Forever Moore (Moore Family Book 1) Read online

  “Yes,” Jax proclaims, before I even have the opportunity to respond.

  The technician turns on the sound, and you know that scene in the Grinch when his heart expands and starts beating? That is exactly how I feel as soon as the sound, of what seemed like a stampede of horses, started running through the room. Immediately, my heart doubled—no, tripled—in size for these two little surprise babies.

  “The doctor will review the images, but I didn’t see anything alarming. The heart rates are strong for both babies. Based off of their size, I’d agree with the estimate that they are about six to seven weeks old. Which would put your due date at the end of June. Here, let me print off some images for you. Afterwards, I’ll have you get cleaned up and take you to x-ray. Your boyfriend can head back to the exam room.”

  I quickly put myself back together when she leaves, and stare down at the babies in the pictures that she has just handed me. I can’t believe it. I’m not sure how to process this or what this means for Jax and me. But ultimately, I am excited and happy. Because even though I only learned about them an hour ago, I am absolutely in love with them both.

  Chapter 32

  Jackson

  Wow, just wow. That is the only thought that runs through my mind the rest of the time at the appointment. I cannot seem to find the words to describe what I am feeling. We are going to have a baby. No, correction—we are going to have babies. I have thought about having babies with Tilly so many times over the years, but I always assumed we would be married. I guess that is life. It never goes the way you plan it to.

  We have barely spoken since the doctor’s office. I am sure she is in just as much shock as I am. Thankfully, she doesn’t need another cast. She just needs to wear a brace at all times, except when showering or taking a bath. I know she was excited to be free of the monstrous thing. We got out of there pretty late, and ended up leaving the office and heading right over to our dinner reservations. Here we are, sitting in a romantic little restaurant and not able to say a word to each other. I know she is happy about the babies. I knew that fact the moment she yelled that she wanted to keep them. Then, as we were hearing their heartbeats, I saw the look of love and adoration in her eyes. I’m sure if she would have looked at me, she would have seen the very same reflected back at her.

  “Tilly.” She turns her gaze to me. “Please, tell me what you are thinking.”

  “That is difficult. I am thinking so many things right now. I am still in shock, but I know I am happy. It is just a lot to process and a lot to think about. What about you? How do you feel about this?”

  “To be honest… while I am shocked, I am also excited. The second I heard their hearts beating, I was blown away. I couldn’t believe it.”

  “Yea. That was incredible, wasn't it?” She smiles at me.

  I smile back at her. “I don’t even have words to describe how amazing it was.”

  She continues smiling at me. Then a flicker of sadness passes over her eyes, before she frowns and looks away. “Tilly, talk to me. What’s going through that brain of yours?”

  “It’s just… you are leaving tomorrow. We find out we are having babies, barely have anytime to process it, and you have to leave. I know you didn’t plan it this way, but still… I am sad to think about how much you are going to miss. I am also scared of doing this alone. One baby is a lot of work, but two newborns at the same time...” She severs her own words and shakes her head.

  Fuck, I literally forgot about the fact I need to fly out tomorrow. My boss assures me the assignment should only be three weeks and that I should be home for Thanksgiving. But then, I might be out again until Christmas. Apparently, another photographer left while I was on leave, so the workload has really piled up.

  I reach across the table and take Tilly’s hand in mine—noticing that, unintentionally, I had grabbed her left hand. I start to rub circles over her ring finger, knowing that soon I will put one there. I knew she was my forever, but with the babies there is no doubt in my mind. We are meant to be. It’s as if fate intervened before I had to leave, telling me that no matter what I need to come home to Tilly and come home to her fast.

  “I know this is hard, Tilly. I want nothing more than to call my boss and tell him to shove the assignment up his ass. But I cannot do that. Apparently while I was gone, we lost a photographer, so the work is extremely backlogged. I can’t just up and leave them right now, as much as I would love to. They have been nothing but good to me over the years and I don’t want to leave like that.”

