“I love both of you so much.Are you scared?”
I rub my open palms against his hard thighs and open my eyes, a faint smile on my lips.
“Why should I be?You’re going to be holding my hand the whole time, even when I scream curses at you and tell you to get away from me for being the cause of the pain I’m going through.”
“I’m not going anywhere.I’m going to be with you through it all.”
“I know.I can count on that.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“You’re still upset.”
“It’s going to take me a few days or weeks.I think the sting of your lie and dishonesty should wear off by the time I go into labor.But I do trust you.Before, I wouldn’t have come back, I would have ran to figure things out.That’s what I did when I left New York, when I moved in with Ava, at the hospital when Kate lost the baby, and when I found out I was pregnant, I ran from you to Matt.I can’t do that anymore; we need to work things out together, especially the times when we’re most angry with each other, if we’re going to be a family.”
“We’re already a family.I’m not going to tell you I won’t mess up again, I am.I can promise you when I do, it won’t be anything like this again.I’ll find new and inventive ways to screw things up.”
“It better not or you’re going to be the one who’s sorry.”
“Understood.”
Cat
“Babe, you look great.You’regoing to be the most beautiful pregnant woman there.”
Nick helps me zip the back of my dress up for the charity banquet.I take another look in the mirror at my short blue dress that shows off my still-toned legs.Must be all the walking I do.That’s the benefit of not having a car—I gave up my exercise regimen months ago.How could I keep up with all the drama in my life?Nick tried to get me to exercise with him, but that’s too much for me, I get a workout sitting back on the floor watching him.I poke my lips out at my reflection and smooth the dress down over my growing belly.I’m going to look like an elephant by the time I have this baby.
“Are you sure this dress is not too short for a pregnant woman?”
“I told you, you look great, very sexy.”
He kisses the back of my neck and gives me a reassuring smile in the mirror.I sit on the bottom of the bed and try to put on my heels, flailing like a seal on the beach.He laughs, kneeling down, and I playfully push his shoulder back with the tip of my toes when he takes the shoes out of my hand to put them on for me.
“Ha, ha.Thank you for helping me.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
I laugh at the cheesy smile on his face, and he kisses me on the lips and helps me back up.Things have been really good between us the past two weeks.We talked about Paige, and he was honest and open with me about their past relationship.We’re going to put it behind us, and he’s not going to work on any more cases with her personally.He’s super excited about the baby.He came up with two boy names for the baby, and I told him I would think about it, but Jace is still number one for me.He’s not sure about it, but I’m sure he can be persuaded to like it as much as I do.I put my diamond earring on and turn to him.“We should decorate the spare bedroom for the baby.”
“We’re not sure what we’re having, what color would it be?”
I put my other earring in and follow him out the door, putting on the diamond bracelet he gave me for Christmas.“Let’s think outside the box, neutral colors like pastel green, grays, and turquoise blue, our new favorite color.”
“You want to do it yourself?”
“On this one I want a decorator.I want the room like a picture in Better Homes and Gardens.”I hold on to his hand and he pushes the button in the elevator.“When I was small, my mother had lots of those magazines and we would look through them together.”
“If that’s what you want.I thought you would want to decorate with Ava, maybe.”
“No, Ava is already too into this.She has named herself glam god-mommy and I wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise.She’s fully embraced me being pregnant.”
He looks down at me from the side.“Did she have a choice?”
I smile and brush my hair back off my face, bracing myself for the oppressive mid-July heat.“I guess not.”
An hour into the banquet at an upscale hotel in Manhattan, I’m standing next to Ava wishing I’d listened to Nick and wore my flats.Ah, the price of vanity, and I knew Paige was going to be here tonight.She’s been not-very-covertly watching Nick and ignoring my presence since we walked through the door.I have something for her later.
