A car drives by, but we take no notice.
“The timing is a little off, yes.”
“Why did we sleep together?” Her fragile voice stabs me somewhere inside. It sounds like regret.
Despite knowing that our night together wasn’t the smartest thing for us to have done, I don’t carry remorse. I have simply tried to sweep it into the past and move on. Except, I’ve done a miserable job of it, and Rosie enters my thoughts too many times a day. Having her underneath me again stirred the confusion inside me due to indescribable feelings.
“Time will tell, Rosie. But we made a child, and that’s a sign for something.”
I can’t help it, I enter her space and crook my finger under her chin to lift her gaze to my eyes. No escape. Not anymore. We have to face one another now, tomorrow, and for life.
“Don’t lie to me and tell me you don’t see it the same way, either,” I implore in a rasp.
Her face tilts ever so slightly, but I bring her attention straight back to me and wait for an answer, and I don’t need to say anything.
“You’re right,” she barely whispers.
Finally, I can inhale a calming breath, relieved that we are on another same page today.
We’re going to be parents, and this has happened because we’re supposed to be tied together. In what way beyond parents, we still have to figure it out.
Her face turns a new shade of pale, and right away, I bring my fingertips to her shoulders to help keep her standing straight. “It’s really bad, isn’t it?”
She nods vaguely before pushing me away and crouching over to throw up again. I rub her back and take hold of her hair. She always smells of apple, but admittedly, not today.
The sound of her hurling turns to gagging because it seems she has nothing left in her stomach. “You’re okay,” I try to soothe her as she dry-heaves.
I did this to her.
My swimmers were insistent that Rosie should have my baby inside her belly, and now she’s in complete physical misery.
She keens as she rises again. “When will this end?” She shoots me a warning. “If you say nine months, I swear…”
I chuckle because I completely was about to say that and then point out the calculations would actually mean in eight months.
We have eight months to figure out how we are going to do this. Not just because we are adding a baby to the equation, but I mean where she and I stand. Us.
The rage that I sometimes feel that Rosie left is strong some days, and other days, the hole inside of me begs for her to return.
Selfishly, I’m thankful that she’s knocked up with my kid because now she’s pushed back into my life, and I have every intention to ensure she’s pushed straight into my arms.
Even though she seems woozy, Rosie begins to take a few steps to the car door. “This has been fun and all, but I’m heading back. I’ll sleep this off and clear my head. And no, I will not be packing my bags.”
I grin to myself because I’m right. She just needs a little time to process the fact that shewillbe getting a key to my place. Or rather the place on Everhope Road where she will forever stay, because I’m a demanding fucker.
“I’m not sure you should be driving right now. Really. That isn’t me being a pain in the ass.”
She drops herself onto the seat of the car and rests her forehead against the wheel. “Relax,” she mumbles. “I’m going to rest and gather strength, then I’ll drive back. You go do sheriff things.”
“This could all be solved if you let me drive you home… to Everhope Road, so it won’t take long, and you can take a nap. I’m off duty now, your slow driving was just an bonus.”
She is now exhausted, and I’m positive it’s because of me and not our baby causing havoc inside of her.
“Car—” She squeezes the steering wheel, knuckles white, and her mouth closes as if she is trying to calm her nausea.
That’s it.
I open the car door fully. “You’re coming with me. Otherwise, I swear I will use my handcuffs. Or I can make up something to arrest you for. Now get in my car and I’m driving you to my place.”