  She squeezes my hand and smiles at me. “I understand. It sucks, but I get it. How long will you be gone?”

  “Well, this first assignment will be roughly three weeks. I will be doing a circuit of hotels and resorts in Asia. But I will be home for Thanksgiving… for at least the week. Then, I need to go back out again for another few weeks and do a circuit in South America, but I will be back for Christmas.”

  “That is such a long time.” I notice a tear rolling down her cheek and I quickly wipe it away.

  “I know, babe. But I promise tomorrow I will message my boss and turn in my notice. I will help out on these assignments, and hopefully they should have a replacement figured out by the time the second one is done. I might have to do one more assignment to help train, but I will only do it if absolutely necessary. I will make sure he knows I am done. I promise, Tilly, you will not go through this pregnancy by yourself. I will not leave you to raise these babies alone. I will be there every step of the way.”

  “I don’t know. This is a lot, Jax. Yesterday, you were talking about it maybe being best if you left. Now today, you are willing to throw everything to the wind. What will you do about work? Keith—”

  “I don't care about Keith. He can have his fucking social media and marketing job that he covets so much. I still might do some freelance, but honestly, I don’t care. I will work as a barista with Scott… work at the bookshop with you… Fuck, I’ll stay home cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids...” I plead with Tilly.

  “I want you, Jax. I never want to keep you from your babies. But I don’t want you to stick around out of obligation. I would hate it if you ended up resenting me or the babies one day, because we forced you to stay when you didn’t want to.” I can see in Tilly’s face she is still doubting my intentions.

  “Please, Tilly, can we forget about yesterday? I was upset and confused over the whole Keith thing and not finding work. I didn’t mean to take it out on you or to imply that we are not worth it. We are absolutely worth it, and I wanted to be with you even before the babies. This isn’t a whim or obligation. It is what I want. As long as I am with you and our babies, nothing else matters. You understand that? You are—and these babies are—it for me. I love you, Tilly, and we will be a family.” I pour everything I have into those words, hoping Tilly can finally see I am all in.

  “Oh my god, Jax. I love you too. I am so sorry about the fight yesterday. I am sorry for being distant. It’s just… I love you and I want this—I want you. I can’t bear the thought of doing this without you.” At Tilly’s words, I can feel the barrier that has always kept us separated finally crumble.

  I stand, walk around the table and drop to one knee, looking up at her while still holding onto her hand. “You will never be without me, you understand? I am not going anywhere. Well, not anywhere permanently. I will finish my obligations with work and then I will come home to you. I know we have a lot to figure out. But none of that matters right now. Just know that I intend to come home and marry the fuck out of you and raise our children.”

  “A-are you proposing?” The blush on her face makes me want to.

  “No, this is more of an IOU...” I smirk at her. “But I will. And when I do, it will take your breath away.” I want to make sure I have an actual ring to slip on her finger and that we are somewhere romantic. I don’t want to do some sort of spontaneous thing. Not that she likely cares. Tilly isn’t that kind of girl. But it is what she deserves. She doesn’t d
eserve a proposal in the heat of the moment, in the middle of a restaurant and on a pretty crazy day at that.

  We spend the rest of the dinner just casually talking. I think that in order to give our brains a break, we avoid the big topics. But it doesn’t feel like we are avoiding anything in particular. Instead, it feels like we are trying to have a nice evening, just the two of us. Like it or not, tomorrow I will be out of the country and I will not be able to see her for a while. I don’t want to spend our last night together discussing things we can’t control or change.

  After dinner, I take us over to the hotel, and Tilly’s eyes immediately light up in recognition. Although they have made some updates since we were here last, it is still unmistakable. After checking in and getting our room keys, we take the elevator upstairs. Tilly is practically vibrating with excitement. Once in the room, Tilly gasps looking around the suite.

