Page 34 of Derecho

I pushed myself back, so my entire body was now on her bed. It took some momentum, but I finally got settled against the headboard. “Come here.”

For a second, I thought she would ignore my request. Ignore the way I was holding my arms out to her. But even as her head shook back and forth, she was moving toward me. The bed dipped as she curled into my side, her belly pressing against my hip as her head landed softly on my chest.

Her tears soaked through my shirt instantly. “Okay. Alright. It’s okay.”

“I didn’t want this baby, Lach. I never wanted to be a m-mom,” she cried. “Greg c-came home, and I warned him we couldn’t. I was on antibiotics and I knew they could mess with my birth control. But he was d-drunk. It’s so s-stupid. I just wanted him to love me. I didn’t stop him. And now my life is never going to be the same. I’m responsible for this human I never meant to have. I’m not going to be a good mom. I’m not.”

“Trouble—”

“It’s my fault this baby has nothing good to come into the world for. That I have nothing to my name. I’ve m-messed everything u-up and I don’t k-know how to fix i-it.”

Her breathing was so tight it hurt my chest.

“We’re going to wash your clothes and those cute pajamas you picked out for the baby—my favorite were the taco ones, but I see why you went with UFOs, too. We can fix that. But what I can’t fix is if you make yourself so upset with worry that you go into labor, okay? That’s the only thing we’re working against. Everything else will be just fine, as long as you and the baby are okay.”

“O-okay,” she whispered.

“Good girl. Just breathe. You’re not alone. You don’t have to face any of this on your own.”

She looked up at me, her eyes wet and lashes clumped together. “Is that what your family said, after your accident?”

“Yeah. They told me that.”

“Did you listen to them?” she asked.

“You know I didn’t.”

Lainey smiled. “I fear we’re very much alike in that way.”

“You’re not planning on listening to me?”

“No, I am. But only because I’m so tired, I don’t think I have any fight left in me.”

“You do. And as you heal, more of it will come back. I’ll make sure it does.”

Her hand came up, rubbing against the end of her nose. “Why?”

I shrugged. It was too complicated of an answer to give. Too raw. It would expose too much. So I said the only thing I could think of.

“You helped me get off the porch. I’ll help you get back on your feet.”

Lainey

“You can come into the kitchen, Trouble. No need to stand there like a little mouse.”

I scoffed, the noise not nearly as loud as I thought it would be with Lachlan’s washer and dryer running. “There’s nothing little about me right now, and I have never been as quiet as a mouse.”

“Fair enough. Want something to eat? I think the first batch of your clothes are almost done drying. I’m about to make breakfast, and I could⁠—”

He’d basically taken care of getting everything washed up for me yesterday, and here he was, running all of my things through a wash cycle again. “I think we need to have a conversation about rules,” I interrupted.

“Rules?” Lachlan set down his phone, turning all of his attention to me.

“Yes, rules. What you would like me to abide by while I’m here. What you expect of me. I’m more than happy to help out where I can, but I also need to be looking for a place and with the little alien coming soon, I’m kind of running out of time.”

Lachlan’s eyes narrowed, the heat from his gaze bringing a flush to my skin. “First of all, you can stay here as long as you need to. The last thing you should be worrying about is trying to land somewhere else when you’re this close to having the baby.”

“I know you offered—more than once—which is so kind, but that’s not fair to you. You didn’t sign up for me to be here endlessly when you came to rescue me like some cowboy knight in shining tattoos.”