“Anytime,” Elias called back over his shoulder, shutting the office door. Jonnas was left alone with his thoughts and the looming possibility of becoming a father. He wasn’t sure how he’d keep his promise to Dani about sticking by her and the baby, but he’d find a way, because he always kept his promises.
DANI
Dani didn’t remember driving to Aliza’s house. At some point during her lunch break, she got into her beat-up old car and drove over to her house. One moment, she was sitting in her car outside the hospital, hands locked around the steering wheel, breathing like she was about to pass out. Next, she was parked in front of her best friend’s place, staring at the little blue house like it held all the answers that she needed. Maybe it did, because she knew that Aliza would do just about anything to help Dani figure her mess out. She was just that good of a friend.
She shut off the engine and just sat there in front of Aliza’s house. She wasn’t sure how she was going to tell her friend that she was pregnant—oh, and the father was Jonnas Black—the hospital administrator, notorious flirt, and worst possible man to have a baby with on the entire fucking planet.
Her stomach rolled, and she thought for sure that she was going to be sick again, but this time due to her nerves and not the morning sickness that had plagued her for the last two months. She finally forced herself out of the car and walked up the front steps, knocking before she could talk herself out of it. The door flew open almost immediately.
“Dani?” Aliza’s brows pulled together. “What’s wrong?” Dani didn’t answer when she looked her friend over, her gigantic belly sticking out between the two of them. She had forgotten just how pregnant her best friend was, and maybe, laying her problems at Aliza’s feet wasn’t her best idea.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her best friend, pressing her face into Aliza’s shoulder as everything she’d been holding inside shattered. “I fucked up,” Dani whispered.
Aliza closed her arms around her instantly. “Hey, come inside. Whatever it is, I’m sure that we can fix it.” She knew that Eliza wouldn’t be able to fix this for her, but she needed to talk to her, get this all out, and let the chips fall where they may.
The door shut behind them, sealing Dani into a warm, safe space that felt nothing like Jonnas’s cold, polished office. Aliza guided her to the couch, sitting beside her and taking her hands into her own. “Okay,” Aliza said gently. “Tell me what happened.”
Dani’s chest tightened. “I’m pregnant.” Aliza froze beside her, and she worried that just blurting it out might not have been the way to go.
“What?” Eliza asked. “Say that again.”
“I’m pregnant,” Dani repeated, her voice cracking. “I took three tests, and they were all positive.”
“Oh, my God.” Aliza’s hands flew to her mouth. “Dani, how?”
Dani rolled her eyes at Aliza. “Well, judging from your belly, I’m pretty sure that you know how getting pregnant works.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Aliza drawled. “Who’s the father? When did it happen—I need details.”
“The baby is Jonnas’s.” There, that was the part that she was dreading having to tell her friend, but now, it was out there. Still, the name seemed to drop like a bomb between them.
Aliza stood up so fast she nearly knocked over the coffee table. “Jonnas Black?”
“Yes, that Jonnas,” Dani mumbled.
“The hospital administrator, Jonnas Black?” Aliza asked again as though she needed clarification. Why did no one believe her today? First Jonas questioned if he was the baby’s father, and now, her best friend didn’t seem to believe her.
“Yes!” Dani spat. “Jonnas Black, the hospital’s administrator. We hooked up after the hospital mixer, about three months back,” she said.
“I remember that I tried to get you to come home with us. You had way too much to drink that night,” Aliza said. If only she had listened to her friend, she wouldn’t be in this situation. She wouldn’t have ended up back at Jonnas’s place and jumped into bed with him. She wouldn’t be pregnant right now, trying to convince the father that he’s actually the baby daddy.
“Yeah,” she said. “I wish that I had listened to you and not the alcohol that night, but I don’t have a time machine and can’t go back in time to make this outcome any different.”
Aliza stared at her like she’d just announced the end of the world, and maybe she had. Well, at least, her world. “Oh, honey,” Aliza breathed, tugging her in for another hug.
“I went to his office today. I told him. He asked me how I knew it was his, like I was trying to trap him, but I’ve agreed to do a paternity test over at Mercy Hospital. I want to keep this all as quiet as possible,” she said.
“That asshole—” Aliza growled. “I can’t believe that Jonnas doesn’t believe you, like you’d try to trap him into taking care of a baby that’s not his. The next time I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”
“He asked me if I had been with anyone else who might be the father,” Dani whispered. “Like I’d lie about something like this.”
Aliza sat back down beside her, pulling her into her arms. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“I know he doesn’t remember me or our night together,” Dani said bitterly. “I was just another woman to him. But this—this isn’t just some mistake anymore. This is a baby.”
Aliza rubbed her back slowly. “Did he say he’d help?”
“He said he wouldn’t walk away if it’s his,” Dani admitted. “But I don’t trust him. How could I? He barely remembered my name.”
