I laugh. “Really?”
“Okay, maybe not Jersey,” she concedes with a grin. “Brooklyn, then.”
I think about that for a second. “That could be good. Maybe Chelsea. We don’t have to stay in Manhattan.”
Brooke nods her head. “Not with our budget. Especially since I’m gonna be on maternity leave soon.”
I reach over and take her hand again, brushing my thumb gently across her knuckles. “I’m gonna take care of you.”
She squeezes my hand back, her gaze locking with mine. “We’re partners, remember? We take care of each other.”
I smile at her words, and on the outside, it probably looks real. But inside, my thoughts are louder than my heartbeat.
Brooke deserves someone who has their shit together.
I told her I want this baby and I do. But wanting it isn’t enough. I’m damn sure going toshowher.
Brooke said she doesn’t want to stay home with the baby, and I’ll respect that. But I want her to at leasthave the choice, a choice my mom never had. I want her to feel secure enough to decide what she wants, not what she has to do.
Because if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that I’m going to build the kind of life for her and our child that no one ever built for me.
And I won’t stop until I do.
Chapter Ten
Brooke
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll remain seated with your seatbelts fastened, we should begin deboarding in just a few minutes,” Stephanie’s voice carries calmly through the cabin, polished and practiced after years of saying the same announcement a thousand times.
She’s the purser on this flight, so she handles the PA while the rest of us run through our post-landing checks. We always tell passengers the same thing,stay seated until the seatbelt sign is off, stay seated until the doors are open, but, as usual, there’s always a few that think the rules don’t apply to them.
As protocol requires, I stay seated in my jump seat near the mid-cabin doors, projecting my voice over the hum of the engines. “Ladies and gentlemen, for your safety, please remain seated until the seatbelt sign has been switched off!” I call out.
The aircraft continues taxiing toward the gate, the illuminated seatbelt sign still glowing bright above the aisles, but one passenger is already up, pulling bags from the overhead bins like we’re parked.
I bite back a sigh, the same battle, every flight.
“Sir, please sit down!” I call again, louder this time, unclipping my harness as we slow near the stand. My eyes don’t leave the man as he continues pulling at his suitcase in the overhead cabin. He’s wobbling on his feet, arm at an awkward angle, and the second I spot it, my stomach drops.
It’s slipping.
“Sir, wait! I’ve got it-”
I push up from my seat and start down the aisle, my voice sharper now. If that bag falls, it’s headed straight for the frail woman seated beneath it.
I’m only a few rows away when the world lurches.
A sudden, violent jolt rocks the aircraft, sending a ripple of startled cries through the cabin. It’s so sharp and unexpected that my feet fly out from under me. The aisle tilts, the floor rushes up, and before I can brace myself, I slam forward, landing hard and flat on my front.
Right on my belly.
For a second, everything stills. The only thing I can hear is the ringing in my ears and my heartbeat pounding as I silently pray for my baby to be okay.
I feel arms wrap around me, pulling me upright. “Oh God, are you okay?” a voice stammers.
I glance back and recognize the man, thesame manwho was pretending not to hear me a minute ago.
“I’m fine,” I mutter, shaking him off as I push myself to my feet. My knees wobble but I stay standing. “Next time, wait until the sign is off.”
