Page 63 of Surprise Baby for Mr. Fischer

When the clip ended, she carefully lifted the headphones from her ears and stared at me. Her lips pursed and twisted as though she was thinking of what to say to me.

I groaned and rubbed at my forehead. “You hate it.”

Her hand wrapped around my own—the one pressed to my forehead—and drew it to her chest. Now that I could see her again, her eyes shone brightly. She blinked rapidly, not able to stop a few tears from escaping. “Oh, Lincoln. No. Ilovedit. What you did was perfect.”

“You mean it?” I tightened my fingers around her hand, not wanting to let go. A half-smile tugged at my lips. Relief washed over me.

“I do. I love the transitions. The close-up shots. Everything. This is far better than anything I’ve ever done. My fans will love it.” Harper placed a light kiss on my hand. “I might never let you go,” she teased.

My heart leapt at her statement. I knew she was kidding, that she was referencing my film and editing skills, but now I wondered if she ever thought about us long-term. The words to ask stuck in my throat.

Could we make whatever this thing is between us work?

Her grin widened, and she rubbed her belly. “Let’s upload it now, and then we can grab something for dinner.”

I checked my watch. It was almost 9:30 pm. Not too many places would be open now. “What were you thinking?”

“Del’s lemonade.”

“I know I haven’t been in Rhode Island long, but aren’t all the stands closed during winter?”

She grinned. “I’ve been craving it my whole pregnancy and stocked up. You can buy it online. I have some in my freezer at home. But for now, I’ll settle for nachos.”

I made a mental note to find Del’s and have some in my freezer.

She opened a new tab and uploaded the video. “I can’t wait for my fans’ reaction to this, Lincoln. It’ssogood.” She stood and hugged me. With her arms around my waist and her hard belly pushing against me, I found myself wishing we could stay like this forever.

Just us. No outside world to intrude.

***

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I yawned as I made a pot of coffee. We’d stayed up late talking and eating nachos. I hadn’t had such low-key fun in a long time.

I’d woken up to find her gone. She’d left a note on the nightstand saying she didn’t want to wake me but had to go into Bits and Bobs for a few hours to help her sisters out.

I missed having her nearby.

My phone beeped with an incoming text.

Harper: Good morning sleepyhead {wink emoji}

Me: You must have felt me thinking of you. What are you, psychic?

Harper: Is that what that was? I thought it was the baby or gas bubbles {laughing emoji}

Me: Haha. How’s your day going?

Harper: Good. I miss you.

The triple dots popped up on the screen, then disappeared. After a few seconds, they popped right back up again.

Harper: Are you free today at 2:30?

I smiled. I liked that she was making plans for us.

Me: Besides tagging the furniture your sisters said they’d sold, I have nothing going on.

Harper: I would surprise you, but I’m not sure what you’d think about this.