Ever After (Heart of Stone #3.5)(16)
Author: K.M. Scott

“No. Tristan and I decided to leave that a mystery until that day.”

“New age hippies,” she said with a laugh. “Well, if the unisexual ducks aren’t good, we’ll have to come up with something else.”

“You up to checking out some nursery designs? I’d like to get going on this soon. I only have a few more months, and that’s assuming they don’t come early. Twins often do, so I may not make it to full term.”

She swung her legs off the bed and reached out to take my hand. “Lead the way. Those ducks have met their match.”

Her words were still tinged with sadness, but I hoped that sometime soon she’d see that even though Gage and she broke up, love was still out there for her as long as she believed it was.

Jordan and I spent hours searching for ideas for the nursery, and we were shocked at how much grey was popular in unisex nursery design. Grey and white, grey and yellow, grey and green—it all looked like some depressing winter palette had taken over the baby world.

Clicking on a page that claimed to be the Latest in Nursery Design, I saw more grey. I turned to Jordan sitting next to me at the dining room table and said with disappointment, “Why are all these babies’ rooms designed to look like January in the northeast? I think I’d grow up depressed if I had my first months in a room like this.”

“You can’t put my nieces in a room like this, Nina,” she said as she pointed at the grey and mustard yellow design on my laptop’s screen. “Damnit, you can’t even put my nephews in that room. I think the Puritans had more colorful nursery ideas.”

Everything was so washed out. I wanted a nursery with flair, and all I saw page after page was blah. I clicked on another link and saw a jungle themed room. Tristan might not be crazy about green, but this design was cute. I could imagine our children in their cribs surrounded by monkeys, giraffes, and elephants all frolicking in their jungle habitat.

“What do you think of this one?” I asked as Jordan leaned in to check it out. “The room could be painted white with a dash of vibrant greens and yellows.”

“It’s sure as hell better than that washed out stuff we’ve seen for hours. I say go with this one. At least it won’t lead to your kids being depressed.”

“It’s settled then. Jungle it is. As soon as Tristan gets home, I’ll show him and convince him that jungle is a good look for the nursery. We’re going to have to go shopping for baby furniture too. I doubt he’ll want to do that with me, so I hope you’re up to it.”

“You know me. I’m always up for shopping. We’ll make a day of it and do lunch too.”

Jordan seemed more upbeat than she’d been since she arrived. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that just touring a tiny toy museum had worn me out, so a day of shopping probably wasn’t going to happen. Instead, I just nodded and listened as she happily planned our day out, pleased she was focused on something other than the breakup with Gage.

* * *

“Nina, this business here is much more involved than I thought it would be, so I’m not going to get home tonight like I planned.”

Tristan’s news right after I woke up the next morning started my day off pretty badly, but I understood. It didn’t mean I was happy about it, though. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I asked, “When do you think you’ll be home? We have a doctor’s appointment soon.”

“That’s not until right before Halloween, so I’m sure I’ll be home by then. That’s nearly three weeks from now. I’m hoping to be back by next week.”

“Oh. Okay. Jordan’s here with me, so I have company. We picked out a nursery design. I’d hoped to show it to you since we have to go shopping for furniture soon. I want to get that done and completed before I get too far along.”

“Don’t be sad, princess. I promise it will go by fast. In the meantime, we can get the room designed by anyone you want. Pick a designer and let them go at it.”

“Trying to buy my happiness?” I asked, sounding sharper than I’d intended.

“Don’t be upset, Nina. I won’t be gone long, and I’m only a phone call away.”

“You’re thousands of miles and a huge ocean away, Tristan.”

“We can Skype, if you like. How’s that sound?” he asked, being so sweet I couldn’t stay angry at situation.

“Okay, but it’s not the same. I don’t think cuddling up with my laptop is going to be like lying here with you.”

“I know. I miss you too. I’d rather be there waking up next to you, watching you snore as you sleep and holding you in my arms. I promise it won’t be long.”

“Okay, but I don’t snore. We need to establish that before you hang up the phone and go into another meeting,” I joked, trying to make up for being so surly just a minute before.

“You do snore, but that’s all right. I love that part of you too. Tell Jordan I said hi, and I can’t wait to be back with you as soon as I can.”

“I love you, Tristan. When we Skype you’ll see I’m getting as big as a house. The babies must be getting big now. At least I hope that’s it or I’m just getting super chunky.”

“I’ll call you later, and don’t worry about what you look like. You’re gorgeous, so you have nothing to worry about.”

I told him I loved him again and heard him say it one more time before I pressed End on my phone and laid back on my pillow. At least this time our time apart wasn’t going to be for any terrible reason. I hated that he would be gone for another week, but he was the CEO of Stone Worldwide. I had to understand this kind of thing was going to happen once in a while. As long as we were together for the babies’ births, we could handle a few days apart as I busied myself with designing the nursery and bolstering Jordan’s spirit.

And then one week turned into two. And two weeks turned into three.

By the time late October came around, the jungle themed nursery was complete and Jordan was back on her emotional feet again. She’d even gone out on a date with a guy she’d met one night at Tony’s Pizza Heaven. It hadn’t been the beginning of a whirlwind romance, but it was a new beginning for her.

I had gained at least another five pounds, but other than feeling like a beached whale, I was happy, except for missing Tristan. Each day I hoped when he called that he’d say he was coming home, but the laws of the UK continued to make that an impossibility.