Page 126 of Pretty Little Scars

“I brought you a surprise,” I tell him, and when he turns to see Harper standing with me, the baby in her arms, his eyes soften and he closes the fridge. First, he stops to kiss my lips, then pulls both Harper and Belle into a gentle hug.

“How are you guys?” Tucker asks.

“We’re good. Maybe a little tired, but figuring things out. Do you want her?”

My man immediately takes the baby, and once again, my ovaries do the hula. Because his biceps look likethatwhen he’s holding a baby, and Jesus Christ on a cracker, it appears my child bearing years arenotover.

“What’s for dinner?” Harper asks.

“I was just thinking about that,” Tucker replies. “Are you staying?”

“Hell yes, and I want something extra good. Ooh, can you make your spaghetti?”

“Sure.” He smiles over at me. “Do you like spaghetti, Duchess?”

“Are there people out there who don’t? There are carbs involved. Of course I do. Want me to make some fresh sourdough French bread?”

“This is the best day of mylife,” Harper says, and then glances at Belle. “I mean, aside from you, baby girl.”

It’s a fun afternoon, with all four of us in the kitchen. I bake while Tucker cooks, and Harper chats with us. We have Belle lying on a cushion on the countertop so she can listen, but she really just sleeps through it all. This precious baby has me wrapped around her itsy-bitsy finger. Which I can’t resist nibbling on every time I walk past her because, despite being swaddled, she keeps pulling her right arm out of the blanket.

Just as we’re getting dinner on the table, Blake arrives from his shift at the clinic. He’s only back at work a couple days a week, but when he walks in and sees his baby, you’d think he’s been away for a month.

“I kind of love how smitten you are,” I say to Blake as he smooches on Belle’s bald head. “It’sverysexy. And super adorable.”

“Call another man sexy again, Duchess,” Tucker says calmly before kissing the top of my head. “And see what happens.”

Blake chuckles and bounces the baby on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” I shrug and can’t hold back the wince when the material of my shirt snags on the wound. “I’mhealing.It’s starting to get itchy.”

“I’ll have a look before I leave,” he says.

I don’t argue. Because honestly, I actually don’t mind having these people look out for me. It’s new, but it’s also kind of nice and is just another reason that I feel like I belong here. Once dinner is over and the dishes are done, Blake follows me into the guest bathroom on the main floor and closes the door behind us. I turn my back and pull my shirt up, watching in the mirror as he looks me over.

“You’re healing nicely,” he says with a nod. “You can put your shirt down. Still using the cream?”

“Yeah, especially at night. I finished the antibiotic today.”

He nods again and opens the door, but we don’t step out right away.

“Are you happy, Darby? Here, with Tucker, with your job. All of it.”

I frown up at him. “Yeah, I’m happy. Probably the happiest I’ve been, actually.”

“Good. I’m just making sure.”

“Stop flirting with my girl,” Tucker calls out, and I hear Harper laugh.

“He flirts with everyone,” she says as we walk out of the bathroom. “He’s harmless.”

“I’m not harmless to you, sugar,” Blake says to his wife. “Come on, let’s try to get the baby to actually sleep tonight.”

“We can try.”

We say our goodbyes to the two of them, and then I remember that I have a project started in the cabin.

“I have to go out to finish some salves,” I tell Tucker. “It’ll take me a couple of hours.”