“That’s a sweet thing to say.” A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth while the tears I’ve barely held at bay silently trickle down my cheeks.

“Oh, Sweet Pea, we sure are gonna miss you around here.” Daddy opens my door and leans in for another hug. “You’re gonna be just fine. Lyle’s gonna take good care of you and that grandbaby of ours.”

I nod into his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his aftershave. “I’ll be back to visit soon.”

“You better,” he says, before stepping back and gently closing the car door. “Go spread those wings.”

“Okay,” I say, smiling out at my family as I swat away the wetness from my cheeks. “Guess we should get going so I don’t miss my flight.”

“See you soon.” There’s a crack in Momma’s voice that brings forth another wave of emotion from me.

Damn pregnancy hormones.

I hang my head out the window when the car starts rolling, waving like a lunatic until we round the corner and they disappear from view.

“Don’t you even think about opening that door,” Lyle threatens from the car, where he’s retrieving my bags. He wouldn’t let me carry more than my purse and the bird, and I only got the bird because I think Lyle’s a little scared of my precious baby.

My pulse picks up speed as I twist the key in the lock and push it open, taunting him to spring into action—and it works.

My luggage clatters to the ground as he takes off at a sprint to join me at the entrance to our new home.

He’s breathing hard and smiling even harder. “On this twenty-ninth day of October,” he announces like a total nut, as he scoops me into his arms and makes great ceremony of carrying me over the threshold, “we begin the process of christening every room of our marital home.”

“That’s a lot of rooms.” I giggle as he sets me back to my feet, not at all opposed to the idea. My hunger for this man is insatiable.

“If you lose the bird we can start right here in the foyer.” He puts a hand behind his head and begins to thrust his hips in circles, making his semi quite noticeable as it flops around in those strategically planned gray sweats he’s rocking—yum.

“As tempting as that sounds, I really need to get him in his cage with food and water. He’s getting depressed from being confined for so long.”

“Fine.” He scowls at Maui playfully. “Let’s go get your little precious situated.”

I follow him to our bedroom, where I’m met with the most unexpected surprise. “This…this is the bed from my Pinterest board!”

He grins. “It is. And that’s the vanity and those are the lamps…”