Panic floods my chest so fast I can barely breathe.
“Oh God,” I whisper, closing my eyes, hoping that when I open them, this will have been a dream.
They shift their bodies toward me but I shake my head quickly, tears already spilling down my cheeks.
“It’s okay,” I choke out. “I get it.”
“V—” Josh starts to say, but I cut him off. I don’t need to hear the words I know he’s about to say.
“No,” I rush out, wiping the tears away, that have managed to fall. “I understand. I do.” My voice cracks. “You didn’t sign up for this. None of you did.” My hand tightens over my stomach. “But I’m keeping the baby. I just want you to know that.”
Their eyes widen and they both sigh heavily.
“I don’t care if you don’t want to be part of its life.” I hold back the sob making its way up my throat. “I love this baby already and I won’t—”
“Baby, stop,” Josh says quickly, his hands reaching out cupping my face, tilting it toward him. “That’s not it. You need to stop automatically thinking the worst when we want to talk to you. You know we love you. Now and always. Nothing will change that.”
My eyes drift over to Luke who's nodding as he speaks. “Not even close. We can’t wait to see your belly swell with our baby. To watch him or her grow up.”
I blink at them through tears. “Even if it’s twins?”
“Even if it’s twins,” they say in unison.
“Then what is it?” I ask, voice trembling. “Because you both look like someone died.”
They glance at each other again.
Luke takes one of my hands in his while Josh takes the other. Their touch grounding me, soothing the panic I was in.
“Hank contacted us,” Josh says.
“Hank?” I ask again, unsure if I heard him correctly. I look to Luke for confirmation, he nods.
“He says he has something for you. Something he wants to show us,” Luke tells me.
“Us?” I repeat weakly. “I don’t understand.”
“We asked what it was,” Josh adds. “He didn’t say. Just gave us an address to meet him at.”
I immediately shake my head. I can’t. There’s no way I can stand in front of him and listen to what cruel things he may have to say to me. Nor do I want to see whatever woman he may have hanging off his arm.
“No.” My answer flies out before I can stop it. “I can’t,” I whisper, panic clawing back into my chest. “I can’t have him tell me he doesn’t want to see me again. Or that he hates me. Or—”
Tears start falling faster.
Josh wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer, brushing them away with his thumb.
“Just give him a chance, baby,” Josh tells me. I shake my head again but he continues gently. “He still loves you, Veronica. Just listen to what he has to say. If you still don;t want to see him after that then you don’t have to.”
My breath catches and my chest aches so bad I feel like I’m having a heart attack.
“And as much as you try to hide it,” he adds softly, “I know you still love him too.”
Luke squeezes my other hand. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But I think the two of you should talk. We’ll leave if it gets to be too much for you, no questions asked.”
Silence stretches between us.
Memories of Hank crash through my mind—his laugh, his arms around me, the way he looked at me like I was the center of the world.
