When I pulled back, Kade’s expression was soft, his eyes tender as he looked at me.

“No,” he said, “you are.”

EPILOGUE

The pains began in the morning while I was drinking my coffee. Starting in my lower back and expanding around my abdomen, flaring in intensity, then fading. I knew what it was immediately and glanced at the clock. Another one came in ten minutes. I waited it out, breathing through my mouth and gripping the counter.

Once it passed, I took a shower. Kade was already in his office working and I knew he’d go apeshit the second I told him. He’d practically refused to leave the house the past couple of weeks, saying he just knew that the moment he left was when the baby would decide to come. The second I told him it was time, he’d have me hustled into the car and to the hospital. Well, I wanted to shower first and shave my legs.

I sat on the shower seat when another pain came, breathing through it, then finished rinsing my hair. I dressed in comfy clothes and blew my hair dry before pulling it back in a French braid. When I deemed myself ready and the contractions were about seven minutes apart, I went to find Kade.

He was typing away at the computer and the windows in the office were open, the warm spring air drifting in along with the scent of the daffodils and lilacs blooming outside. The first thing he’d done when we’d arrived back in Indy from our honeymoon was to buy me a beautiful two-story brick home surrounded by an expansive lawn dotted with trees. We weren’t in the country, like my little house in Rushville was, but there was enough space between us and neighbors that I didn’t feel boxed in.

“Good morning,” I said, sliding my arm across his shoulders.

Kade glanced up and smiled, turning his chair and tugging me down onto his lap. I wasn’t as dainty as I used to be, not with a nine-month pregnant tummy, but Kade seemed to love everything about it. His hand rested on top of my stomach. “‘Morning, princess,” he said, giving me a kiss. “How are you feeling today? Is the baby awake?”

I grinned. “Not only is the baby awake,” I teased, “but it’s time.”

It took a second for Kade to catch on, then his eyes went wide. “Now?”

I laughed. “Well, not right now, but hopefully by tonight it’ll all be over.”

That put Kade into high gear, as I’d known it would. In minutes he’d closed up the house, gotten my suitcase, called Mona, and was trying to hustle me to the car.

“Wait,” I said, “did you eat breakfast?”

He looked at me like I was insane. “You’re seriously not asking me if I’ve eaten, right?” he asked incredulously.

“Well, the hospital food is awful,” I said, thinking I was being perfectly reasonable and he was the one reacting all out of proportion. “You should eat something before we go.”

“Oh my God, Kathleen, just get in the car,” he moaned. “Please. Before I stuff you in it myself.”

“Will you relax?” I said in exasperation. “You act like we haven’t done this twice before.” Still, I got in the car before his face got any redder.

“If you think that makes it easier, it doesn’t,” he said firmly, sliding behind the wheel.

“Are the boys all right at Mona’s?” I asked.

“They’re fine,” Kade assured me, one corner of his mouth tipping up. “I told them their mommy and I were going to bring home their little sister and they were quite excited.”

“Nice that they were already there spending the night,” I said, then another pain hit and I gripped the door, breathing until it passed. I noticed Kade’s speed had increased while I’d been quiet.

“I’m fine,” I said, reaching for his hand. “Slow down. There’s plenty of time.”

Kade, for all his coolness under pressure, proved to be the typical husband when it came time for me to give birth. I thought that was because it was something out of his control, which he hated.

It took a little while to get me admitted and situated in a room, then all the equipment hooked up to me, the IV put in, yadda yadda. The pains were closer together now and I hoped that after having two babies, the third would arrive quickly.

It took a couple of hours, then the nurse proclaimed I was dilated enough for an epidural, and I heaved a sigh of relief. I knew lots of women did childbirth the natural way, but I was fine with the label of wimp. I wasn’t a fan of pain and if modern medicine had a way for me to avoid it, I was all about it.

Kade hated watching, though, his fear of needles making him extremely uncomfortable seeing one go into my spine. Of course he said he wasn’t afraid of needles, he just didn’t “like them,” though he’d never told me why.

I felt much better after the epidural and the next few hours passed relatively easily.

“Did you call Blane?” I asked Kade at one point.

“Yeah,” he said. “He was in a meeting, but I left him a voice mail.”

I nodded, a little disappointed, though I knew Blane was a very busy man. Blane was a US senator in his own right. After being appointed to fill the remainder of his great-uncle’s term, he’d run for election and won the seat. He’d inherited Keaston’s estate, which not only included the house in Georgetown but also his family home in Cambridge, where Vivian still lived, and a vacation home on Nantucket. Now Blane divided his time between DC and Nantucket with occasional visits to Indy. Congressional recess was coming, though, and he usually came back for a visit before taking our boys with him to Nantucket for two weeks every summer.

By late afternoon I was pushing and by dinner, Kade and I were holding the newest member of our family.

“You’re going to be insufferable now,” I teased Kade as he held our seven-pound, two-ounce little girl.

“I can’t help it if I was right,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “I told you. I know things.”

I just smiled. I was tired, though it had been an easy delivery. At least, easier than the first time I’d done this. That had taken hours and I’d thought Kade was going to kill someone when the epidural had worn off too soon and I’d felt every bit of the final stages of labor and delivery.

“She’s beautiful,” Kade said softly, rubbing a finger over one tiny cheek. “But not as beautiful as her momma.” His free hand reached for mine and he slotted our fingers together.

“Now there are two princesses,” I said, but he shook his head.

“You’ve just been promoted to queen.”

I laughed lightly. “My turn to hold her,” I said. Kade placed her carefully in my arms. Her hair wasn’t the usual newborn black but a shock of reddish gold that was just a shade lighter than mine. Her eyes were a beautiful, deep blue, though she was sleeping at the moment.

Flowers came, a huge display of two dozen pink roses that the nurse set on a table where I could see them.

“‘Congratulations on the latest set of tiny, pattering feet,’” Kade read. “‘Love, Blane.’”

“That’s nice,” I said with a smile. The smell of roses drifted through the room.

It was close to ten when I let them take my baby girl back to the nursery. The nurses always offered to let the baby stay, but I knew better. This would be one of the last decent night’s sleep I’d get for a few months.

“Go home and get some sleep,” I told Kade. “Bring the boys in the morning.”

Kade leaned down and kissed me, his hand cupping my cheek. It was a lingering kiss and when he pulled back, he gazed into my eyes.

“You’re amazing,” he said softly, “and I love you. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do,” I replied. “I love you, too.”

“Are you happy?” he asked, his brows drawing together as he frowned slightly.

“Incredibly so.” I smiled. “You make me happy, Kade. You always have.”

Kade’s frown melted away and he kissed me again in a way that made me wish I hadn’t just given birth, but then again, he could always make me feel that way.