“You… You’re…” This explained a lot. Why he barely talked to me. Why hadn’t he simply told me?
He nodded, biting his bottom lip. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”
I backed away from him toward the exit. As soon as I reached the door, I bolted, my heart ready to burst. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. I was going to tell him I loved him and try to figure out how we could make a future together. The last thing I expected was to find out he was with someone else and carrying their child. Fuck, what was I going to do now?
“Uncle Genj!”
Suddenly a small being attached themself to my leg, squeezing with all their might.
I glanced around in a panic and spotted my younger brother, Vawn, walking toward me with his other daughter in his arms.
The hurt simply kept building up. My own brother had to have known, but he kept it from me, too. “You know? About Utahn?”
He sighed. “Wow! No, surprise I’m here? But yeah, I did. Though he has his reasons for not telling you.”
“Reasons?” I could feel my blood boiling, but I didn’t want to explode with my nieces there. “What reason could he possibly have for not telling me he was with someone else and pregnant with their child?”
Vawn wrinkled his nose before taking a step forward and smacking me in the arm. “There is no one else. He’s pregnant with your child, you fool.”
“What?” That made no sense. Wasn’t possible. “He was on suppressants when we were together.”
Vawn rolled his eyes and sighed. “You’re both dumb for not using mesodenka. He’s gotten pregnant on suppressants before. And so have I. I guess you were too horny and taken in by his heat, you forgot that.”
He really had gone into heat when he’d come to visit me? Stars, Ret was right. And I was dumb. I’d made a huge fool of myself. “Wait! He’s been pregnant before?” How come I didn’t know that? And who was the father that time?
Hold on.This meantIwas going to be a father. That wasn’t how I was expecting this trip to go, either. What was I going to do?
Vawn pointed toward the bakery. “Go talk to him. I told him to tell you earlier, but I understand why he didn’t. Talk to him, and I’m sure you’ll understand, too.”
Unable to fully wrap my head around the information I’d just learned, I pulled Enif up into my arms and returned to the bakery, along with Vawn and Gitta. Somehow, I had a feeling my whole life was about to change. If Utahn decided to forgive me.
Chapter Ten
Utahn
I don’t know why I expected Genj to be any different. Every time I believed something good had happened to me, it ended up being the worst mistake of my life. Why did I think I could find love with a space racer simply because my best friend had? Vawn was lucky. He’d fallen in love two times with men who truly cared about him and had two beautiful little girls.
Me? I couldn’t carry my first child and got blamed by that alpha and left behind for it. This time, the alpha left me because I was pregnant. I had the worst luck. And that didn’t include how I was slowly losing customers at the bakery. The gentleman before Genj’s arrival had been the first patron to come in that day. Genj could have bought something, at least, before he left my life for good.
I threw the ball of goeph on the table and sat on the stool. Was it worth making anything new for tomorrow? I could sell the pastries from today for half price, saving me time and money. But someone still had to come in to buy them.
At the ding of the front door opening, I took a deep breath. I could do this. Maybe I’d get a customer who wanted a large order for a party. Sliding off the stool, I headed out of the kitchen and into the retail part of the bakery.
Two little girls had their faces pressed against a display case as they pointed out the pastries they wanted. If they weren’t absolutely precious, it would break my heart to see them.
My hands trembled as I reached for a box. “What would you two little ones like today?”
Genj stepped into view with his hands in his pockets and shoulders slumped. “They’d like for you to forgive their uncle for running out of here like the fool he is.”
My limbs froze while my heart hammered. He’d come back. And he was asking for forgiveness when I’d been the one who’d kept my pregnancy from him for this long.
“I, uh…” What did I say? I’d never had an alpha ask me for forgiveness before.
Vawn appeared from behind his brother and took the box from my hand. “The girls and I will watch the store for a bit. You two can go upstairs, or outside, or wherever, to talk.”
I swallowed down my guilt. We wouldn’t be in this situation if I’d been honest with Genj in the first place.
He reached out for me. “It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
