Fallon attempted to suck in air, but it wasn’t easy. Everything in his body felt too tight—like clothes that were six sizes too small.
“Good,” Gage told him. He reached up for Fallon’s face, then paused. “Can I touch you like this?”
“Mm.”
Gage cradled his face—the pressure a little too light at first, but a few moments later, he increased the pressure until Fallon’s shoulders sagged. “There. Okay. I need you to listen to me when I say it’s going to be alright.”
“But,” Fallon said, his voice cracking, “I don’t understand. This can’t be right. It doesn’t make sense. I swear I haven’t been with anyone else?—”
“I know. I believe you,” Gage told him firmly. He locked eyes with Fallon. “I believe you. We know two things for sure: you had unprotected sex with Charlie, and you are now carrying a baby. The test is probably wrong, and we can fix it after Mango’s here. For now, you can breathe easy because it means Charlie can’t do anything legally. He can’t fight you for day-one custody. He can’t try and force his way into the hospital. He can’t demand visitation.”
Fallon’s breathing became a little easier.
“And do you think there’s any harm in letting him believe this test is correct?”
Fallon blinked at him. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, he’s gotten the same results as you, right? So what’s to say he’s going to demand a retest? He’ll probably assume you were sleeping with other people.”
Fallon licked his lips. “But Iwasn’t.”
“Yes, but he doesn’t know that, does he?”
Fallon’s head was so foggy it took him a moment to catch on. “So…so he might believe that I was…sleeping around, and the other father could be anyone.”
“Yes,” Gage said. His lips curled up into a smile. “If he pushes the issue and tries to order another test, we can deal with that when the time comes. But for now—at least until Mango’s here—we can forget about him.”
“Oh.” Becauseoh. He hadn’t considered that at all. He’d been so fixated on the truth about his situation that he hadn’t realized what a gift the lie could be. “I need to sit down.”
Gage reached past him and opened the car door, and Fallon collapsed on the seat, leaning forward with his face in his hands. It took him a few shaking breaths to fully get control, and by the time he looked over, Gage was in his seat, watching him with a wary expression.
“I don’t think he’ll fight me,” Fallon said after a long beat of silence. “I don’t think he’ll waste the money. Or the energy.”
Charlie was vindictive and cruel, but he was also lazy. This was his last-ditch effort to have some control over Fallon, but it was unlikely he’d keep pushing.
“We’ll face whatever bridge we need to cross when we get there. For now, we have some peace.”
Fallon nodded, leaning back and closing his eyes. “I think I need a nap.”
Gage let out a small laugh. “Me too, my darling. And some comfort food.”
And a redo of the date that Charlie had ruined, now that this part—even if it was a short part—was over, he thought. His head was getting clearer, and he looked at Gage, realizing that his lover had been strong enough during all of this.
It was time for Fallon to show him how much he appreciated him for it.
Fallon had asked Gage if he could pick him up from work three days later, after he made the call to the zoo to reschedule everything. Gage seemed excited about it. It had been calm in town over the last few weeks, which meant no late-night calls, no tragedies, and no fires.
The worst he’d dealt with was a kid who smoked a vape for the first time and hadn’t realized how much it would get him high—and the panic attack that ensued—and a few calls for elderly patients who had fallen. Gage had been sleeping better at night, and though Fallon couldn’t say the same with the increasing activity in his stomach, he could at least nestle up to Gage and rest.
And he was feeling good today. It was now heading into spring, and he was a handful of weeks away from when Mango was set to appear, so he wanted to make the most of the time they had with just the two of them. It was going to be hard after. There was going to be crying and sleepless nights. Fallon was going to be overstimulated and stressed, and he knew that would take a toll on them.
But he wanted to believe they were stronger than that stress.
But he wanted to bookend this moment with something that felt…important. Symbolic.
And maybe a little petty.
“The zoo again?” Gage said when Fallon pulled into the parking lot. “This was supposed to be our date a few weeks ago, wasn’t it?”
