I jumped back and looked down to see puke covering my chest.

“Oh my gosh, oh Walker. I’m so…”

She quickly ran to the toilet and threw up again. I tried not to think about the vomit all over me as I made my way to her. She threw up again and the sight of it made me gag. I turned around and looked down at the puke on my chest. I gaged again and turned around.

“Liza, move, baby. I have to throw up!”

She looked up at and gave me a dirty look. I covered my mouth when I saw she had puke dripping on her mouth. I looked around and ran to the bathtub. Liza and I were both throwing up now. I turned on the tap, splashing water on my chest to rinse off the puke. Every time I thought I was done, Liza would throw up again, making me start all over again.

She finally leaned back and crawled over to the wall where she took deep breaths. I somehow managed to get my soaking wet jeans off and grabbed a washcloth. I ran it under hot water and handed it to her.

She smiled at me. “I’m so sorry I threw up on you. I ruined our perfect moment.”

I sat down on the cold, tile floor and chuckled. “I don’t think it’s ruined. Imagine the story you’ll have for our kids when they ask about when Daddy asked you to marry him.”

She laughed, but then put her hand on her stomach. “Walker, I’m not feeling well. Can we shower and just lay down for a bit?”

Standing, I pushed off my boxer briefs and reached down for her. I walked her over to the shower, reached in and turned it on to hot. I led her into the shower and began washing her body.

“So relaxing,” she mumbled.

I popped open the little shampoo. I washed and conditioned her hair as she let out moan after moan. I liked taking care of her, and I couldn’t wait to do it for the rest of our lives. Holding the removable showerhead, I rinsed her body and then her hair. I replaced the showerhead and turned off the water. Reaching out, I grabbed two towels. We both laughed when I failed miserably at wrapping her hair. She ended up doing it herself.

I took her hand and led her out of the shower. I dried her off and wrapped her in the towel before I grabbed a towel and dried myself off.

When I picked her up, she rested her head on my chest.

“I don’t feel so well,” she mumbled.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. I pulled back the comforter and the silk sheets before setting Liza down. I pulled the towel off of her head and gently dried her hair some so she wouldn’t have to lie on soaking wet hair. When it got at least a little less wet, I lifted Liza’s legs and had her lie down.

I leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Get some sleep, baby.”

She reached out and grabbed my arm. “Please hold me, Walker.”

I walked around the bed, discarded my towel, and crawled under the covers. I pulled Liza into me and held her as her breathing began to slow. When her body completely relaxed, I knew she was asleep. I smiled knowing that soon I’d be holding her like this every single night.

I hadn’t told Liza that I’d talked to our parents about building a house. Originally, I was going to build it on the back half of my parents’ property, but Layton and my dad said they had a better idea. They’d recently bought Mimi and Frank’s property. They were the older couple that had land next to Layton’s. Layton and my father were planning to split up the property and give Ava, Liza, Jase, and me equal shares. Since Liza and I were getting married, we’d own half the land. I couldn’t wait to tell Liza. I’d already gone with my father and Layton to walk the property line. They’d surveyed it and it was now four separate properties. Liza and mine’s butted up next to each other. The way they’d divided it out, we all had a piece of the Llano River running through our land. Liza was going to be over the moon—she currently thought we’d be living in the foreman’s house.

I closed my eyes and drew house plans in my head as I drifted into peaceful slumber.

I FELT LIZA’S breath on my neck before I heard her whisper my name. I opened my eyes and found the most intense blue eyes staring back at me.

“Good morning,” she whispered as she kissed my lips.

I brought her in closer and held her, smiling. “Did we sleep all afternoon and night?”

She giggled and nodded.

“Well then, good morning, baby. How are you feeling?”

She pouted and said, “Okay. I’m not sure what happened. I’m so sorry.”

I rose and gently kissed her lips, then said, “As much as I wanted to play with those handcuffs, I was honestly exhausted.”

“Me, too. It felt amazing to sleep for so long. I’m so hungry, but I’m afraid to eat anything.” She slowly sat up. I sat up with her and held her as she snuggled into my chest. “I want to wake up every day like this, Walker. I don’t want to be apart.”

“Your dad offered to let us stay in the foreman’s house. We can move in anytime.”

Liza sighed. “Yeah. But maybe we should look for a little house in Llano. We can rent it for a while. Get out on our own. I mean, we’re going to be getting married, and we’ll have the baby. I’d like to have a place for her, and I can’t picture the foreman’s house as the place I want to bring my baby home to.” She turned and looked at me. “With our combined incomes, I think we could afford a little place.”

I smiled and kissed the top of her head. “My parents still own the house that was your mom’s. I could talk to them about renting it. I know no one is living there right now.”

“Really, Walker?” Liza said with a smile. “It would be amazing to have our own place to call home.”

I laughed and nodded. “I’ll call my parents right after I order you something to eat.”

Liza pushed the covers away and I took in her beautiful body.

“No, I’ll call the hotel restaurant and you call your parents!”

She walked into the bathroom and came out wrapped in one of their complementary robes. “I’ll use the hotel phone out here.”

I noticed she had her hand on her stomach as she left the bedroom. I guessed her stomach probably still didn’t feel right.

I looked around for my phone. Shit. It had been in my jeans pocket. I got up and walked into the bathroom. Yuck. I saw my jeans on the floor and picked them up, praying my phone was safe in my back pocket. When I found it, I noticed that I had two missed calls and one text. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I called our home number. No one usually answered, but I hoped my mother would.