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“She doesn’t need to know,” Rush said.
“Lauren is not changing her mind about leaving me. She made that clear. So you see…I really have nothing to lose anymore.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Rush spewed.
“It means I’m gonna want a paternity test. My life is as fucked up as it gets right now. But you’d better believe if this baby is mine, I’m gonna make sure my rights are protected.”“He’s going to make me look like a whore. I got pregnant with a one-night stand, and now I’m dating his brother.” Gia paced back and forth in front of the TV. “He’s got a team of lawyers. What if he says that I’m unfit and goes for full custody? Could he take the baby? Oh my God. When I was in middle school, my dad made me go talk to the guidance counselor weekly. He was afraid that I was having a hard time because I got my period and didn’t want to talk to him about it. I told her stuff that Elliott could use against me.”
“Gia…”
“My dolls! We have to get rid of them immediately. What if they send a social worker to the house to make sure that I’m competent and they see that I burn dolls? They look like babies! They’re going to think that I might toss my own child in a fire.” She pulled at her hair and started to pace faster. “I’m writing a romance novel. What if they think I’m a degenerate who is obsessed with sex?”
“Gia...” I said louder. She still didn’t hear me.
“Do you think Melody would lie for me? Say that I’m normal, and I’ll be a good parent to my child? I think she’d make a good character witness.”
“Gia…”
“I read in a gossip column that the Britney Spears-Kevin Federline custody battle cost over a million dollars. What if Elliott…”
I stood and took a step into her path, effectively stopping her in her tracks. “Gia.”
Her body stood still, but her brain didn’t.
“Oh my God! I should have bought the minivan. Why did you let me buy that fancy car? I’m going to look totally irresponsible. Do you think we can return it still? I only have a few hundred miles on it. Shit…I spilled a little orange juice on the rug the other day. Do you know anyone who cleans carpet?”
I took her cheeks into my hands and tilted her head up. “Gia.”
She looked up, but still didn’t hear me. “Maybe I shouldn’t live here,” she said. “That won’t look good. Living out of wedlock is still frowned upon by a lot of people. Especially if they’re older. I wonder if the judge will be old.”
Giving up on getting her attention by calling her name, I did the one thing I knew would slow her down, even if just for a few moments. I pressed my lips to hers. She talked into my mouth for a few seconds before her brain caught up to her body. Then she wrapped her hands around my neck and gave me her tongue.
The kiss was only meant to refocus her, but fuck if my body didn’t react immediately. I could’ve kept going. Hell, maybe I should’ve. We both had tension we needed to let go of. But I wanted her to hear what I had to say loud and clear—not through a post-orgasm haze. So I pulled back after a minute.
My girl was breathing heavy. It made me smile even in the middle of the nightmare that we’d just entered. “You good?” I whispered.
“Huh?”
I chuckled. “It’s my turn to talk. Come sit down.”
Gia sat on the couch, and I knelt down in front of her. I took both of her hands in mine.
“First off. Elliott might have money, but so do we.”
“But…”
I pressed my lips to hers for another kiss. When she stopped trying to talk, I broke the connection again. “This conversation will go a lot faster if you could shut up, you know.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
I grinned. “I did. And I’ll tell you to shut the fuck up again if you don’t sit here and give me a chance to speak. For the record, you’re welcome to tell me to shut the fuck up when I’m losing my mind and won’t listen to you, too.”
“I’m not losing my mind…I’m just worried. Elliott could…”
I leaned in and kissed her again, my lips moving against hers as I murmured, “Shut the fuck up, sweetheart.”
When I pulled back yet again, she narrowed her eyes. “Fine. But I get to talk afterwards.”
“Deal. Okay. So…as I was saying…Elliott might have money, but so do we. And before your brain gets stuck on how we don’t have money but that I have money, I want to explain something to you. One more time. The reason that it took me so long to pull my head out of my ass and commit to you is that I couldn’t make the decision to become a parent lightly. I am not in this to be Uncle Rush, Gia. I’m in this for the long haul. I’m in this to be Dad, just like you’re in this to be Mom. That’s what took me so long to wrap my brain around. I was scared. Because I needed to know that this was forever. And maybe you’re not ready to hear this, but this is forever for me, Gia. I feel no fucking different than if you were my wife. I’ve committed. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine. Maybe you’re not understanding this because you haven’t gotten there yourself yet. But I’m there. So, one last time…what’s mine is yours. We have money. And if you try to separate what I have from what you have, I’m going to start to get upset and think that you’re less committed to me than I am to you. So do me one favor?”
