With Brave Wings (5 page)

Concentrating on anything other than his body, roaming hands, and deep kisses was nearly impossible. But Sophie managed to give him the rundown of how everything had played out and when. She even mentioned how Noah had joked about her being pregnant, and she saved the best for last, although it still would've been the best if it had been a girl.

"We're having a boy," she murmured into a kiss. "He's due on April sixteenth."

Tennyson grew still, and when Sophie opened her eyes, she found him chuckling silently. His gaze was full of both tenderness and amusement.

"That’s my birthday," he admitted. "I can't imagine a better present—if he decides to come out then."

Sophie smiled up at him and brushed some hair away from his forehead. "You're taking this extremely well. I was a mess for days. I mean…" She barely knew how to phrase herself; it was so jumbled in her head. "I love him, but I'm scared of him. I don’t know what I'm doing."

"That makes two of us." Tennyson kissed her once more and then settled next to her again. "Having children was a fleeting thought when I turned thirty. My friends were getting married around that time, but…work has always had my attention more than settling down." He grinned faintly and kissed her forehead. "It's very backward, but I'm sold."

"Me, too." She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. "We need a name."

Tennyson hummed. "We need a last name, too."

In a humorous way, Sophie could almost hear wheels coming to a screeching halt in her head. As if this had the potential of being a major issue. "Can't we hyphenate?"

"Of course we can," he chuckled. "I was more getting ready to plead my case on why we should—in the event you wanted him to be a Pierce."

Sophie mulled that over, guessing she didn’t feel as possessive about the name thing as Tennyson did. Was it a man trait? In four months, she'd be giving birth to this boy; if he was born a Wright, it wouldn’t make him her son any less.

"Okay, now I'm curious." She pushed herself up on her elbow and looked Tennyson in the eye. "I honestly don’t care, but why is the last name important to you?"

Chapter 6

Tennyson could blame male pride, but that was only a small part of it. In less than twenty-four hours, he'd gone from being a bachelor director to a man looking forward to welcoming his son into the world.

It was almost unfathomable, but considering their unconventional arrangement, he was already thinking about the future. He wouldn’t always be there, so perhaps it was fear motivating him, and the name calmed him.

No matter where in the world they were, he wanted their name to link them as father and son before memories could.

Sophie seemed to understand when he explained it to her, but she got quiet, worrying him slightly.

"I haven't fucked up already, have I?"

"What?" She looked confused before she chuckled. "Of course not. I was just thinking Pierce is a boy's name too, and he could always have that as a middle name."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"First name, working on it. Middle name, Pierce. Last name, Wright."

"Oh no, sweetie, you don’t have to go that far—"

Sophie shushed him and pinched his lips together, which stunned him just a bit. Had she really just
shushed
him?

"I
want
it this way, Tennyson," she told him. "Because I understand you. For the first couple of years, he will always be with me, and you're not the only one who will be forced to work far away from home. There will be times I'm the one who's creating the distance—whenever I'm away filming—and I have a few hectic years ahead of me. We'll fly out to see each other, of course, but if the name really matters to you, we'll go with Wright. In fact, I'm deciding it right now."

Tennyson was fucking humbled, but he had to point something out to her first. "By hyphenating, my name is still there."

"Right, but Pierce-Wright or Wright-Pierce will always sound like something that belongs in a piercing studio." Lord, she was serious, too. "Do you want your
piercing
in your
right
nipple?"

Tennyson shook his head in amusement. He didn’t want to laugh because maybe it would offend her, but Jesus Christ, she was the funniest, most adorable girl he'd ever met.

*

It was past midnight when Tennyson left Sophie's bedroom. They'd talked for a long time before she'd announced their son was hungry, so she ducked into the bathroom for a quick shower while he was ordered to heat up leftovers.

"There's the daddy!" Asher grinned, seated on the couch with Noah and Brooklyn. "Has the shock settled yet?"

Barely.

Asher turned to Noah and Brooklyn. "You should've seen him on the flight earlier. He was an anxious mess."

Tennyson grinned tiredly and continued into the adjacent kitchen. "Fuck off, Ash."

He hadn't given any thought to Sophie's living arrangements, and with most actors and actresses—who could afford it—living in mansions, the New York-style loft she'd bought was certainly different. Brick walls, big windows, high ceilings, and the whole shebang.

He had to admit he liked it, despite that it was in LA. Sophie had turned it into a real home, and he had a feeling he would enjoy spending time here whenever he could.