  “Seriously, Jax. It isn’t only the same hotel but the same room?” I was lucky the room number was available. When I saw that it hadn’t been booked, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to step back in time. “This is amazing. It is almost better than I remember.”

  Tilly walks around, taking in the king-size bed with white linens. I paid extra to have rose petals sprinkled on it. The “romance” package also included some champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and bath oils. When Tilly was in the bathroom at the restaurant, I was able to call and they kindly replaced the champagne with sparkling cider.

  “Oh my god, I still have dreams about this bathroom,” Tilly yells from the adjoining en suite. I go and follow her inside. It is pretty impressive, I think to myself, eyeing up the giant jacuzzi tub. “This is incredible, Jax. Thank you.” She presses down on her tippytoes to give me a kiss.

  The last time we were in this room, it was the night of prom. Tilly and I had already been dating for a couple of months. She had mentioned to me that she was ready to lose her virginity, and I wanted to make sure it was as spectacular as possible. I looked for the nicest hotel I could find in the Cities that also had some sort of in-room jacuzzi or hot tub. Just like this time, I purchased what they called a “romance” package as well. While I barely had the money for it, especially with needing to rent a tux, it was worth every penny to see the look on her face. We spent the entire weekend of prom here, basically naked and living off of room service. We had originally intended to go around the city, but as soon as we had sex once, it was like we couldn’t stop.

  I reach around Tilly, pulling her back to my chest before resting my hands on her still flat stomach. Leaning down, I whisper in her ear, “I love you, Matilda Moore.” She sinks into me and clasps her hands over mine.

  “I love you, Jackson Harris.” Turning in my embrace, she places my palms on her ass. I give it a gentle squeeze as she wraps her arms around my neck. Granting me a quick and soft kiss, she pulls back and looks at me. “I want to cash in my IOU. I know you want to plan some extravagant proposal and probably want to have a ring first. But honestly, Jax, I cannot think of anything more special than this. This room was where I realized I loved you more than I would ever love anyone else. It was a major milestone in our relationship. I think it is only perfect that it is the benchmark for the next phase of our life. I don’t care about you showing off with some big fancy ring or shooting fireworks in the sky. While those things are nice, all I want is you—is us.” She pulls her arm down and places a hand on her stomach. “All that matters is that we are forever.”

  God, she is the most perfect woman in the world. Besides, she is right. This is the perfect place to propose and all I had wanted to do was make sure that the moment was special. Honestly, now that she mentions it, I cannot imagine any moment more special than this one.

  I bring my hands back around, taking hers in mine before dropping to one knee. “Matilda Rose Moore, I have loved you all of my life, even before I understood what love was. You are so kind and loving that it radiates from you, giving off an ethereal look. I remember the first time I took a picture of you and my breath was taken away. I thought I had captured the image of an angel. You once said your world was mine… if only I would take it. If that offer is still on the table, I would love nothing more than to take your world into my own. In return, I would give you my everything. I can’t promise it will always be easy, but I will promise you my forever. Will you marry me?”

  Tilly is looking down at me, tears pouring from her eyes. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.” I quickly stand to kiss her, tugging her closer to me. “You are my forever,” she whispers between breaths.

  Chapter 33

  Matilda

  I can’t believe it. Jackson Harris proposed to me, in the same hotel he took me to on one of the most magical nights… no, one of the most magical weekends of my life. I never thought any other moment would be able to top it. But of course, he somehow does. He clearly didn’t need to prepare any proposal; he seemed to have that completely figured out. It was perfect and I honestly don’t care about a ring. We could get one from a gumball machine for what it’s worth. This… us… is all I want.

  Kissing me, Jax reaches down to pull me up. I instinctively wrap my legs around him as he walks us back to the bed, laying me down gently. His mouth consumes mine. We have had some amazing kisses, but I think this is by far my favorite. His hand reaches to the hem of my shirt. He breaks contact for a second to pull the fabric barrier off me. I barely have a moment to capture my breath before he returns his lips to mine.

