For a second the entire room goes silent in my head.
Javier’s voice cuts through my haze first. Reminding me we’re not alone. Not completely.
“You’re gonna be a dad?” he blurts in shock
Luke gives him a stern look. “Yeah. But keep it quiet. I mean it.”
My chest feels tight. Too tight. Like it’s going to collapse in on me.
So I take a step back. Then another step. They keep talking, but I don’t hear a damn thing they’re saying. It’s white noise. All I can focus on is that one word.
Pregnant.
Vee’s pregnant.
She’s going to have a baby.
My throat goes dry as I swallow, hard as the reality hits me.
His baby or Doc’s baby.
“Who’s the dad?” I ask, curious which one of them was the lucky fucker.
“Both of us.”
I raise an eyebrow. I’m not the smartest man but that just doesn’t seem fucking possible.
“How.”
“It doesn’t matter who got her pregnant. The baby is both of ours.”
My heart warms at that. I like it. If I hadn’t fucked up thenthe baby could’ve been mine too.
My legs move of their own accord; though my body feels numb as I turn around and walk back toward the front of the club. The familiar noise slams into me again as I push through the crowd. I should feel nothing but happy for her. And I am happy for her. God, I am. But the regret sitting in my chest is heavy enough to crush bone.
Because this baby’s not mine.
But once upon a time, it could’ve been.
I slide onto a stool at the ID counter and stare down at the wood grain, memories punching through my head whether I want them to, or not.
Her laugh. Her hands on my cut. The way she used to look at me like I was her whole damn world…
I fucked it all up, And now…now she’s having a baby with my brothers.
I rub a hand down my face,then my brain starts doing what it always does—analyzing. Planning. Solving theproblem.. Her apartment flashes into my mind. That tiny place across town. One bedroom, and barely enough space for two people. Let alone the three of them occupying it. And soon there will be four.
I sit there most of the night thinking about it. About Vee. Her baby. About what she’s going to need. And by the time my shift is over, I know exactly what I’m going to do.
The house has just been sitting there, anyway. Empty. For the last two years, since my grandparents died. I kept up the yard and had a cleaner come in once a month and make sure it was clean. When I got with Vee, I was hoping it would be our home. That we’d fill it with kids of our own.
Funny how life works. It will still be her home. Just a little different from how I planned it would be. I won’t be living there with her. It will be her, Doc, Luke, and their children; starting with the baby she’s carrying now.
She’ll have a nice yard, and a room for the baby. And for more to come, if they want that. They’ll all have room to breathe.
It just needs one thing.
Once the store opens, I’m heading out to pick it up. I spend the night scouring the website for the perfect crib for her baby. Then I check the paint. I don't know if it’s a boy or a girl, so I go with a neutral color. Mint green. I add in some animal decals for the wall and check-out my cart requesting an immediate delivery.