"We ate already, but there's plenty left in the fridge," Brooklyn told him. "I assume Sophie's hungry."

"No, no, she says it's our boy. Not her." Tennyson had already learned there was a big difference. "Thanks, though. Does anybody else want anything?"

He found several containers and bowls of food in the fridge and was quick to fill two plates. He hadn't eaten all day, and now the sight of all the Christmas food was making his stomach growl.

Everyone declined, and when he had heated the food and brought it over to the couch, he saw why. The coffee table was packed with homemade candy and cookies for the holiday, and both Noah and Ash had two plates littered with candy wrappers.

"Where're Daniel and Zane?" he asked, sitting down.

"They went home an hour ago," Noah replied. "So how does it feel?"

"Ask me another time," Tennyson chuckled. Or perhaps that wasn’t quite correct. He knew what he was feeling—somewhat. "I'm completely overwhelmed, and I have a lot to catch up on, but…it's good. I'm happy."

Happy
was the wrong word, but his brain was wrapped in a fog that made it impossible to express himself. A kiss had worked perfectly with Sophie, but he wasn’t going there with Noah.

"Have you discussed work?" Asher wondered, ever the businessman.

"Briefly." Tennyson chewed on a piece of turkey with gravy. "She wants to rest as much as she can, but she's worried the industry will forget her if she doesn’t take on more work. So I told her I have connections." He smirked at his brother.

Ash laughed. "Am I those connections?"

"Damn straight." Tennyson had a lot of influence with the studios as well, but Asher had even more. "She'll do this animated movie soon, and then she'll take some time off. Once she's ready to get back to work, we'll make sure she gets the roles she deserves."

"Got it." Asher nodded, thankfully serious now. "I'll speak to her publicist personally. She's okay with local interviews, right?" Tennyson inclined his head, his mouth full. "And how are we on privacy with this?"

"As much as possible—no pregnancy-related questions," Tennyson told him. "I get the feeling Sophie's father is a factor, too."

Brooklyn nodded there. "She doesn’t want any contact with him, and she's afraid he'll get in touch now that the pregnancy is out. Same for her former friends."

"We're like her filters," Noah added. "She avoids press at all costs, but it's crazy, man. We see the shit they write about her, and those so-called
friends
are behind every article starting with 'Sources say.' They're starting all kinds of rumors."

Tennyson shook his head grimly.

"You liked the one that went viral today. Where you're named the father," Brooklyn said with a smirk at Noah.

"Pardon me?" Tennyson couldn’t help but feel territorial.

"Oh, chill." Noah cracked up and brought out his phone. "I'll show you. It's funny."

Tennyson accepted the phone and glanced at the gossip blog's article. Not only was Noah—the man Sophie had shown up at the premiere with—the dad, but he was also the betrothed prince of "Swizzerland."

"Journalism at its finest. Just remarkable." Tennyson handed back the phone. "Glad to see they know their European monarchs, too."

"Right?" Noah pocketed his phone again. "I wonder who I'm betrothed to."

"Yourself," Brooklyn deadpanned.

"Who's betrothed and who uses that word anymore?" Sophie joined them, combing her fingers through her damp hair.

Tennyson's mouth twisted into a grin when he saw the T-shirt she was wearing with her flannel bottoms. "I've been looking for that T-shirt, sweetie." It was one of his many University of Michigan shirts—one of his favorites, actually. Though, it looked better on her.

"We've bonded," Sophie said, sitting down next to him. "Don’t make it weird."

He chuckled then got back to eating.

"So…no shotgun wedding?" Asher smiled innocently. "I'd love to hear Mom's reaction to the baby."

"Don’t remind me," Tennyson muttered. "There's no pleasing that woman."

"Yes, there is," Sophie said lightly. "Perfection. She told me herself."

Tennyson froze with his fork in midair, processing those words. His mom had only met Sophie once, and that was on the Fourth of July. "She told you what?"

"Meh, just some motherly attitude." Sophie was dismissive about it, but Tennyson wasn’t. He was pissed. Hell, even Ash looked irritated. "She wants a perfect woman for you. Trisha Cummings was mentioned."

"For fuck's sake." Tennyson shook his head. "I'm calling her tomorrow." They'd already decided he was staying here until he was off to Texas on January fifteenth, so he'd step out tomorrow morning to get some essentials. And Christmas gifts. "I don’t tolerate that shit. Let me know if it ever happens again, all right?"

She sent him a small smile of gratitude and nodded. "Okay."