  He kisses a trail down from my mouth, to my neck, then to my collarbone as he seeks to unclasp the front of my bra. Taking one of my pert nipples into his mouth, he slides his hand over and begins to lightly squeeze and massage the other one. Alternating between kissing and lightly nibbling my nipple, the stimulation sends sparks down to my core, which is begging for relief. Sensing my desire, he reaches between us and slips his hand below my waistband and into my panties.

  His fingertips lightly caress my sensitive clit before he sinks two of his large digits inside of me, while using the palm of his hand to rub against my clit. With the mix of sensations going on, I climax hard and almost immediately, clenching around his fingers. As I come down from my orgasm, I whisper, “Please, Jax. I need you inside of me now.”

  In a flurry, he somehow manages to remove my pants and underwear while undressing himself. Almost instantaneously, he is back on top of me, devouring my mouth as his firm erection teases my entrance. He enters me in one slow motion, allowing me to feel my muscles expand around his throbbing cock. While hard and fast is fun, this just feels otherworldly. Once fully sheathed inside of me, he whispers in between kisses, “I love you.”

  As Jax slowly pulls almost all the way out, I long for the sensation of him so full inside me. But before I have a chance to miss him too much, he thrusts forward again. Jax continues the painfully slow and delectable sensation of almost pulling out and slamming in. A dozen or so repetitions later, we are both panting and close to climax. My hands claw into his back and my legs wrap around his waist, while my heels dig into his ass. I pull him into me, and we both come at the same time in a spectacular glory. It feels like hours before I finally stop vibrating from the intense orgasm.

  ∞∞∞

  We reluctantly wake up early in the morning. I wish we could ignore the alarm but that would make Jax late for his flight. After turning off the intrusive beeping, I look at him still with sleep in his eyes and disheveled sex hair. While we barely slept last night, due to the multiple sessions of love-making, I don’t regret it one bit. I will have plenty of time to sleep at home. I try to mentally engrave this image into my mind to remember when he is gone. Though I know it will only be temporary…

  “Good morning, beautiful.” He gives me the sexy lazy smile I have come to love each morning. I am going to miss him when he is gone.

  “Good morning, sexy.” I give him a playful wink, before leaning down and giving him a quick kiss. “While I never want to leave this bed, we need to get moving.”


  He stretches and groans. The sheet slips down, giving me a glimpse of his morning erection. I glance over at the clock and try to calculate if we have time for a quickie and breakfast. Nope, unfortunately we don't. Based on the grumbling of our stomachs, we both need to eat and recover from last night. I lightly pat him on the chest as I get up. “Come on, big guy. Let's get a move on.” He chuckles, getting out of bed and slipping his briefs back on. I make sure to take a quick glimpse of his ass, and add the image to the mental scrapbook I am making.

  We rush to get dressed and check out of the room, before making our way to the little restaurant inside the lobby. We are able to order and enjoy our quick breakfast before it gets too crowded.

  “So, what do we tell your brothers? I mean, do we wait?” Jax inquires, taking a bite of his toast.

  I contemplate this while taking a bite of my oatmeal. I want to relay the news immediately, but I think it should really be more of a joint effort. “I’m excited to tell everyone and I don’t want to keep it a secret for long. But I think we should be together when we do tell. So, how about when you are home for Thanksgiving?”

  “That sounds good. I was dreading the idea of you telling all of this to your brothers alone. I really wanted to be there.”

  We finish up our breakfast and make our way to the airport. I’m grateful that it is still early enough in the morning that there is no line at the drop-off, and I am easily able to find a place to stop and put on my hazards. Standing on the sidewalk, I give him one last big hug and kiss.

  “I promise we will talk every day, okay? I should be twelve hours ahead of you, so I will plan on contacting you around 8 pm?”

  “Okay.” I try to hold back my tears. I am going to miss him so much when he is gone.