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“You've just made me the happiest man in the world,” he said.
“But –” I started to point out that it might not be his.
“I've always wanted to have a family, Ember,” he said, a genuine excitement in his voice. “I know it's early, but I will be there for you and our child. I love you more than you'll ever know and I'm going to do right by you both.”
Our child.
He was already calling it our child.
My heart broke even more. He was a smart man, he had to realize the odds, right? Was he just not thinking?
I couldn't break it to him. Not then, not in that moment when he was bursting with joy and covering my face in kisses. I knew I'd have to broach the subject eventually, and we'd have to figure out the next steps. For now, however, I got caught up in his joy. I smiled and kissed him back, feeling the excitement rush through me. There was a child inside of me, and as soon as I knew it existed, I already loved it.
The idea of raising a family with Jude, the man I loved, was head. Intoxicating. It made my heart stutter and my breath catch in my throat. I was so caught up in the sensations of having his body pressed to mine, the very idea that it might not be his child slipped from my brain entirely as we embraced.
“I love you so much, Ember,” he said.
“I love you too, Jude.”
“We're going to have a baby,” he said.
“Yes,” I said, wiping away the years. “Yes, we are.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jude
“I was thinking we could turn the office into a nursery, since it's connected to the master bedroom,” he said. “And your old room can become the new office. Just switch them around.”
“That sounds amazing,” I said.
My smile wavered a bit when Dominic and Zane came into the dining room, interrupting us. All the guys knew I was expecting – it was no big secret or anything. But, no one had said anything about the possibility of it being their child. Nobody even really addressed it with me at all. They just sort of carried on like everything was normal. even though nothing was going to be normal ever again.
Dominic stopped by where I was sitting and kissed me. It wasn't all that uncommon these days to have his lips pressed against mine, but after the announcement that I was with child, I almost expected the sharing to die out a bit.
Then again, I could be carrying Dominic's child for all we knew.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Dom said, joining us at the table.
“Good morning,” I said.
My cheeks were bright pink, and I couldn't believe how embarrassed I felt in that moment. Deep down, I felt ashamed. Like I should be wearing a giant scarlet A on my chest. After all, I was pregnant with one of these men's child – and I didn't have the first idea whose child it might be.
“So what were you talking about?” he asked. “Thought I heard something about a nursery?”
Jude discussed his plans for the office and the nursery with his friends, and I just sat there listening. Feeling dumbfounded, not to mention more than a little terrified, among the mix of emotions swirling around within me.
I studied each man in turn, trying to figure out who might have impregnated me. Looking at them all, trying to figure out whose sperm had hit my egg. You'd think there'd be a gut feeling, some sense of intuition, or something – but no. Nothing came to mind. No whisper in the back of my mind, primal attraction, or some mental and emotional compass pointing to the father. There was just nothing.
I'd fucked all of them, multiple times – and without condoms since I thought I thought I was protected because of my IUD.
“How you feeling?” Nathaniel asked me.
I stared at him for a few moments, blinking at him, unsure if he was truly talking to me.
“As good as can be expected, I guess,” I said softly. “All things considered.”
Nathaniel reached across the table and squeezed my hand gently, shooting me one of his famous, charming boyish smiles.
