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“We’re home,” Mom singsonged, and placed her hand on my knee. Dad’s Mustang was directly behind us as she pulled to a stop in the driveway, and I stared out of the window, taking every little bit of the house in. “Asher will be home in an hour,” she continued. “He’ll be so glad you’re home too, sweetie.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. My mind was smashed to pieces, and I couldn’t find the right order of them to put it all back together again. This time yesterday, I’d been at the cabin, and Curtis was alive. Leopold was alive. And I was scared of being alone when the baby came.
But now…now they were both dead, and I may not have been physically alone, but I felt the loneliest I’d ever felt. It was true: you could be surrounded by a million people and still feel alone.
My car door opened, and I gasped, my hand flying to my chest, but my dad’s smiling face had my heart slowing down. “Need a hand inside?” he asked. Every part of me wanted to refuse the help, but I knew I needed it.
“Thanks, Dad,” I whispered, letting him help me out of the car. Mom rushed around the front and came to my other side, but her gaze drifting down to my stomach didn’t go unnoticed. I knew she’d want a rundown of everything. The problem was, I didn’t know where to start.
Once we were inside, Mom darted into the kitchen, shouting, “I’ll make you something to eat!”
Dad chuckled and kept his arm around me as we walked into the kitchen and pulled a chair out for me. “You’re acting like a crazy person again,” he told her, running his hand over my head and grinning down at me.
“And?” Mom quipped back, pulling things out of the refrigerator at lightning speed. “My only daughter is finally home, I’m allowed to act however I want to.” Mom winked at me. “I may even let her have a cookie.”
“A cookie?” I asked, perking up.
Mom and Dad both laughed, the sound glorious. I’d missed them more than I’d realized. “After lunch,” Mom said, but Dad sneaked past her and grabbed the entire packet off the counter. “Hey!”
“What?” His voice was innocent, but we all knew he was anything but that. “She’s eating for two, she needs extra.” His logic made sense to me.
“Mmm-hmm.” Mom started to make sandwiches. “And I’m sure it’s not because you want one too?”
Dad shrugged and sat opposite me. “I mean if there’s an extra one, who am I to deny myself eating it?” He ripped the packet open and pushed it across the table, whispering, “Save me one.”
I plucked one out and handed it to him without Mom seeing. The conversation was light as we munched on cookies and then ate our sandwiches, but as soon as we’d finished eating, the atmosphere changed, and I knew I had to tell them something. I didn’t want to go over what had happened, not again, but I could at least tell them about the baby.
“So, I’m pregnant,” I blurted out, glancing at each of them in turn. I shuffled in my seat and placed my hand on my bump. “I’m four weeks from my due date.”
“What?” Mom blinked several times. “You were pregnant when you…when you left?” I nodded in answer. “I…okay.” Mom turned to face Dad, her eyes wide. “We have four weeks to get everything ready.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Asher is in Cade’s old room, so maybe we could turn Asher’s old room into the baby’s room?”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Dad replied. “I’ll get the guys to help out, and I’m sure Ford would help build a crib. If not, I can go and buy one.”
My stomach flipped at the sound of Ford’s name, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell them he was the baby’s dad, but something stopped me. Maybe it was because I hadn’t been able to talk to him yet, or maybe it was because I was scared of the reaction I’d get from them. I’d been gone six months, and I’d come home about to give birth, and they weren’t second-guessing it. They were jumping right in and making plans. I loved them for it, but I wasn’t a kid anymore. I was an adult about to be responsible for a tiny human. But right then, I didn’t have the energy to put up any kind of fight. I was tired. Tired and alone in this. At least, until I spoke to Ford anyway.
“And she needs to go see an OBGYN as soon as possible too. That’s what the doctor at the hospital said,” Dad told Mom, and neither of them was looking at me now. I leaned back in my chair, grateful that I wasn’t getting the third degree. They were in planning mode, but I was in self-preservation mode. I was waiting, biding my time and not jumping into anything. If I’d learned anything over the last year, it was that I should think something over, and then give myself extra time to make sure I’d made the right decision.
Ford being alive was a perfect example.
He hadn’t told me where he’d been, and although I was desperate for answers, I had to wait. Wait until we were alone. Wait until I could explain it to him and he could explain it to me.
Six months. I’d gone six months without him when he was still on this earth.
But then all I could think about was the fact he’d been alive and he hadn’t come to find me. If he’d have really thought about it, I knew he would have been able to see where I was hiding. He knew me better than anyone, and yet, he hadn’t. He’d left me where I was and hadn’t come. Did that mean he hadn’t wanted to? The last time I’d seen him, I’d begged him to stay. Begged him not to leave. But he had. He’d left me.
And then I’d left him.
I hadn’t waited for an explanation as to what was happening, I took what was in front of me at face value, and I knew now that I should never do that. There was what you were presented with, and then the truth, and those two things were rarely the same.
The front door banging closed had me jumping in my chair, and I shook my head, trying to get out of my own brain. I wasn’t sure what Mom and Dad were talking about now, but as footsteps padded closer to the kitchen, my nerves went haywire.
I waited with bated breath as I stared at the doorway, and Asher appeared, taller than I’d remembered. His head was down as he stared at his cell and walked into the kitchen. He didn’t once look up as we all stared at him silently. He headed for the counter and reached for a cookie, but when his hand landed on nothing, he murmured, “What the…”
“Looking for these?” I asked.
He spun around, his dark-brown eyes as wide as saucers. “Belle?” He blinked, his cell dropping out of his hand and clashing on the
tiled floor, but he didn’t move to pick it up. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and then stared at me again. “Holy shit.”
