The annoyance in her father’s expression shifted into a confused frown. “Magic muffins?”
Lottie giggled. “Holden’s muffins.”
“They’re the first thing I’ve been able to eat in weeks without feeling like I’m going to puke it all up again. Magic muffins.”
“Ah.” Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Silver said pretty much the same thing. Lottie, why don’t you grab the muffins, and I would love a cup of coffee.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Thank you, Lottie-bug.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to Lottie’s temple before releasing her, and Aria watched as her friend-turned-stepmother hurried off toward the kitchen.
Conflicting emotions warred in her stomach. Clearly, Lottie and her father were deliriously happy with each other. But even with all the snide comments her mother had made over the years, Aria had never actually seen her father acting like the ‘overbearing, controlling asshole’ Layla had made him out to be.
But now… “Did you really just tell your wife to go make you a cup of coffee?”
One dark brow rose as Braden’s lips twitched. “I like to think it was a bit less assholeish than you’re making it out to be.”
“It wasn’t.”
Tilting his head to the side, he studied her in that way he had that always made her feel like a child again. “Are you really pissed I asked Lottie for a cup of coffee, or are you trying to distract me from asking you who the father is?”
And there was the start of those uncomfortable questions with uncomfortable answers she’d been dreading. “Maybe a bit of both.”
“Sweetheart. If Lottie didn’t want to get me coffee, she’d tell me to get it my damn self.”
“And you’d… be okay with that?”
His grin flashed, easing some of the knots in Aria’s stomach. “More than okay. I love Lottie’s sass, you know that.”
“Yeah, but I also know you guys are, um, the way you are. I learned a lot while getting ready for the wedding.”
Wincing slightly, he rubbed a hand at the back of his neck. “I knew that was a bad idea.”
It wasn’t often she got to see her dad looking uncomfortable, and it was a welcome distraction from her current situation, so she doubled down. “It was very enlightening. I particularly enjoyed watching Cordelia boss people around. I think I might be a little bit in love with her.”
“She’s a force to be reckoned with, for sure. But back to the matter at hand.” He gestured toward her stomach. “Have you told the father yet?”
“No.” Instinctively, her hands went to her abdomen, as if to protect her baby. “And I’m not going to.”
Everything about her father shifted in an instant. Hardened, but not in a way that scared her. It made her feel… safe. As though he would stand between her and any threat that came her way, just like he always had. “Aria. I need you to be completely honest with me right now. Did he hurt you?”
“No. Not the way you’re thinking. He just… isn’t the man I thought he was, is all.”
“I want a name.”
“I can’t give you that. Please, Dad.” Reaching for him, she laid a hand on his forearm and squeezed, putting every bit of pleading she could manage into her eyes when she looked up into his furious gaze. “This is my decision, and I’m asking you to honor that.”
“All right.” But it was clear he wasn’t the least bit happy about it. Which was fine, as long as he didn’t push the issue. “If that’s the way you want it.”
“It is.”
“Aria…” He hesitated, looking uncharacteristically uncertain. “You know you have options.”
God, she loved him. “I do. And if the circumstances were different, I might choose differently. But I’m young and healthy and hella privileged. This isn’t how I’d planned on starting a family, but now that it’s happening… I want to do this, Dad. I’m fucking terrified and I know it’s going to change my whole life, but I want this.”
“Okay.” Nodding, he blew out a breath. “As long as you know I’d support you either way. I don’t want you to feel trapped.”
Like your mother did. The unspoken words hung heavy between them, and she forced herself to smile, to pretend like she wasn’t painfully aware that she’d ruined her mother’s life. “I don’t, I promise. I’m doing this because I want to, not because I feel like there’s no other way.”
