“She really does take me for an old fool.” He shakes his head lovingly at his daughter. “Foster is going to be in our family because he’s our grandchild’s father whether you’re with him or not.”
“Which I think may be in the future…” Mrs. Carlisle adds, her gaze shifting between the two of us.
This cannot be happening. They’re really happy that I’m going to be part of their family?
“And Hayes will be fine,” Mr. Carlisle says. “I brought him up better than to be a baby about this. No pun intended.”
Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle switch spots, and soon she’s wrapping her arms around my waist and pulling me into a hug.
I wish I had their confidence.
Again, Callie and I look at one another over the shoulders of her parents.
“Congratulations, Foster,” Mrs. Carlisle whispers in my ear. “This is fantastic news.”
I want to keep asking Is it? but I hold her and nod, even though I’m still digesting their reaction.
“Would you like me to go with you to talk to Hayes?” Mrs. Carlisle releases me from the hug and steps back.
“I think I’d rather go by myself.” I look to Callie to see if it’s okay with her, but I feel like I did him wrong, and I’m the one who needs to face the consequences.
“You’re not going just to protect me from this, right?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that.”
“We’re going to let you guys talk. We’ll take the kids, so they won’t be there. Congratulations again, you two. And you know we won’t object if you want us at an appointment or two.” Mrs. Carlisle winks and looks at her daughter’s stomach one last time before the two of them leave huddled together, whispering and apparently over the moon about their family’s new addition.
Callie crosses her arms.
I lift my hands. “I’m just asking to talk to him first. To explain myself to him. To come clean.”
She looks at me long and hard, then nods. “Okay.” She steps into me and wraps her arms around my stomach.
I tug her into me, and she lays her cheek on my chest. I have no idea what the hug is for but having her in my arms feels too good to ruin it by asking.
When she pulls back, she looks up at me. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“For being here, standing next to me during all this. It’s nice knowing I’m not alone.”
I place my hands on her cheeks, cradling them, making sure she’s looking right at me. I swallow, but summon the confidence to tell her, to put myself out there like she just did. “I’m not going anywhere, Callie.”
Her hands cover mine, and she nods. We stand there for a few moments, and my entire world tilts, as if the world has shifted, though I can’t explain why.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Foster
* * *
Callie and I walk into Peeper’s, both of us filled with anxious energy. Ruby glances up and shakes her head with a disapproving mom expression.
“Good news travels fast,” I mumble, squeezing Callie’s hand.
When we left the field, I wrapped a hand around hers and haven’t let go. No one is going to mess with her when I’m at her side.
