Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Annie: "Mia only hit him because he tried to copy me peeling an apple with a paring knife. I wouldn't let him use mine, so he snuck into the kitchen for his own. Next thing you know, he broke a plate."

Mr. Nettleton: "...So his dad gave him a smack, then?"

Annie shrugged, "He didn't want to go home, took off running, and crashed right into me."

Mr. Nettleton: "If he got off easy, that's not good enough! And you? You alright?"

"I'm fine. He's just a kid, running wild-how much damage can he do? Now he doesn't even want me to hug him."

Annie grinned, teasing, "Tell me, Mr. Nettleton, is your kid really that special? I nearly got dragged to the ER tonight, and there wasn't anything wrong with me!"

Mr. Nettleton, as blunt as ever, snorted, "The kid? Nah. It's his mom who's precious."

Annie burst out laughing. “What if we have a daughter? Still think you'll act so tough?"

"Absolutely. If we have a girl, I'll be jealous of Andre for the rest of my life.”

"And what if Andre has a daughter too?"

be jealous of

Annie said, but she

drifted off to sleep chatting with

like he had direction-a family, a home, someplace

had a wedding yet, but he'd already bought wedding rings, and insisted

couldn't resist showing off his ring finger every chance he got. Annie sometimes pretended not to know

slipped it off. During video calls, she kept her hand out of sight, worried Conner would start buying her a new

even let Conner off the hook

Every time she scolded him, he just pulled her close and

until she forgot what

would call up

was giving the

was all nonsense and daydreams. "Just wait till you're a dad. Wait till Annie stops knocking you around. Wait till your sister-in-law finally shows up.

I'm actually excited about what's coming,"

there, man," Andre

was pregnant, Andre would lie in bed at night, Mia curled up next to him, his hand resting on her bump,

life did get sweeter-just with more worries