Read Unexpected Love (Timid Souls Book 3) Online
Authors: Melanie Munton
Unexpected Love (Timid Souls Book 3) (14 page)
All I knew was that I had Gabe back in my arms and that, to me, was right.
##
Gabe
Four months later
Bliss.
It was something I hadn’t experienced often in my life, at least not over the past several years. The only thing that had made my heart bloom with that kind of feeling was Penny.
But now I had two girls that filled my life with so much bliss, I almost couldn’t believe it was real.
The last four months had passed in a whirlwind of Felicity moving in with us, Penny starting first grade, and ultimately, the three of us becoming a family. All of that was in addition to the doctor appointments, the morning sickness, the constant weird food cravings—I mean, pickles dipped in ice cream?—the overwhelming fatigue, and the ever-changing hormones. Felicity hadn’t had the easiest first trimester, but I was thankful that the second one had seemed to calm down significantly for her. She’d had a lot more energy and for the most part, the sickness was gone.
It was kind of crazy how quickly everything had happened. How I had basically acquired a complete family in the blink of an eye.
Penny’s visits with Vanessa had been going relatively smoothly, much to my surprise. Vanessa hadn’t caused any trouble or given me or Felicity any grief, which I was grateful for. It seemed like she had just given up on trying to fight me on every little thing. I wanted to believe that part of it was due to how happy she could see that Penny was with us, but you never really knew the woman’s true motivations.
Every day with my two girls had been special, but today was a particularly special day.
Because Penny was getting her pony today.
I had held off on it for a while, insisting that she take riding lessons before I even thought about letting her have one of her own. I was not about to put her on a horse without ensuring that she had a good feel for them. But that also didn’t mean that I was going to let her ride off into the sunset on one by herself.
Hell no
. I was going to be walking by her side, every step of the way, until Penny was at least twenty and then I might back off a little.
Felicity and I had taken her to the stables, both of us probably more excited than her since she hadn’t known where we were going. But then we led her to where her new pony stood behind a wooden barricade, told her it was hers, and Penny had about lost her mind…and Felicity and I had about lost our hearing. I was actually afraid that she was going to spook the horses with her squealing.
“Thank you, Daddy!” Penny screamed as she wrapped her skinny arms around my legs. Then, she moved over to Felicity, conscious of her growing belly and repeated, “Thank you, Felicity!”
Then we were forgotten.
The handler had worked with her, teaching her everything she needed to know about her new horse. He showed her how to strap on the saddle—she absolutely loved the one Felicity had gotten for her—how to care for the horse and what they liked to eat. He then got her sat atop the animal, an extremely tense moment for me, and walked her around the corral, letting her get used to her new friend.
“What are you going to name her, Peanut?” I asked her as she rode around, her face a mask of concentration.
“Gingerbread! Duh!” she answered, like I should have remembered that.
Felicity chuckled next to me and bumped my shoulder with hers. “Yeah.
Duh
.”
I threw my arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. She then asked Penny, “Wait, Penny. If you’re Peanut and that’s Gingerbread, what are we goin’ to call the new baby?”
New baby.
I loved being reminded of that. That this stunner of a woman was having
my
baby. I looked down to see both of her hands gently rubbing her small baby bump and my heart swelled.
My son is in there.
We found out just last week that we were having a boy. I was going to have a son. Penny had been ecstatic when we told her she would have a little brother. She was more than ready to presume her role as big sister. We hadn’t decided on a name yet, but all I wanted at the moment was a healthy child and a healthy mother and I would be content.
Penny’s nose scrunched—her “thinking” face—and then her eyes lit up. “How about blueberry? ‘Cause he’s the size of a blueberry.”
We both laughed. Whenever Felicity had first moved in and we had explained the situation to Penny, along with her pregnancy, Penny had asked how big the baby was at the time. We had told her that it was only about the size of a blueberry, which had seemed to fascinate her. She kept putting her hand on Felicity’s stomach, talking to her “blueberry baby.”
Cutest damn thing you’ve ever seen.
Apparently though, she hadn’t quite understood that the baby had grown since then.
“Blueberry’s perfect,” Felicity responded softly, pleasing Penny.
After Penny had ridden around for a while, the handler took her back into the stables and instructed her how to properly care for the animal. I had been very implicit with her on what she would have to do if she wanted her own pony. I made sure she understood that she was going to be in charge of taking care of the animal because I wanted her to learn that kind of responsibility. I was amazed at how quickly she was already learning everything and how patient she was being.
The sun was setting by the time we were ready to leave the stables and head home when I decided it was the perfect time—the perfect day—to do what I had been wanting to do for several months. The stables sat atop a huge hill that overlooked miles of farmland and wooded areas, and I couldn’t have asked for a more picturesque setting.
With Penny standing next to me, I took Felicity’s hand and turned to face her, the setting sun casting an orange and yellow glow across her heart-shaped face.
“These past few months have been the absolute best of my life,” I told her, a smile instantly coming to her face. “I now have the family that I’ve always wanted and you’ve given me that. I know that as long as we both live, I can trust you, rely on you, believe in you, and you’ll always be there. Every day, I’m amazed by how much I love you because for a long time I didn’t know if I would ever be capable of that type of love. So—”
“Daddy wants to marry you!” Penny piped up.
I hung my head, shaking it as a laugh erupted from me. I looked up to see Felicity laughing too while her eyes glossed over with unshed tears.
