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“You’re what?” he asks, then stalls, “Twenty-four weeks? So, yes.”
“It’s surreal,” I breathe, my eyes glancing up at the perfectly blue sky. “It’s kicking and doing its little thing in there.”
“Ava?”
“Yeah?”
“I just saw your post. For what it’s worth, you look beautiful. I don’t want you to feel you have to hide that I’m the father.”
“I just want to protect you, for now. Once the media know, they will follow you, and they can be brutal. I just want us to enjoy this time in the pregnancy without all this unnecessary stress.”
Silence falls between us when it dawns on me that my honesty was perhaps too raw. I’d insinuated there is an ‘us.’ Blame the romance novels.
“So, anyway, are you up for dinner with my parents? Dad asked a few weeks ago, but with everything going on, I kept pushing it back.”
“It’s fine, Ava. I can have dinner with Lex and Charlie.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I shuffle uncomfortably. “I’m sorry about my outburst the last time I saw you. You can date whoever you want. I was just having a bad day.”
“Happens to the best of us,” he assures me, though his tone is slightly off. “Listen, I have to go, about to clock in. Send me when and where you need me. I’ll be there with bells on.”
“Actual bells?” I tease.
“Just to annoy you, yes.” He chuckles heartily. “Bye, Ava.”
My parents were unable to fly over for a few weeks, but I didn’t mind, given I had been busy with work.
“Where are the bells?” I ask Austin as he pulls my chair out for me to take a seat. “I’m quite disappointed.”
“They don’t make designer ones, and I know you judge when someone isn’t wearing designer clothes.”
Austin looks sexy in his dark blue suit with a white shirt beneath it. He opted not to wear a tie, keeping it less formal. The top of his chest is slightly exposed, and sitting beside him—I can’t help but squirm.
Calm down. It’s just a chest.
“I can’t recall the last time I saw you wear a suit.”
“Let me see.” He raises his finger to his lips while thinking, and stupid me focuses on his lips. “The unfortunate night at the Hamptons?”
I bow my head. “Oh, sorry. Forgot.”
Austin laughs softly. “It’s okay, Ava. Life has moved on. I don’t have any ill feelings toward either of them.”
“But how?” I question abruptly. “I’m still pissed with the girl who tried to steal my prom date.”
“Because… ” he mouths, then leans in closer to me. “I’m sitting next to a beautiful woman who is pregnant with my baby.”
My parents walking through the entrance of the restaurant is the distraction my goddamn vagina needs—the so-called splash of cold water. Although, it’s more of an ice bucket, hard enough to dwindle the heat level to below zero.
Austin and I both stand up to greet them. As always, they’re both looking as stylish as ever. Dad is dressed in a charcoal suit with a black-collared shirt beneath it sans the tie. It’s slightly unbuttoned, just like Austin’s, and it’s obvious to see the women in the restaurant have turned to look at him.
What’s new?
Mom is holding his hand, wearing a lantern green tunic dress with a short black blazer to compliment the outfit. Naturally, my eyes instantly gravitate to her Manolo Blahniks—they’re new from the latest line, if I’m not mistaken.
Austin politely extends his hand to Dad in which he shakes. Mom, on the other hand, hugs him. There doesn’t appear to be any animosity, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief, for now.
Mom places her hands on my stomach with a warm smile. “Ava, honey. Look at you. You’ve really popped.”
