Back to Me (Book Three ✓)

thirty-four

EMMA

Feeling the vibration against my butt before I hear the beep, I grab my phone and read Gemma's message. My due date is fast approaching and she and Nadine have gone full-out baby mode, sending me multiple texts a day with all of their ideas for the shower and even more for the nursery they swear they're helping to decorate.

This particular text is about the shower guest list, which is pretty small as is. Beau doesn't have lots of family and neither do I, but there are still some questionable invites... Beck and Zoey for one.

I still have to talk to Beau about those two... they are his family after all. If he wants them there...

With a sigh, I re-read Gem's message.

Adam is the other invitation in question. Since the wedding, I haven't seen him at all. He didn't come into work the next couple of weeks and Gemma said he took a mini-vacation after the ceremony.

Mini seems to be the wrong word - he's likely used up all of his paid time off by now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be in again on Monday morning.

I gnaw at my lip, wondering for the millionth time if the trip had anything to do with me. Quickly sending out a confirmation - he's my friend, of course he's invited - I try to push the worries from my mind, including how Beau might react to seeing him there.

Snuggling into the large sofa we picked out for the lake house, I idly flip through a baby name book I found at one of my favorite used book shops. Thinking about the baby always calms me down, despite the fact that there's so much to be done before they get here.

To start us off, we can't seem to agree on a name. Or rather, Beau won't agree on one. No matter what I suggest, there's always something he doesn't like about it. So I bought the book, hoping it would help.

One of my hands turns the pages of the little book, the other rubs slow circles over my growing belly, pausing when I find a name I might like.

Bailey.

I bite my bottom lip, pondering the name, repeating it again and again in my mind.

Bailey. For a boy or a girl?

Dog-earring the page, I grab my highlighters from the end table and mark the name with fluorescent blue and pink.

"What do you think about Bailey?" I call over my shoulder, biting the cap of the pen.

They'd have the same initials as their daddy.

Beau is off somewhere in the house, not making much noise, but Parker is busy at the sink, scrubbing our dishes from the chicken parm I made last night. A surprise perk of taking in the guy.

"Bailey," Parker repeats, sounding the name out on his tongue. "For a girl, I guess. Not if it's a boy."

"Why not?" I mutter, forgetting I asked once Beau enters the room, hanging up his cell phone and stuffing it into his back pocket.

"Why not, what?" He asks, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Later," I smile, leaning into his shoulder as he settles back into the sofa with me. Putting my book aside, I peer up at Beau through my lashes. "Who was that?"