Alone together in the hospital room, I sat on the bed as Nina got dressed to go to the penthouse, exhausted but relieved. She came out of the bathroom and without a word, she walked right toward me, and I took her in my arms.
“Tristan, I was so afraid something had happened to them. I don’t want to mess this up. I’m sorry.”
Leaning back away from her, I shook my head and looked into her beautiful blue eyes so full of concern. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You did nothing wrong. We’re going to the penthouse and everything’s going to okay. I promise. You better get used to me being around a lot. By the time these kids get here, you’re going to be sick of me.”
Nina kissed me and hugged me tightly in her arms. “I could never get sick of you, Tristan. Never.”
Chapter Eight
Tristan
Nina lay sleeping next to me, all curled up like always, her head tucked into the crook of my neck and her warm breath against my skin. “Good morning, beautiful,” I whispered next to her cheek as my alarm sounded it was time to wake up.
Mumbling something into my shoulder, she rolled onto her back. “It can’t be morning already. I swear somehow nights are shorter now that I’m as big as a house.”
“That’s because you were up and down all night going to the bathroom,” I said with a smile as I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.
She turned her head to face me and frowned. “You were up all those times too, and now you have to do work all day.”
I lifted her chin to kiss her full on the lips. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t plan to work all day. Not with you right here with me.”
“But don’t you have things to do? I don’t want to ruin anything in your work. They expect you to be the CEO.”
“Exactly. I’m the CEO. If I want to take a few hours off to watch a movie with my wife in the middle of the day, then that’s what’s going to happen.”
“A movie?” she asked with a smile. “Is that what you have planned for today?”
I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. Turning back toward her, I nodded. “Yes. Well, that’s one thing. That reminds me. I better make sure room service has Jiffy Pop. Can’t have a movie without popcorn.”
Nina’s eyes filled with tears. “Jiffy Pop? That’s so sweet. Come here, you incredible man, and give me a kiss.”
I twisted around to kiss her and then leaned over to place a kiss on her swollen belly. “And that, my sons, is how you do it.”
“Sons? Did you see something on the ultrasound?” she asked, her eyes wide with eager curiosity. I knew it was killing her not to know, but I’d gotten her to agree to suppress her very natural urge to know their sex until they were born.
Sitting up, I shook my head. “No. Just something that felt right to say. By the way, since the doctor believes you probably won’t go to term, maybe we should talk about names.”
Nina shrugged. “I thought we had names already. Diana and Tressa. I liked the way that sounded from your dream, so I just figured we’d handled that issue.”
“What if they’re boys?”
Her expression twisted gently as she thought about my question. Sighing softly, she said with a smile, “I hadn’t thought about that. Two boys instead of two girls. We could always do our fathers’ names.”
“Maybe as middle names,” I said, not wanting to explain why naming a son of mine after my own father filled me with dread. I didn’t want my children to be like my father or brother. If I had sons, I wanted them to grow to be Stone men I could be proud of.
“I think I’m going to need some time to think about this, Tristan. Any ideas to help me?”
“Nothing yet, other than staying at home with my wife is exactly how I want to spend a Monday.”
Nina looked down and rubbed her stomach. “Do you two hear this? Your father is one smooth talker.”
I leaned over again and chuckled. “See boys? The women love smooth.”
“Don’t go teaching my boys how to be players, Tristan Stone. Smooth only works if the man is wonderful underneath.”
My wife’s naiveté could still charm me, even after all we’d been through. Placing a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose, I whispered, “Smooth works all the time, princess. I’m off to the shower. Care to join me?”
The smile faded from her face, and Nina shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried that if we do anything we could harm the babies. You understand, don’t you?”
“Abstinence it is, I guess.”
Licking her lips, she slid her hand down my chest to palm my cock. “I didn’t say anything about abstinence.”
“Well, that’s a different story.” Her hand stroked me to hardness as she pulled me down toward her with her other hand. “Mmmm…I didn’t realize pregnancy included this stage. Is this the horny stage?”
With a wink, she smiled. “I have no idea. This is my first time doing this. All I know is that if I keep feeling like this, you might not want to sleep in the nude anymore.”
Maneuvering around my legs and her pregnant belly, she rolled over on her side and took me into her mouth. My head rolled back on my shoulders as she slowly slid down every inch of my cock. “No more clothes anywhere near this room,” I moaned.
Coming up to the tip, she let it pop from between her slick lips and looked up at me. “I’m thinking you should take advantage of this, dear husband. My pregnancy books talk a ton about hormones making expectant mothers cry but nothing about them making us want to jump our husbands’ bones.”
She wrapped her lips around my cock again, and as she continued to stare up at me with a look that nearly took my breath away, I moaned, “Well, then, thank you hormones.”
By the time I returned from the gym an hour later, Nina had finished dressing and room service had delivered breakfast. I sat waiting for her at the table covered with every kind of pastry, pancake, and egg dish, hoping I’d covered every possible choice. I hadn’t been sure what she’d want, but I needed to make sure she ate to keep herself and the babies healthy.
She walked into the room looking stunning in a dark blue and white print dress and coming to a dead stop, opened her eyes as wide as saucers. “Tristan! What is all this?”
“Breakfast.” I stood and escorted her to her seat. “You need to eat.”
“Me and what army?” she looked up at me and asked.
Walking around to my side of the table, I explained, “I realized when I went to order from room service that I never asked what you wanted. I had no idea what to order, so I got some of everything.”
Nina picked a tiny piece off the side of a coffee cake and popped it into her mouth. “That’s because you’re usually at work when I eat breakfast. I have to admit, though, you really know how to put out a spread.”
“It’s the least I can do for the woman I love.”
Cutting a square of the coffee cake, she placed it on a plate in front of her. “I do believe, Mr. Stone, that the bigger I get, the smoother you get. How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful husband?”
“Fate, I guess. I ask myself the same question about you all the time.”
She looked over at me and saw I had nothing to eat. “You’re not planning on having me eat all of this by myself, are you? I feel like Henry VIII over here.”
“I’m not much for breakfast, and I’m happy to just watch you eat.”
“Said the man with the six pack to the lady who looks like she’s swallowed a barrel.”
“Do you want to watch any particular movie today? It’s ladies’ choice.”
“Tristan, I know you want to keep an eye on me, but you don’t have to stay here with me. I know you have work. We can watch a movie tonight.”
I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. “Nina, I want to spend the day with you. I can keep an eye on you from anywhere in the world. I prefer to be here with you.”
She stopped eating the piece of coffee cake and looked at me with a confused expression. “What do you mean you can keep an eye on me from anywhere in the world? Are you talking about the two new bodyguards you hired?”
“No. I’m talking about the cameras I had installed in every room here at the penthouse.”
“What? Are you saying every room is monitored? Why?”
Her voice was that tone I knew all too well. She wasn’t happy. “Because your accident happened at the pool and no one knew you were there. If I hadn’t turned that camera off when you got angry with me last year, the bodyguards would have seen you there and gotten help.”
“Tristan, what happened wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I don’t want to be watched twenty-four hours a day.”
“It’s for your safety, Nina. I’m not going to let anything happen to you and the babies.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to us. We’re fine. It was just a fainting spell. I think you’re overreacting, and the thought of me being on camera in the bathroom or anywhere else in my own house creeps me out.”
“Nina, I promise as soon as the babies are born, I’ll take down every last camera. Until then, they’re staying.”