Yeah, it was official. I was completely addicted to this woman’s mouth. Groaning, I thrust my tongue inside, deepening the kiss. Scorching heat greeted me and my hands gripped her hips through the ridiculously thin material of her gown in an attempt to keep from touching her more intimately.

The kiss might have lasted for another hour if there hadn’t been a knock on the door. I heard it before Emmie could even comprehend what was going on and reluctantly stepped back from her. I was just turning around when the door opened and the doctor came in with a younger woman behind her.

“Good morning, Ember,” the doctor greeted Emmie before zeroing her gaze in on me. “Umm, and you are?”

“Nik Armstrong, ma’am.” I offered her my hand. “I’m the daddy.”

Her eyes widened and then she smiled. “Great, I always like meeting the father if possible. But since you couldn’t be here yesterday it was nice that Jesse was able to come with Ember. That’s a pretty nice friend you have there.”

I grinned, sensing that the lovely doctor might have developed a crush on my best friend. “Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.”

The doctor turned her attention back to Emmie. “Is your bladder full?”

Emmie grimaced. “Pretty full.”

“Good. We can see the baby better that way.” After introducing the tech, the doctor helped Emmie lie back and produced a blanket which she spread over Em’s legs before pulling up her gown. “I promise this won’t take too long. We just have to get measurements and I want to confirm your due date.”

I felt like I was in the way. The tech was busy punching information into her machine while the doctor continued to mess with Emmie to get her comfortable. I stood off to the side, aching to at least hold Emmie’s hand. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating. I was terrified.

The more I thought about the baby, the more freaked out I became. I had had a lousy father and there had never been anyone to ever show me how to be a good one. I was going to ruin this kid, I just knew it. She was going to think I was the worst dad in the world because I was such a douche bag.

The lights were dimmed and I didn’t even notice. I heard the three women talking but couldn’t tell you a word they said. I was trying to keep my cool, at least pretend for Emmie’s sake that I was okay.

The voices hushed all of a sudden as the room filled with a strong galloping noise. I frowned, focusing my attention on the screen where the tech was fiddling with nobs and buttons. The galloping was hypnotizing, and I found myself stepping closer to see what was making that oddly beautiful noise.

Like the picture Emmie had given me, it took me a moment or two to focus on what it was supposed to be. But after a minute I saw the outline of a hand as it swung back and forward as if waving at me. Then came the leg and of course the foot as it kicked out at some imaginary ball. My breath caught as I continued to watch my daughter on the screen.

“Everything looks good so far, Ember,” the doctor said as she pointed at the screen. “The baby is a good size and is measuring perfectly for your due date. Heart is strong and she looks very active. You should be able to feel her soon.”

I listened intently without taking my eyes off the ultrasound screen. The tech moved again and I lost the view I had of the baby’s leg and foot. But when she moved out of my way it was to find the head instead. I felt tears burning my throat and had to blink as they filled my eyes as well. My little girl looked like she was smiling as she looked back at me on the screen.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yes, she definitely is,” Emmie agreed and reached for my hand. “You’re going to be a great daddy, Nik.”

Before I could stop them my tears spilled over. Emmie knew me better than anyone in the world. I might have thought I was hiding how freaked I was, but she had known anyway. “You think so?” I whispered, wiping at a few tears as they rolled down my cheek.

“No, I know so.” She smiled up at me lovingly, making her that much more beautiful. “I love you, Nik.”

Not caring that we had an audience, I bent and brushed a kiss over Emmie’s lips. It wasn’t the kind of kiss I had been giving her before the doctor had come in—one that begged her to let me take her to bed. This kiss had nothing to do with passion and everything to do with how much I loved Emmie… and our daughter.

First Date

By the time we got back to the beach house the guys had gotten home. Emmie made lunch, and we ate in front of the television watching the DVD of the ultrasound that the doctor had given us before leaving her office.

It didn’t surprise me that my band brothers wanted to watch the video. It did catch me off guard a little when Jesse started to tear up. My best friend was a big old softie underneath all that scary rocker aggressiveness. Shane made a few wise cracks about the baby, but I could tell he was just as affected as Jesse was. Drake seemed the most apprehensive about it all, but he couldn’t keep his eyes from getting glassy when the baby stuck her finger in her mouth and kicked out like she didn’t have a care in the world.

If one of our fans had seen all of us, they would have dropped dead with shock, or maybe of laughter. The big bad boys of Demon’s Wings just didn’t come across as emotional pansies. But really, with the evidence of Emmie’s pregnancy waving back at us on the huge flat screen, that was what we were.

When the DVD was over I urged Emmie to take a nap. She looked beat and I hadn’t let her get anywhere near enough sleep the night before. As soon as I had her tucked into our bed in the master bedroom, I started working on the plans I had come up with the day before. It didn’t matter that we had sorted through the majority of our problems the night before.

Emmie deserved to be wooed. Starting tonight I was going to make sure she got everything she deserved.

I was just finishing up my shower when Emmie walked into the bathroom. She was cursing a blue streak, and I stuck my head out of the shower to watch as she rushed toward the toilet. She didn’t seem to notice me as she sat down and then moaned in pleasure. I frowned, concerned. “You okay, baby?”

She grimaced. “It’s never felt so good to pee before in my life.” She glared at me. “Stop looking at me like that! I’m trying to use the bathroom.”

Chuckling, I turned away, rinsing the last of my bodywash away. When the toilet flushed I lost my chuckle as the water turned scalding for a moment. “Em!”

I heard her giggling as she went back into our bedroom, making my grin return in full force as I turned off the water and reached for a towel. The sound of that woman’s laughter would always make me smile.