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I hoped to God I hadn’t lied to the child.
“That’s right. Aunt Cici’s tough,” Beth said softly, wiping her hands on a towel in the arched doorway between the living room and kitchen.
Guy popped his head around the edge too, giving me a warm look.
“You two look comfy.”
“For now. In a few weeks, there won’t be as much room in my lap for this, my love,” I told Ally gently. Even now her head was carefully positioned on the edge of my thigh since my belly was pushing into the space the kiddo usually preferred to be in.
“I’ll make it work,” Ally said passionately, making all of us chuckle.
“It’s bedtime, sweets. Daddy’s taking you and the child hurricane upstairs.”
Giving me and the television a long, sorrowful look, Ally followed her father to the stairs, where he tackled his son. Together, the three of them blew kisses as Beth waved at them.
Why did my throat feel so raw? “They’re pretty awesome, you know.”
“Most days,” Beth responded, tucking in at my side. She muted the singing princess with a long, rattling sigh. I didn’t stop watching. The conclusion must be coming because now there were a colorful plethora of animals on screen. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really? I think I’ll just blurt it out then watch you drink a glass of wine so I can get secondhand enjoyment from it. Sound okay?”
“Sounds great.” Beth retrieved a glass of Cabernet from the kitchen and resumed sitting beside me. “I’m ready.”
“He proposed to me. He proposed to me so that he could take care of us. He was completely obsessed with keeping us safe and went on about how it was his obligation to do this.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow. And the worst part is, he fucking shattered my heart. Then he went on to tell me why he’s so obsessed with basically marrying me to protect me. He had some kind of horrible family trauma that somehow made me feel bad for him. So now I’m heartbroken and disappointed and at the same time so horribly hurt for him. Gah. This is why I shouldn’t date.”
“So, what now?” Beth took a long sip then held the glass out to me.
I huffed in the smell before settling back into my pillows.
“I kicked him out. I told him that he had shit to deal with and that I had to do what’s best for my baby.”
Beth nodded along with my words. “That’s definitely the safest thing to do.”
I glared at her. “The safest?”
“I’m just saying. The man should not have proposed. He should be madly, stupidly in love with you before he does that. And I’m not sure he isn’t. I think he’s just a little fucked up and went about things the wrong way.”
“Yeah, clearly.”
“But the point is, he wants this. And it’s not like any man is perfect.”
I jabbed a finger at the ceiling, where Beth’s gorgeous Canadian import was putting their kids to sleep. “Excuse me?”
She laughed. “Even my husband has issues. But we have to decide what issues we are willing to work around and what we aren’t. It sounds like you did the right thing buying both of you a little time.”
“And then?”
“And then you can decide how you really feel. How he does. Because unless I’m mistaken, I’m pretty sure my independent bestie is more than a little in love with her baby daddy.”
“Ugh.” I covered my eyes. “I am. I fucking love him. And we are such a mess.”
“Mess can be beautiful.”
I glared at her again, snot pouring down my face.
