Page 164 of Nine Week Nanny

“Does this mean you’re part of our family now?” Lennon’s voice pipes up behind us.

We break apart, laughing. Sloane crouches, pulling him close. “If that’s okay with you.”

He nods hard, eyes shining. “Yeah, it is. I still have my mom with me. But I get you and Pope, too. That’s even better.”

Her tears spill over, and I bend down too, wrapping both of them into me. My family. Complete.

A Week Later

On the Battery in Downtown Charleston, the harbor wind whips cool and briny against my face. Lennon runs ahead, climbing one of the old cannon mounts, shouting something about being captain of the fort.

Sloane leans on the railing beside me, hair blowing wild in the salt air. My arm fits naturally around her waist. For the first time in months, there’s no weight on my chest. Just this. Her. Him. Us.

“Pope,” she says, her voice soft but steady.

“Yeah?” I tilt my head toward her, brushing my thumb across her hip.

“There’s something I have to tell you.” Her eyes meet mine. They're bright, but I can tell she's nervous to say whatever it is on her mind.

My stomach tenses. “What is it?”

She takes my hand and guides it to her stomach, pressing my palm flat against her. “I’m three months pregnant.”

The ground shifts beneath me. I blink at her, my throat tight. “You’re serious? Have you known for a while?”

"Everything was so busy, my job, our new whirlwind, you buying a house here, the upcoming adoption. I hardly noticed I missed my period. I had my annual visit yesterday morning. When the doctor asked when my last period was, I had to do the math. When the bloodwork came back, she did an ultrasound right then, and there's no denying it. Pope, we're having a baby."

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday, when you found out?"

"I wanted to wait until you and Lennon flew in, so I could tell you in person."

A year ago, I couldn't imagine a relationship. Now, I'm a father to my half-brother, with another on the way. Holy shit.

I'm going to be a dad.

"Three months?"

She nods, biting her lip through a watery laugh. “Charleston. That night.”

My knees give. I sink in front of her, both hands splayed across her stomach, palms spanning the small life growing there. “Jesus, Sloane.” My voice cracks. “You gave me Lennon. And now… now we’re having another.”

Her laugh breaks into a sob as she smooths her hand over my hair.

I press my forehead to her belly, then look up at her through the blur. “You’re mine. Both of you. All of you.”

"We're yours, Pope. Our family."

“By the time school starts, we’ll all be settled in Charleston together,” I say, my hands still spread across her stomach. "And we will be a family of four by the holidays."

"Yep," she says, leaning in to kiss me. "A family of four."

Lennon bounds back, cheeks flushed. “What’s going on? Why are you crying, Pope? Is your tummy okay, Sloane?”

I pull him into me, one arm around his shoulders, the other still anchored to Sloane. “Sloane has a baby in her tummy. You're going to be a big brother.”

His eyes widen. “Like, we’ll have a baby in the house? A real baby?”

“Yep,” Sloane says, kissing the top of his head. "A real baby."

He leans against me, quiet for a second, then grins. “That means I’ll get to teach them stuff. Like about shark teeth and hermit crabs.”

Sloane laughs through her tears. “You can teach him, or her, everything.”

I hold them both tighter, my chest breaking wide open. For years, success meant closing deals, flipping hospitals, winning boardrooms.

But none of that compares to this. Sloane’s hand in mine, Lennon pressed against my side, and the weight of another life beginning between us.

This isn’t temporary. This isn’t strategy.

This is my family.