Page 22 of Kicking Up Dust

She huffs, and I almost think I spare myself from hearing the what for by getting out of the truck, but by the time I make my way around to the passenger side and pull open her door, she’s still geared up to argue anyway.

“I’m pregnant, not incapable.”

I put my hand out to help her down from the seat.

“Never said you were incapable, but you’re a woman. Women don’t touch door handles. Just to get it out of the way, I’m not gonna let you pump your own gas either, so I’ll be filling up that car of yours before you leave me again so you won’t have to stop.”

She’s quiet while I lock the truck and rifle through my wallet to pull out the keycard for my motel room.

“You’ve got something you wanna say?”

“Trying to decide if that’s red-flag behavior or not,” she admits as I pull open the motel room door for her next. Her cute little nose scrunches and I have to grin at her.

“Darlin’, I’ve probably got a million red flags but that’s not one of ’em.”

Blair huffs, her hand on her stomach as she slips past me into the motel room. Even slightly annoyed with me and wearing sweats, she looks like a goddamn goddess.

“Would it be rude of me to ask if you’re showing yet?”

She snorts as she makes her way over to her little folder of paperwork, reorganizing what I’d rifled through before we had to leave so suddenly.

“Generally, yes, but I guess you have a right to.”

She’s nervous again, and I smile at her antics. There’s no need for her to be nervous. There’s next to nothing I wouldn’t do for her now. The mother of my child.

“Will you let me see?”

“I feel like I need to remind you just one more time that I don’t expect anything. You don’t have to stick around. I’m not after your money⁠—”

“Blair,” I interrupt her, getting frustrated. The only thing that stops me from letting it show is the worry in her eyes as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed and starts chewing on her lip again. I close the distance between us and drop to my knees so we’re eye to eye, but she just averts her gaze further.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I feel like I’m annoying you, but I just want you to know⁠—”

“Baby, I know.” I reach for her cheeks, tilting her head back so she has no choice but to look at me. “I know you don’t expect me to stick around and I know you don’t need me to, but I want to. Please, Blair. Please let me be a part of our baby’s life. I want to. Believe me.”

She gives me the oddest look—a mix between tortured and unsure.

“I believe you,” she says anyway. I don’t think she does, but that just means I’ll have to keep proving it.

Blair sighs and pulls away from me just enough to pull up the bottom of her hoodie. With it on, no one would be able to tell she was pregnant. Even without it, her bump isn’t all that big. Just a slight swell from her stomach that makes my world stop again.

“Can I?”

She gives me a small smile and a tentative nod. My hands cover her stomach entirely. It keeps hitting me over and over again that everything’s changed.

“When will… it be born?”

Her lips quirk. “She will be born in November, most likely. I’m due on the eighteenth.”

The heels of my boots dig into my ass as I fall back on them, hands slipping from her stomach.

“She?”

Blair nods, biting her lip again. I’ve gotta get her out of that habit, but right now, all I can think about is another pair of big green eyes staring up at me one day, begging me for a pony or some shit. God, I won’t have a fucking chance in hell. These girls are gonna have me wrapped so tight around their little pinkies.

“Is that okay?” she finally asks, unsure.

I can’t help but snort. “Yeah, baby. That’s okay. More than okay. I think I’ll make a damn good girl dad. Besides, we can always try again for a boy in a couple of years if you want one of each.”