“Kind of took the wind out of my sails there, Peanut,” I said.
“You were taking too long,” Penny grumbled in response.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I lowered myself to one knee, Felicity’s small hand still clutched in mine. “Felicity Paxton, will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Felicity Wexler? Will you be my wife?”
“And will you be my other mommy?” Penny asked, drawing Felicity’s attention to her.
I hadn’t told her to say that. Penny had completely improvised that line.
I pulled a two-carat pear-cut diamond ring out of my pocket—completely dazzling and unique, just like Felicity—and held it out to her. The tears fell as she nodded her head and released a delighted laugh.
“Yes, of course,” she whispered. “To both of you, yes.”
I let out the breath I had been holding, put the ring on her finger, and rose to my feet, immediately crushing her mouth under mine. I could hear Penny clapping excitedly beside us, but all I could see in those few seconds were Felicity and her pale blue eyes.
Not too long ago, I wasn’t sure if it was in the cards for me to have everything I ever wanted. I thought that maybe my life just wasn’t meant for the type of happiness. But then the little blonde woman in my arms had breezed into my life and changed my perception of everything. Made me think that maybe I could have the happiness, that it wasn’t out of my reach.
It had started as an innocent crush but had quickly developed into so much more.
And now, with the two—and a half—most wonderful treasures a man could ever ask for by my side, I would never want for anything ever again.
##
Romance Abroad (Timid Souls #4),
Kelly and Blake’s story
,
will be here
late 2016
so stay tuned!!
Also, coming soon from Melanie Munton…
The Art of Sage (Cruz Brothers #2)
Coming Fall 2016
More by Melanie Munton:
Timid Souls novellas:
Cruz Brothers series:
Possession and Politics Trilogy:
and
Send me an email at:
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As always, to my husband, Sean, you continue to be that rock, that support system that keeps me going and never lets me get discouraged. I will never be able to thank you for all that you do for us. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life.
To my entire family back home—Mom, Dad, Tymon, Kim, Taylor, Oliver, and all of my grandparents—I couldn’t ask for more unwavering love and encouragement than you’ve all shown and given me from the beginning. Throughout this first year, you’ve been nothing but the steadfast, positive support system that I have needed, and I can’t begin to tell you how much it has meant to me. Having you all behind me, having faith in me and uplifting me every step of the way, makes all of this worth it.
To all of my other family and friends from Cabool to Carthage, from Springfield to St. James to Steelville and everywhere else in between, thank you all so much for your love and support throughout the years. You’ve all been a huge inspiration to me and this journey I’m now embarking on and you continue to be as I move forward. The memories you’ve all given me will always serve as a reminder of what an amazing support system I have and the fact that I have some of the best people in the world in my corner.
To L.J. at Mayhem Cover Creations, thank you so much for working with me on the cover designs! You have been spectacularly awesome from the very first day I contacted you, and you’ve alleviated so much of my stress, so I just can’t thank you enough! You’re pretty much amazing and I look forward to future covers.
Last but certainly not least, I have to thank all of my readers. To everyone who went out and purchased my books, whether you know me personally or you just saw the blurbs online and thought they sounded like a good read, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH! It really is a fantastic feeling to know that I have people out there reading my work, and I want nothing more than for you to love it and want to come back for more. I’m putting so much work into these projects, and I hope that you’ll stay with me as I share these worlds and the lives of the characters that I love so much with you. It’s sure to be a scary, crazy and sometimes stressful trip, but I know that continuing to have your support as a reader will be all of the motivation I need to give each and every story all that I’ve got! You guys are amazing!
Melanie Munton is an up-and-coming romance author who favors contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and romantic comedies above all other sub-genres. She loves writing stories about characters who struggle to rise above the obstacles that plague them but who eventually find their salvation in the person they fall in love with.
Possession and Politics
was her first full-length novel trilogy, which is being followed by her second full-length series, the three-part
Cruz Brothers
. The first installment of her five-part novellas series,
Timid Souls
, was released in April 2016 and is being followed by the subsequent four volumes throughout 2016.
Melanie was born and raised in a small rural town in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. She earned her degree in Anthropology from Missouri State University, where she met her husband, Sean. Four years and a semester abroad later, they married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony near her hometown. They decided to make a fresh start and moved to North Carolina in late 2014, where she realized her passion for writing. Although she had always been a fan of any and all fiction, especially romance, she finally decided to write down all the stories that had been floating around in her head, thus beginning her writing career.
One of Melanie’s favorite things to do is travel with her husband. She backpacked parts of Western Europe and spent a semester studying abroad in Spain during her college years and can’t wait to go back. Melanie and Sean love to go on road trips together and have an entire list of archaeological sites all over the world that they plan on visiting throughout their lives.
She has a horrible addiction to pasta and could eat it for every meal if she wasn’t worried about the carbs. She considers cream soda to be the most delicious beverage ever put on this earth. And it’s rare to ever find her without some sort of candy stowed away in her purse or in her snack basket. Whether it’s Sprees, Nerds, Hot Tamales, or any form of chocolate, she most assuredly has a bag of it and has threatened the lives of those who have gotten too close to her stash, even her husband.
Above all else, she cherishes her relationships with all of her family, friends, and God. She lives for the precious moments when she gets to see all of them and wishes everyone could get together more often.