He came out of the back room, still pulling on his hoodie. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I’m pregnant.”
The words spilled out before I could even think.
He froze mid-step.
“Wait... what?”
I nodded, tears streaming down my cheeks now. “It’s real. I just got the call.”
For a second, he just stared at me, stunned into silence. And then, without warning, he dropped to his knees.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his face to my stomach, his shoulders shaking.
“I’m gonna be a daddy?” he asked, voice breaking.
I laughed through my tears. “Yeah, baby. You’re gonna be a daddy.”
He pulled me down into his lap, burying his face in my neck, and we clung to each other like we were anchoring the whole damn world.
We kissed. We cried. We kissed again.
It felt like magic. Like possibility. Like everything we’d fought for was finally coming together. He stood suddenly, swiping at his face with the back of his hand.
I blinked. “Where are you going?”
“To get my keys,” he said, already heading for the hook by the door.
“What?” I laughed. “Why?”
He grinned at me over his shoulder. “Don’t you want to tell Auntie Remi?”
I opened my mouth to say yes and then stopped.
His smile faded slightly. “Wait… does she already know?”
I laughed, heart still racing. “No. I told you first. You’re the first person I told.”
His whole body softened.
“And we’ll tell her in the morning,” I said, walking over to him and curling my fingers around his. “She’s got that date night with Logan tonight, remember? Something special.”
He nodded slowly, pulling me into his arms again.
“I just want her to be okay,” he murmured.
“Me too.”
We stood in the doorway together, watching the sun begin to slip behind the trees, casting the yard in gold and shadow.
Remi was out there somewhere. On the back of his bike. Her armsaround him. Her heart on the line. And I couldn’t shake the feeling I should’ve said something more.
But she’d asked for the night.
So, I gave it to her.
We could be excited together tomorrow.