*

Early the next morning, Tennyson and Asher headed out to get their errands done. There wasn’t much Tennyson could do about his phone being stuck in Mendocino and most stores closed, so he'd settle for borrowing Asher's today. After the holidays, he'd buy a new one or ask his cleaning service to ship the phone next time they were at his house.

"Was Sophie's bed nice?" Asher rubbed his shoulder and winced. "The couch wasn’t."

"It was great." Tennyson smirked.

It had been even greater waking up with Sophie in his arms, and he was incredibly relieved there was no tension between them. They'd kissed and held each other, and for the first time in months, he was satisfied with that. Sort of.

"Brooklyn could've shared the guest room with me." Ash was awfully sulky this morning.

"Let it go, little brother." Tennyson parked outside the nearest CVS and got out of their rental. "While you're busy checking out Brooklyn's ass, she's focusing on spending Christmas morning with her daughter and friends. We're already shit out of luck when it comes to presents, so let's not make it worse."

Inside the empty CVS, it was easy enough to raid the gift card stand for presents for Brooklyn, Noah, and even Maliah, but Tennyson had no fucking clue what to get Sophie.

She'd forbidden him to buy her a gift since this wasn’t planned and she hadn't gotten him anything yet, but Tennyson didn’t care. He'd find her something if it was the last thing he did, and then order a better gift once the holidays were over.

Brooklyn and Noah hadn't anticipated the Wrights being there either, obviously, but it felt rude to crash their Christmas empty-handed.

"Does Noah like seafood?" Asher was about to add a fifty-dollar gift card to Noah's stack. "Nothing beats the biscuits at Red Lobster."

"He's a vegetarian. Give me your phone, please." Tennyson was ready to call their mother. "He's on the road a lot and likes to read." While Asher handed over the phone, Tennyson grabbed a few cards from Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble. "And for chrissakes, why would Maliah want a gift card for golf equipment? She's ten."

He shook his head and headed down an empty aisle.

"Eleven, actually!" Ash called. "I'm learning! And Tiger Woods started when he was two!"

What a weird morning. Tennyson sighed and placed the phone to his ear, waiting for his mom to pick up. They were vacationing on the East Coast, so they were definitely up.

"Asher, dear?" She finally answered.

"No, it's Tennyson, Mom. Sorry, I forgot my phone at home before New Mexico." He wandered past the lackluster selection of children's stuff. Unless Brooklyn had plans to bring Maliah on a road trip and wanted a few puzzles for her, there wasn’t much you could find at a pharmacy.

"Oh! Tennyson. Merry Christmas, sweetheart. How's the climbing going? You're being safe, yes?"

Here we go.
"Actually, we're in LA—flew in yesterday. We're spending the holidays with Sophie and a few others. You met Noah and Brooklyn in Vancouver."

"I see." That wasn’t what she had wanted to hear. "Your film is doing very well at the box office. Surely, you don’t need to continue the PR romance for more media attention."

"It's nothing like that." Tennyson paused in an aisle, realizing he'd ended up among the baby items. Bottles, pacifiers, wipes—countless things. His gaze got stuck on a blue pacifier that said "Daddy's Star." Christ, there was a strip of film underneath the words—how damn fitting. Another one was green, had the image of a small caterpillar, and the words "Daddy's Bug."

It hit him in a whole new way. He was going to be a parent, a father, a daddy. To a little boy.

His heart squeezed, and he was suddenly both deathly afraid and elated. He couldn’t fucking wait to meet this little person he and Sophie had created.

"Are you still there, Tennyson? Why are you and Asher spending Christmas with Sophie Pierce?"

He smiled to himself and snatched up the two pacifiers. "Because she's pregnant, Mom. And I'm the dad." He couldn’t help but laugh at his mother's gasp. Nothing could touch him; he was too stoked about picking out little things for his son.

Jesus.

It sent a thrill through him every time he thought about it.

"You're not serious, are you?" Mom choked out. "It was only for publicity!"

"Oh, it was more than that." Tennyson placed the phone between his shoulder and cheek, eyeing the bibs. The kid would probably need some of those, too. "We're going to raise our son together, of course. We're not involved anymore, and it's a mutual decision, but we're close. I care for her a lot, and I have zero tolerance for you being rude to her. Are we clear on that?"

His mother spluttered and tried to butt in, but he wasn’t done. While picking out more stuff for the baby, he explained briefly how Sophie had found out she was pregnant and how they were going to handle this together. He made it clear he wanted his son to have grandparents, but it hinged on Mom's behavior toward Sophie.