Page 43 of Beauty and the Nerd

Emma waited for the test to finish rendering, a smile on her lips certain the word ‘not’ wasn’t going to appear. After three babies, she knew this feeling. Knew it and loved it more than she ever expected. The morning sickness she could do without but what came from it made it all worth it.

It was hard to believe she and Ben were about to head out to celebrate their twelfth anniversary in a way, but yet, it wasn’t. Not with their three beautiful little girls in their world.

Most people were shocked when they showed up at their ten-year class reunion still married, but even more shocked when they learnt their oldest was six months old.

Their Kinsley Ella would be five in November.

Just shy of two years after that, their Kira Elaine came into the world two days before Halloween and not quite a year ago now, on her birthday, their little Kalea Elise joined them.

If she was right, this one would likely be here in May, a complete switch from their fall babies.

She couldn’t even blame the possibility on a vacation this time, unlike with Kalea.

She and Ben had taken a trip to Hawaii with the girls at the start of the year to get away from the New York cold.

They’d left as four and came back as a surprise five.

“The girls are officially with your parents for a long weekend,” Ben said popping up in the doorway of their bathroom, his eyes roaming over her body in just her comfy lounge bra and panty set.

It was of course from Satin Touch, a new line that Emerson came up with after having their oldest ten years ago.

As much as she loved the sexy lingerie and fancier bra and panty sets, being a new mom had Emerson wanting something that was soft and comfy, with no underwire digging into her side when she managed to get a nap.

Something that Emma whole heartedly agreed with after having Kinsley.

Her skin was a bit stretchier around the middle and her boobs a bit larger with nursing, but she’d lost the baby weight easily each time.

Megan huffed that she just had good genes that helped her with it after trying to ‘bounce back’ in eight weeks for a vacation after having her and Heath’s little boy Dylan four years ago.

She knew she was fortunate enough that not only was that true, but also that between what she’d made modeling, what Ben made working for Lyle, and then what her books had brought in that they could afford extra help around the townhouse they bought not far from Lyle and Emerson’s place.

It also helped her not to feel out of place when she was with Megan and Emerson, who both still loved fashion and dressing up.

“Mmm, maybe not all of them,” she said, picking up the digital test, the word ‘pregnant’ on the screen, showing it to him. “Unless this one’s a boy this time.”

“Emma!” he gasped, hurrying to her, his eyes taking in the display for a moment before his arms wrapped fully around her, holding her tight. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she grinned feeling his arousal through his pants.

Their intimacy was better than ever, and she wasn’t about to argue an entire weekend indulging in it.

He wasn’t going into the office tomorrow giving them a three-day weekend, or at least that was the plan.

They likely would cave early on Sunday and head out to her parents’ place just outside of the city to see the girls.

She loved that her parents retired and moved up here to be closer to them after Kinsley was born.

Thanks to Ben’s help, their retirement portfolio let them live more than comfortably.

They simply liked a little more room to move around and picked a house outside the city rather than live directly in it.

Her husband had done amazingly with the investments he and Drew ran in a separate division of Cortland Finance now.

Their investments were riskier, but the rewards that came with them had them financially secure enough that four kids wouldn’t hurt their budget.

Let alone if they added in what she’d earned off the five books she now had published.

Each of the girls had college funds set up, as well as trust funds that she put most of her royalties into for them to have one day. Her sixth book was due to come out just after the start of the year, and she could easily start a trust for their newest baby with whatever it brought in.

“Surprised?” she asked as Ben carried her over to their bed, his body coming down over hers and she didn’t care if they went out at all now or not.

“More than with Kalea even,” he said his lips pressing kisses all over her face. “This one is about matched with you giving me that story back in high school to read.”

“That much?” she asked, laughing when he nipped at her lips in return.

“That good,” he said his gaze meeting hers and she felt happy tears hit as he stared down at her. “Having all these sweet beauties love this old nerd, yeah, it’s that good, Emmy.”

“Handsome old nerd,” she teased, running her hand through his hair that he always got cut the way she’d suggested.

His body was still the long sleek surprise she’d discovered all those years ago.

Most would look right past him on the street, not knowing just how defined he really was under his clothes, but she didn’t mind. Not when it had him all hers.

“Still the sweetest beauty ever,” he returned, his lips trailing over her collarbone before sliding down along the edge of her breasts.

“You made me the luckiest nerd ever when you let me kiss you fifteen years ago. Made me the luckiest man when you married me twelve years ago, but this…I definitely think I have the title king of the nerd fully in the bag. Four little girls with my beauty…”

“It could be a boy,” she reminded him.

“I’m a proud girl dad, baby. No way would the universe deny me another girl today of all days,” he countered.

“Only other girls I’ll let you love as much as you love me are ours.”

“Only ones I need are ours,” he promised before showing her just how deeply he loved her still.

Her stomach growled and he gave her a quick kiss before moving them into the bathroom for a quick wash. She wanted to argue when he pulled her out of the house, but it stopped when they moved into the little Thai shop still owned by the same family that they loved.

“Mrs. Emma, Mr. Ben, we feed just you, no girls tonight?” they asked when they were settled into a table.

