The sadness and defeat in her eyes and tone were almost palpable. “I’d never trust her again.” Then she turned to me. “I’m sorry, Jude. My actions were widespread.”
“Like Ethan said, the important thing is you’re getting help,” I said, trying to sound encouraging.
Ethan looked guarded again when he asked, “Have you thought more about what you’ll do when the baby’s here?”
“Every minute of every day,” she said on a shuddering sigh. “And the therapist said she’ll help me find some clarity in why I don’t want to be a mother. Even if I decide I want to keep the baby, how could I with the hours I keep as a bartender.”
“Have you ever worked other jobs?” I asked.
“Nah, I’ve been bartending since I was old enough to be inside a bar legally. It’s all I know. I’m not trained for anything else and the thought of working in an office makes me want to vomit more than I have in the last week.”
Gabby turned her phone around and when she looked at the screen, she said to Ethan, “I’ll get out of here. You have to get up early.” She rose to her feet and stood behind the chair as if she was waiting for Ethan’s next move. But then she walked around my chair and put the mug in the sink, slipping her phone into her pocket.
Ethan got up too and when he came around to hug her, she sobbed all over again. “Everything will work out, Gabby. Me, the family… we’ll make sure of it.”
“Why?” she asked confused. “Why are you being so nice now?”
“Would you rather I still be angry with you?”
“No, it’s just I feel I don’t deserve your kindness after what I did. Even though I begged you for it.”
“To be honest, after work I went to therapy and Andrew reminded me of something that someone told me once. And that was that everyone deserves a second chance.”
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Grazie, fratello.”
When Gabby left, Ethan tugged me to the sofa. He sat catty-cornered with one leg on the ottoman, and I snuggled against his chest, my hand around his waist.
“You were brilliant, Daddy,” I said, staring up at him and getting lost in his closeness.
“Andrew was crystal clear that what Gabby did was wrong no matter how much she was trying to save her marriage. However, he asked if I was ready to walk away from her and her parents. When I barked at him of course I wasn’t, he just smiled and asked me to consider the health of the baby. If Gabby can stop stressing about the strain she’s put on our relationship, the fetus will be less stressed as well.”
I was shaken by Ethan’s explanation. He’d put aside his pride and anger not for the sake of Gabby or anyone else for thatmatter. He did it solely to give the fetus a better start in life. I said as much to him because I was curious what his answer would be. “So, you actually forgave Gabby for the well-being of the fetus?”
“I forgave her faster. Like I told Gabby, she’s like a sister to me.Sei come una sorella. I wouldn’t not forgive her. But yeah, why should the baby be predisposed to major psychological problems because her mother was a mess for her whole pregnancy.”
“That was noble of you,” I said but my brain was alerting me to how much Ethan already loved the baby. Eventually, the infant would be everything to him. In addition to taking second place in his life, I wanted no part of all the drama the pregnancy caused. Ethan noticed that my heart wasn’t in my words.
“What’s wrong?”
I had two choices. End things now or stay and live the perfect life I currently had with a man who loved me. I braced myself on the sofa and swung my leg around Ethan so I was straddling him. Avoiding eye contact, I pushed his T-shirt above his pecs and lowering my mouth, I suckled on his nipple. “I was just thinking…” I nipped and circled the taut bud with my wet tongue while I twisted the other nipple between two fingers.
“Oh, shit, baby,” he said on a moan as he raised his pec to meet my mouth.
“I’m going to take advantage of the next seven months before your life changes forever.”
He returned my ardor and planted wet, sucking kisses down my throat. “You meanourlives will be changed.”
“No, Daddy, I promised to stay until the baby was born.” I ignored the fact that he tensed and stopped biting me halfway through marking me with another hickey. I continued my assault on his nipples until he was groaning, and his cock hardened under my pulsing groin.
Nibbling at his ear, I paused and whispered, “Do you want me to walk away now? I will if it will be easier for you.” The words came out but felt both raw and wrong on my tongue. I didn’t want to leave him. Ever. Not really. It was the baby that he hadn’t even fathered in the traditional way. It wouldn’t make the infant any less his.
He gripped my nape, the firmness of his hand holding in all the angst I knew roiled inside him. He growled, “No, goddamn it.”
I unbuckled his belt as he just watched me. Dragging his zipper down, I slipped my hand inside and cupped his hot cock, precum spotting the cotton briefs. “Then stay in the present with me, Daddy. Anything can happen between now and then. And in the meantime, we’ll just keep loving each other like it’s forever.”
TWENTY-TWO
ETHAN
