get a head start on this list making. Like Kale said, as much as I love Sprout, I’m ready to give my sweet baby boy a name.

“Sorry, baby. I could’ve ended the game early, but I needed one last hand to wipe out Knox’s stash,” Kale says apologetically as he climbs in bed beside me.

I hand him a pad of paper and a pencil so he can jot down any names we like. “It’s fine. At least tomorrow’s Saturday. If your six a.m. alarm goes off for you to go to the gym, I’m probably going to kick your ass.”

He immediately grabs his phone and shuts it off. “If you want to sleep in, we’re sleeping in. We had a long day today, so I’m at your mercy tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Okay. Now, are you ready to do this?” I ask, knowing that this isn’t going to be an easy task.

Flipping to the boy name section, I start with the A’s. Kale sits up against the headboard and holds his arm out so I can cuddle up against his chest. As we flip through the pages, we make it to the D’s without seeing anything we like. All of a sudden, Kale points to a name.

“This is perfect! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that,” he says, almost to himself.

Peering at the name, I shake my head when I see it. “I am not naming my kid Dawson. For one, I’ll be hearing that annoying theme song from the show in my head. And secondly, that’s my last name. I can just see me introducing myself to his kindergarten teacher. ‘Hi, I’m Lucy Dawson and this is my son Dawson Montgomery.’ Sure, it’s a cute idea, but that’d just be weird!”

Kale moves his arm so my back’s now on the headboard. He slides down the bed and places his head on my belly. After tapping it with his finger, he pulls my shirt up to give my bare skin a kiss.

“Don’t listen to her, son. She doesn’t know what she’s saying,” he whispers gently, smiling against my skin. He turns to look at me, a bright smile covering his face. “Lucy, you’re not going to be a Dawson forever, you know.”

My heart leaps into my throat at his insinuation. We’ve talked about forever before, yet the subject of marriage has never actually come up. I’m not sure if it’s the high of the day or what. This is the first time he’s ever mentioned it, and I try to calm my racing heart.