Today, I had woken up completely wrapped around Hope with my hand on her baby bump.

It was utterly amazing how I went from waking up alone and hungover, to waking up with a wife who was carrying my child, and—most astonishing of all—was in love with me.

Little moans left her lips as she stirred and turned so her back was on the bed.

"I feel so tired..." She groaned, stretching her arms going over her head in an attempt to work sleep out of her muscles but it only made the sheets covering her body fall, bringing those nipples to sight and the morning chill made it instantly hard.

Unable to resist, I lowered the sheet more and flicked one stiff peak with my tongue.

She jerked. "Ow, they're sensitive, Killian."

"I just want to nibble a little." I pulled a nipple into my mouth and sucked hard.

"Killian, ah." She arched again and the extremely erotic sound she made shot through me, fueling me with the appetite to do more but the moment I sucked hard again and felt a foreign substance going down my throat, I pulled away.

"What in the world did I just swallow?"

She was grinning smugly at me; like she had expected it. "Breast milk."

Jesus Christ. "I just drank your... breast milk?"

"I wanted to tell you that I had started lactating but you probably wouldn't have believed me so I let you find out yourself."

Oddly, it didn't taste bad. It was sweet in a way then at some point grainy but the idea of sucking it out of her breast was off-putting.

"Don't be such a baby about it." She chuckled, noticing the irritable look of distress on my face. "Most men do it to their wives."

I slipped out of bed and fetched my toothbrush. "Hope. Honey, as much as I love your tits, I'm not sucking milk out of them again and I don't care which other man does it."

"Well, at least you know how it tastes now."

"I'd rather I didn't."

When she laughed, my heart fluttered with a raw-edged emotion. A fierce feeling shook through my core and I smiled, not sure for how long I just stood there staring, but when the taste started to get weird in my mouth, I walked away.

WHEN I ARRIVED AT WORK, I walked into my office with a fresh cup of coffee and a smile on my face, one that Cleo didn't fail to notice because she got up from my desk and looked at me like I was going to pull out a gun any minute from now.

"Sir," A faint frown line indented her smooth brow. "Is...everything okay?"

Aside from the fact that I drank my wife's breast milk, I've never felt better. I smiled at her. "Send me my schedule for the day."

Time seems to fly faster when you're in a less sullen mood.

"All right gentlemen," I tucked my pen back into my portfolio and looked around the boardroom table at the members of the management team gathered. "That's a wrap." I picked up my blazer and tossed it on as everyone filed out in clusters of twos and threes.

By the time I waltzed out of the boardroom and back into my office, I had less than an hour left to spare.

I sat on my chair and rechecked my dinner schedule. Perfect. Everything was perfect.

My door opened. "What's up with you?" 

I blinked away from my phone and looked at the doorway. Brad was standing there and sending me an assessing look with his arms folded across his chest. "Your Secretary said you've been acting weird all morning."

I snapped my laptop shut and shrugged. "I feel pretty normal."

"Well do you wanna grab some shots?"

"As much as I'd loved to, I can't."

He lifted his brows, failing to mask his disappointment. "Why?"

"I'm having dinner with Hope tonight and I don't want to fuck anything up."

He walked in and kicked the don't shut. "By fuck it up you mean?"

"I'm just gonna come clean about how I feel and see where we go from here. I don't want to lose her. She already told me she loves me and I know she wants an answer so I'm going to give it to her If it'll make her stay."

"So are you doing this because you actually love her or you don't just want her to be with anyone else?"

"Both, I guess."

He was quiet, his eyes accessing me. He didn't exactly look convinced and I was sure he was going to grill me about it but he let the matter drop and chuckled. "Have a swell time tonight then. I want to hear all about it tomorrow."

"You will."

He was striding to the door, pulling it open before he stopped, turned, and looked at me. "Try not to fuck this one up, Killian."

I nodded and he lifted his hand in a brief salute before walking out.

Shortly after he left,  I couldn't help feeling the buzz of excitement as I packed up. A few minutes later, I pushed back my chair, grabbed my blazer, and left the office with a few instructions for Cleo to follow.

On my way to my car, my phone rang. I had expected it to be a call from Hope but when I looked at the caller's ID, I saw that It was a call from a private number.

