Page 29 of Accidentally in Love

She frowned. “Tired.”

I noticed she wasn’t wearing the morning sickness band anymore. “No more morning sickness?”

“I don’t want to say it’s passed yet, but I’ve been feeling okay.”

I pulled out my phone and checked my calendar app. “We’re not quite in the second trimester yet, but soon.”

She beamed at that. “Why, Nolan MacGregor, are you keeping track?”

I nodded. “I told you, I want to be there for you and Peanut. Are you gonna hang out here much longer?”

She shook her head. “I think I want to head home.”

“Oh,” I said and hoped she didn’t hear the hint of disappointment in my voice.

“I kinda want to cozy up on the couch and watch Christmas movies.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you.”

She made a face. “Nolan, we live in Drakesville. I’m perfectly safe walking home alone.”

“Avery, it’s still a couple of blocks away, and it’s dark out,” I growled.

“I walk home by myself all the time.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face in frustration. “Appease me, okay?”

“Fine,” she spat, and she walked off to toss her empty hot chocolate cup into the trash. She didn’t wait for me as she sped off down the street.

I caught up to her, and we walked the couple blocks to her apartment in terse silence. When we got to her apartment, I stopped in front of the steps leading up to the porch. I wanted to make sure she got home all right, but I didn’t think she was going to invite me in.

She peered up at me with a guilty look. “Sorry, I’m moody.”

I put a hand on her stomach. “Avs, it’s all good. I told you, I’m here for you.”

She squinted up at me. “Do you want to come inside? Or do you have to get back to the brewery?”

I scowled. “Declan dismissed me.”

“Was your grumpy bear face scaring away customers?” she teased with a laugh.

“Yes,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Are you too moody to come upstairs and hang out with me?”

“You want company?”

She nodded and looked down at her feet. “But I want to watch cheesy Christmas movies. I know you hate that, so you don’t have to come in.”

“If that’s what you want, we can do that.”

Her face lit up, and her smile was brighter than any bulb on any Christmas tree. “Really? You’d do that?”

I groaned but nodded. I would suffer through those dumb movies for her. I would have done anything she asked me to if only to be with her.

She grabbed my hand and led me upstairs into her apartment. I helped her take her coat off and hung it on the back of one of her kitchen chairs. She went into her bedroom to get dressed into something comfy.

I went into her living room, kicked off my boots, and I sat back on her futon. Her uncomfortable futon. More and more, I was uneasy about this arrangement. I wanted more for Avery and the baby, and I certainly didn’t want them living in this cramped space. I didn’t like that her stairs didn’t have a railing either. I worried about her falling. What if something happened to the baby?