“Why don’t you and January head back to your house? Hunter said his dad was on the way over to get you and take you both on a girls’ trip with his mom and Bunny’s Nana. You both should pack.”
“I can stay if you need me,” January says softly.
“I love you both, but no, you should go. Tell Nana we said hi,” I tell them, giving them the out they need.
“Tell Nana I’m expecting her to come visit once this baby is born. She and your grandpa are the only great-grandparents he’s going to have,” Sammy says, her hand on her stomach.
Bunny pushes out of her seat, then pauses, waiting for January to follow her. When she does, I smile, watching them head toward the beach.
“You don’t have to be a part of this either,” I tell Sammy.
Scoffing, she rolls her eyes. “Like I’d leave you alone to deal with that bunch of psychos.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re psychos too.”
“True.” She laughs.
“Sebastian wants to get me pregnant,” I blurt, unsure where the confession has come from.
“Holy fuck.” She laughs again. “I’m not surprised, though. I bet Hunter and Clay both want to jump on the baby train too. They’ll want their kids to grow up together the same way they did. Did you tell him to go fuck himself?”
Grimacing a little, I shake my head. “No.”
“So, you want to have a baby. Now. At twenty?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Did Sebastian pull a Sebastian and blackmail you into this?” she asks, clearly unconvinced.
“No, not really.”
“Not really?”
“Well, since we’ve been doing the whole sex whenever he wants thing.”
“Free use,” she corrects.
“Yeah, that. Well, things have been really good between us. I know it’s weird, but I like him having total control over that. I like him being so desperate for me that he just has to have me then and there. But I also like that it’s given him this way of balancing his need for control. He’s sleeping again, and that look has gone from his eyes.”
“What look?” she questions.
“The crazy frantic fear. The look that made me think he might actually lock me in a cage one day, just to make sure I can’t ever leave him.”
“A cage could be hot. He could fuck you through the bars,” Sammy says absently.
“Jesus, Sammy.” I laugh.
“Sorry. I know what you mean, though. You’ve both seemed happier the last few weeks. But will a baby help or hinder?”
“God knows. But I can see it; I can see that future. Us as a family with a house full of kids, and he wants it.”
“But now?”
“I know,” I sigh. “But our lives aren’t like other people’s. We don’t have to worry about paying bills or graduating and getting jobs. We don’t have to worry about the cost of tuition if it takes a year longer to finish school. We don’t have to worry about paying for formula or diapers. I have a credit card with a limit so high that I could go and buy the house I grew up in outright and not even get halfway to maxing it out. Having this life means not having to wait to have what you want.”
“Evan wants a house full of kids, but depending on how much it hurts to push this one out, he might be an only child.”
“I know you didn’t get any choice in it, but you’re not unhappy about the baby now, are you?” I ask.
