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“Turn around,” Rick commands.
Swallowing my anxiety, I obey. My lashes are down and I’m afraid to look at him. It’s worse even than I expect.
“Kara, how could you?” he snarls.
I’ve seen Rick angry before. I’ve even seen him angry at me--when he burst in on Bailey and I drinking peach Schnapps in the basement when we were fifteen, or that time when we were caught egging the neighbor’s house after their son called Bailey names. Back then, he was more like a father figure. He was an adult reprimanding a child. Now though, it’s something else. We’re equals and his fury burns hot and bright, making me cringe in anticipation.
“Rick,” I whisper, but he cuts me off with an impatient wave of his hand.
“You’re pregnant, and didn’t tell me?!” he roars. “You’re pregnant with our baby, right? Right?!”
I nod mutely, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Yes, the baby’s yours.”
“And you never thought to tell me? Never thought to say a word? Didn’t you think that I’d want to know? Does Bailey know?”
I nod again, unable to speak.
Rick seethes, pacing like a caged animal. “You tell my own daughter before you tell me? What the fuck? You walked out of my life with no explanation, made me fucking worried sick, and couldn’t even trust me enough to tell me I was going to be a father?”
I am staring at the floor, but snap my gaze up to look him in the eye. I need to remain calm. I need to explain what happened.
“I’m telling you now, Rick,” I say, my voice trembling ever so slightly. “I am pregnant, and you’re the father. But...”
Before I can launch into the remnants of my speech, Rick utterly shocks me: he falls heavily to his knees, crying out, and presses his cheek to my belly. I’m unable to suppress a gasp, and my hands fly up. After a long moment of stillness, I place them gently on his chestnut locks, my fingers trembling. The familiar sensation of his hair between my fingers makes a sob stick in my throat. Can this really be happening?
“Kara, sweetheart,” Rick whispers, his voice thick and hoarse with emotion. He doesn’t even look at me because his eyes are closed, his face still pressed to my stomach. “Kara, I am so sorry. I love you so much, and I love this child--our child--already. I want this child. I want you. I want us to be a family together. But why didn’t you tell me?”
If he weren’t clinging to me, I would have collapsed in awe. Of all the scenarios I prepared myself for, this one--this complete, total, immediate acceptance--never even occurred to me. I assumed I would have to beg, plead, and even argue for him to make a place in his life for our child. I planned to sit at the kitchen table and talk with him for hours about why he should want to be a father again. To convince him that our baby is right.
But now, to see this proud, powerful man at my feet makes the tears flow freely down my own face. I could have never imagined this reaction, and my heart is breaking open in response, so full of love that it can’t be contained.
“But I thought you didn’t want to be a father again,” I manage to say between choking sobs. “I thought you wouldn’t want me, or the baby.”
Rick stares up at me fiercely, his eyes ablaze with passion. He rises to his feet, large hands grasping both of my shoulders.
“Of course I want you,” he rasps. “Of course I want you, and of course I want our baby. I can’t wait to see what kind of a beautiful family we’ll make together. I love you, Kara, with all of my heart. I know I’ve said some stupid things in the past, and I know that’s why you didn’t tell me right away. But I was bitter from my divorce, even after all these years, and I need to let that go. I need to open myself up to the future, and to a future together. Our future.”
His words make me gasp, and my eyes fill with fresh tears.
“Kara, now that I’ve met you…” He shakes his head. “None of that old shit matters. None of my old beliefs about marriage or parenting stand anymore.” He takes both of my hands in his, holding them tightly, his amber eyes shining as he stares into mine. “I want to get married to you. I want to have babies with you. Can we do that? Please? You’ve made me see how life can be, when I’d closed myself off to the possibility of happiness again. I never thought I’d have the opportunity, and I walled myself off from even the option. But then, sweetheart, I met you, and everything changed.”