“Just us and number four tonight,” Ben stated his hand resting on her stomach and it felt so sweet that they completely understood his meaning. There might be millions in the city, but it didn’t make all of them strangers, and she loved the ones that claimed them.

They pulled into her parents’ driveway Sunday around brunchtime, and she laughed when her dad opened the door with Kalea in his arms, giving her a kiss before passing her over for her to snuggle with her girl. “Food’s almost ready.”

“You can’t say they don’t know us,” Emma mused when they got to the kitchen, finding Kinsley and Kira helping her mom put the little muffins on a plate. “Mmm, are those apple cinnamon?” she asked as she slipped onto a chair.

“They are, but you hate apple cinnamon,” her mom said eyeing her curiously and she just grinned making her jaw drop a bit. “Emma Danielle are you pregnant?”

“Like four weeks,” she said with a little nod, enjoying the hugs from her parents as well as their older girls when they explained that mommy was having another baby like Kalea.

They waited to share the news with Ben’s dad until she was about to share it online.

His mother they had very little contact with, mostly it was a passing hello if they were back in town for some reason with the girls.

They shared photos regularly with his dad though and he adored their girls, was thrilled they had another on the way.

Neither Adam nor Daphne was married or serious with anyone.

Daphne was living in LA while Adam was in Houston for reasons none of them really understood since he’d gone to school in Florida and hadn’t even had a job offer or knew anyone when he moved to Houston.

She found out two days before Christmas their baby was definitely another girl, and as they had everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner they decided to tell them with their dessert.

Their girls loved angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream, and she added a little bit of pink food coloring to the whipped cream as a surprise.

“Pink!” Kira squealed when she set the dessert in front of her, her little hands clapping happily.

“Do you know why we have pink topping this year?” Ben asked her as Megan’s little Dylan scooted closer to her.

She was already teasing Ben that Dylan was going to end up as his son-in-law one day because he was just a bit obsessed with Kira.

It was adorable though, especially when he caught her when she nearly fell if going too fast while they were playing.

“For a girl,” Kinsley said, sharing a hopeful look with Emerson’s youngest who was also five.

It was so sweet being pregnant with her friend, but even more so when they both had little girls just days apart.

Kinsley and Olivia were best friends, as close as she was with Megan when they were younger, and she loved that they were still close to the point they did this annual Christmas Eve Dinner together.

Christmas Day was for immediate family, while Christmas Eve was definitely for their chosen family.

“We’re having another girl,” Emma said, smiling when Kinsley, Olivia, and Kira let out loud screams of joy.

“Ben got his way huh?” Megan asked drawing curious gazes to him.

“I’m a lucky nerd, of course I did,” he joked, pressing a kiss to her temple as his hand rested on her stomach. “We’d love a little boy just as much, but I’ll never deny that I’ll gladly take all the little girls she’ll give me.”

“Do you have a named picked out for her yet?” Emerson asked.

“It’s not like we’d steal it,” Megan teased when she shared a look with Ben to see if he wanted to tell them. “I’m good with just this guy,” she added with a wink at Dylan who grinned widely. “Two knuckleheads are all I can deal with.”

“And we are completely done with that phase of life,” Emerson said kissing Olivia’s head while her boys just shrugged not caring if they had another sibling or not it seemed. Lyle just nodded, as he sat between Mason who was ten and their middle son Jason who was eight.

“I think we’re decided,” Ben said and she nodded. “This one is going to be Kerry Elizabeth.”

“Any special reason for this one? I mean, you chose Kalea’s name since you came home from Hawaii with her,” Megan said giving her a wink while her dad playfully plugged his ears. “And we all know the E middle names are so they share them with you.”

“We just loved the name,” Emma said with a grin.

“She loved it first because this way we have two with a y on the end and two with an a on the end,” Ben added. “It’s also why the girls’ middle names all start with El. My girl loves things that go together, match. It’s why she loved Satin Touch so much long before she started modeling for you.”

“I’d say she just sees the beauty in the perfect matches,” Emerson suggested and put that way, Emma couldn’t really argue it.

“And I found the best match with you,” she said, snuggling into his hold, the same way she did months later when their newest daughter rested on her chest. Her hair was as dark as Emma’s was unlike their little ones at home that had softer brown hair like their daddy.

“She’s amazing, baby. The perfect end to this part of our story if you want,” he mused and she just smiled, giving him a soft kiss her eyes returning to their sweet girl.

“I don’t know, I kind of like the surprises we find together in this city we love. I wouldn’t want to miss out on our favorite chapter by not being open for whatever comes next.”

“Who was it that worried she wasn’t smart enough to make me happy because I’m pretty sure she just schooled the nerd,” he teased, making her laugh, enjoying all of the love and beauty surrounding them.

“I love you, Benny-boy, but you still owe me eight foot massages,” she warned, sighing happily when he gave her a quick, hot kiss.

“Well you still owe me six-hundred and forty-six kisses. You might need to invest in some lip chap, because I love you more than ever, my sweet beautiful girl. My Emmy,” he whispered, stealing another of his kisses, but she didn’t complain about it.

She would never complain about his stolen kisses because she always came out ahead with Ben, and that seemed absolutely perfect to her.

She never wanted this feeling to end because this was exactly where she was supposed to be with her little beauties and her favorite nerd, in the perfect place—completely in love.