I didn't pick right away. I walked to my car, a bit skeptical. But when it rang continuously, I got into my car and picked, at that moment, wishing I didn't.

I'd spent most of my day rampaging through my closet until I had found the perfect dinner dress. I'd gone with it knowing Killian loved red.

All through the process of getting my make-up done smoothly, I was nervous because Killian hadn't called or texted and it was just a few minutes to seven.

I felt irritated at first, but then after calling his cell phone twice and still not getting any reply, my irritation quickly turned into anxiety.

Tossing my purse on the living room couch, I sat down and stared at my phone screen. My two-inch heel tapped the floor rhythmically in a nervous attempt to cool me down as I waited for my phone to at least ring or for him to walk in through the door. Ten minutes in and none of both happened. 

Increasingly worried, I dialed Brad's number. I couldn't wait any longer.  There was a possibility he would know where he was. The phone rang for quite some time and then he picked up. 

"Have you seen Killian?" I asked before he'd even finished saying hello. "Did he contact you today?"

"Well yeah, I was in his office a while ago." He paused. "You don't sound alright, did he do something?"

"He isn't home yet Brad and I'm worried because he told me he'd be home by eight."

"He told me about the dinner. Don't worry too much Hope. Maybe there's traffic or something. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I don't know Brad, I don't feel good about this."

"You just need to relax." He soothed and although I was near to tears, I thanked him and hung up.

He was right, something had obviously come up, else he wouldn't have done this to me. His words were enough to keep me sane for about ten minutes. After that, I was up on my feet and pacing the room restlessly. At some point, I toed off my shoes and padded back and forth barefooted.

My eyes fell on the clock and when I saw that it was now forty-minute past eight, I blew out an annoyed breath and dialed Killian's number again. I deserved some explanation. His phone rang this time but he didn't pick up and I listened as it went straight through to his voicemail.

I knew our level of communication sucked but why wasn't he answering?

"Killian." My voice broke when I tried to leave a voice message. I was appalled to realize tears were slipping from my eyes. Gosh, this wasn't the time to cry. "Can you call me back? I'm worried sick and it's past eight." 

Ten more minutes in and I was sitting on the couch, my dress rumpled, my make-up marred with tears and there was still no sight of Killian.

I called him again, even though I was quivering with anger, I forced myself to stay calm and reason. Maybe he hadn't left work yet, maybe he was indisposed and caught up in some important meeting. He had probably intended to phone me back as soon as he had a chance, so even when he didn't pick up my calls for the next two times I tried, I waited and waited and waited and when the time hit eleven and I still didn't get as much as a text, I got up from the couch and wiped my tears.

It was official now, he had bailed on me.

It was as though I had been slapped in the face. I stomped upstairs to my bedroom, snatched a wipe from the holder standing on my counter, and swiped my face. I then balled up the wipe and pitched it in the trash bin.

My reflection shone back at me from the full-length mirror. To think I'd worn this pathetic dress just to please him. To think I had done my hair and make-up just to look good for him. I stripped off the dress and shoved it into the hamper. After that, I opened my closet and yanked on a sweatshirt before hopping into bed.

"I hate you, Killian." I sobbed out because instead of closing my eyes and going to sleep, I lay there, staring at my phone on the nightstand, hoping it would ring or buzz but it didn't.

It was certain now that he didn't love me. What was I thinking? Why would Killian Fobster love me?

My subconscious mocked me as I snuggled into the sheets.

I needed to talk to someone but there was no one I could call. Scott would match down here and then wait for him to come so they fought. For some reason, I felt too ashamed to tell Lesley and Pampam. I would normally have confided in them, but It'd just be pathetic. I was alone, drunk in my miserable thoughts that eventually led me to my slumber and it wasn't until my phone vibrated the next morning that I got up. 

Fighting down panic in my throat, I reached for it, half expecting to find a message or at least a call from Killian, but it wasn't. Instead, Gwendolyn's name flashed on my screen, making me even worried.

What if I had just overreacted the whole night for nothing and he was actually hurt?

I picked up the call immediately and cleared my throat before speaking.

"Hell—"

"Hope." Her frantic voice made my heart stop and then beat again and then the next word she said utterly ripped it out of my chest. "Grampa Edward is dead and Killian has been in the morgue all night. Please go to him and get him out of there before he breaks down."