Adam sets his drink down on the table and slides closer.
His eyes hold mine as he raises his hand, caressing my cheek. When he lets out a heavy sigh, he stares off in front of him.
“I’ve never told a woman I was seeing about what I endured with my parents. Hell, the only one on the team who knows is Will, and that’s solely because of Callie. Outside of that, Jett and Wyla know parts. My high school coach and the therapist I had in Seattle know every detail and every ugly story…
“I could give you a CliffsNotes version right now, but that’d probably only bother you more—having questions about my family floating in your head while we break the news to your parents about the baby wouldn’t be fair to you. And selfishly, I just don’t know if I can today.”
“Adam, hey, look at me…” I rest my hand on his cheek, and he places a small kiss on my palm as he turns to finally look me in my eyes again. “You’re not being selfish. Not one part of me expects you to tell me today, or even this week.”
“I want to tell you, and I can promise you, Mia, I have never wanted to willingly tell anyone.”
Leaning forward, I replace my hand with a kiss to his cheek. “I’m honored.”
“It’s not exactly a pretty story…”
I kiss his lips. “I’ll still listen.”
“You might look at me differently.”
There’s so much pain resting in his amber eyes. The need to fix whatever is hurting him has my stomach turning in knots. I hate that I brought this up when we’re dealing with so much already.
“Impossible.”
Shifting my body, I pull him in tight for a kiss that hopefully gives him a clear message. Or maybe the reminder of what I told him yesterday on my couch…the person I need the most in this ishim.I don’t pull back until I can physically feel his body relax.
“Is it okay if I change the subject?” I ask, not wanting to move on from this until he’s ready to.
He rests his head against my forehead. “Please do.”
“It might be another not-so-fun topic, but I do want to game plan how this brunch is going to go with my parents.”
Adam’s thumb runs across my cheek and the faintest smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Probably a good idea. Do we also need to prepare an emergency plan in case your dad tries to kill me?”
A laugh bubbles out of me. “He is not going to kill you.”
“Right, he’ll be happy with the asshole who got his daughter pregnant.”
“You’re far from an asshole.” I swat his shoulder. “I can’t say I know how they’ll react, but I do know it’ll be easier for them to swallow if we tell them our plan.”
Adam tilts his head back with a breath. “There are two major things we probably should address that I’m sure your parents will be curious about…”
“Marriage and our living situation. I think we’ve lost the luxury of putting off those topics.”
“Maybe so. Time-wise, I guess.” Adam brushes some of my hair behind my ear. “They were very real possibilities when I thought of you. The baby was the curveball for me, so tell me all your thoughts. These two things we can actually still control.”
I want to laugh at him using a baseball pun with our baby, but I’m too busy focusing on the first bit. I saw the possibilities with him, too. I didn’t see it like this, but here we are.
“Well, first, I thought I would move into the house my grandfather left me. I’ve always dreamed of having my family in that home. It’s where I took my first steps, the dances I had with my grandfather… In my mind, I see me moving there—you move in whenever you’re ready—having the baby, then, you know, we see where things take us from there.”
I hold Adam’s eyes for a moment, trying to gauge if he’s internally freaking out yet.
He smiles as he runs his fingers through my hair. “Mia, I know you’ve got a more thought-out idea than that. Neither of us have a ‘see where it goes’ personality. You’re not scaring me with plans.”
Oh, thank god for him.
“Okay, but remember you asked for this. I like the idea that we can control these things. I never envisioned that I would first find out I was having a baby from a rude doctor then crying well into the night. So, I don’t want to give up a romantic proposal and the wedding I’ve planned over and over again in my Pinterest boards. I see us moving in, having the baby, and I know we don’t have to be married to be a family…but it’s what I want. I have a whole collage of wedding dresses and none of them would work with a baby bump.”
Adam chuckles. “Can I see these boards?”
