Selena Kitt - The Baumgartners Plus One

She looked at me, puzzled.

“Dani, no…” Doc looked at me, understanding before she did and then her eyes widened.

“I want you to have it.” I insisted, thinking of Isabella’s crib, all her pink bedding and clothing and stuffed animals. “We’ll paint your little girl’s room pink and move all Isabella’s things in here.”

“Where will you stay?” Carrie asked.

“Until I leave for Italy…” I reached into my bra and pulled out my twenty-thousand dollar check. “I’ll stay here in bed with you. Where else?”

Doc grinned. “I can live with that.”

“What is this?” Carrie snatched the check and gaped at the amount.

“My divorce settlement.” I tucked it back into my bra. “Mason was very generous.”

“You’re more generous.” She tilted her face up and I kissed her softly. “Thank you.”

“No.” I nuzzled her throat and cuddled up with them both, my hand resting on her belly against Doc’s. “Thank you. Both of you.”

I had intended to give them a gift, the greatest gift I could imagine, but somehow, the Baumgartners had given me my life back, had actually brought me back to life. I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent, not quite recognizing the feeling that had overcome me. It seeped in slowly like honey around the edges of my consciousness, sticky and thick and sweet. It wasn’t until I felt the tiniest little bump against my fingers, my eyes widening and my gaze meeting Doc’s and then Carrie’s in wonder, that I got it.

The baby had kicked, letting us know she was alive and well, and that’s when I understood what I was feeling.

I was happy.