AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We can do this. We got this. It’ll be fine. And when we want us time, I can just utilize nature’s natural babysitters. Our moms are gonna go crazy. It’ll be fine. We can do this.”
“Do you want me to bring in the ultrasound machine so you can see it?” Doctor Julia’s question settled heavily on my shoulders, and I hiccupped harshly before jerking my head in a nod.
ChapterTwenty-Two
BRANDON
“We should get a house in the suburbs somewhere nice, with great schools, and block parties..." My rambling only earned me a faint hum, and I held back a sigh. I couldn’t even begin to understand how afraid Katie was, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t respect it. Stroking her head as she lay in my lap, I propped my arm on the window to stare at the cityscape passing by.
We’d never used protection, but I’d also never considered that Katie would get pregnant. Knowing the birds and the bees had completely slipped my mind, and not once in these past months did I think this would happen. She and I were so engrossed in each other that normal critical thinking had ceased.
And the pull back to reality was violent and sharp.
“Do you have a list of what you need to get from your apartment?” Another soft hum was all she managed, and I licked my lips nervously as I stared into yellow-lit streets and nicely dressed people heading from one party to another. This city was a constant celebration for one reason or another, and even the setting sun didn’t stop it. If anything, night time made everything better... well, most things. A soft chime pulled my attention, and I reached into my pocket for Katie’s cell phone.
“Hey, it says, ‘Renee: someone’s been sitting outside your apartment for..." Frowning as I scanned the text, I caressed Katie’s cheek with my fingertips when she tensed. “Ah, ‘for three hours. He just left and looked really mad when I went out to water your plants’.”
“That’s Mason.” Rasping her first words in about an hour, Katie blew out a shuddering breath as she grabbed my hand to pull my palm over her face. Even her breaths against my inner knuckles were cold, and her lips trembled against the butt of my palm. “I really am not in the mood. I’ll shoot him right now. I don’t give a flying shit about him after what he said.”
“When did you learn to shoot a gun?” The question slipped out before I could stop it, and Katie frowned against my hand.
“For a partI didn’t end up getting, anyway. They said I didn’t look ‘plain’ enough. Well, joke’s on them. The movie flopped.”
Smiling at her grumble, I held back the hope in my heart with all my strength. She had every right to be whatever she was at the moment, and it was wrong for me to rub my acceptance of this in her face. After all,shewould be pregnant for the next seven months, not me. She couldn’t escape it.
“I just... I need just a couple of things, my photo albums and stuff. And if Mason shows up, I’ll punch him in his stupid, drink-sloppy, creepy fucking face.”
“Dial it back, there, Terminator. If he shows up, you’re not going to do anything. That’s Nathan’s job. And before you say what I know you’re going to say, no, it’s not because you’re pregnant. I’d say that even if you weren’t.” Katie had nothing to say to that, and we took a turn as we reached a part of town I’d never been to. “Speaking of, if you’re going to be all macho, who’s going to show me around your apartment? I’ve never been there, and it’s weird to be in someone’s apartment without them.”
“Technically, it won’t be mine on the first.” Sluggishly sitting up, Katie cast her sparkling ocean-blue gaze on me from behind puffy, heavy lids, and I held my breath in anticipation. “I’m serious, Brandon. If I see him, I’ll pop him right in his nose.Bam!”
My laughter choked me when she gave this halfhearted sort of punch against the seat of my car, and I cleared my throat roughly. There was no humor in her eyes. In fact, there was nothing, but this lost, foggy depth that stretched into an abyss. I reached to brush her hair off her cheek.
“Yeah, okay. Hopefully, he’s not hanging around.” The car rolled to a stop in front of a U-shaped set of apartments, three stories high, and I took Katie’s shoulder when she made to get out. Unfurling himself from the front passenger seat, Nathan popped open his door, and she frowned as she seemed to stare through me. “Stay here until Nathan does a sweep, just in case.”
“Fine.” Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled Katie close as she heaved an exhausted sigh. “I just want to get this over with and go to sleep for a couple of days.”
“About what we were talking about earlier, Katie... I’ve been thinking of having a less active role in my companies’ activities. When Bert retires or dies, whichever comes first, I think I want to resign and hand over everything to someone else.” Resting my cheek on her crown, I rubbed Katie’s arm as her surprise thickened the air. The fact that she was pregnant only made my seesawing decision easy to make, and I stared hard at the back of the driver’s seat under furrowed brows. “I’ve been considering it for a long while. Since we started seeing each other seriously, actually. There’s so much I haven’t done because I’ve worked myself half to death. So, I’m going to start looking for candidates to take on the role of CEO. Someone I can trust so I don’t have to inspect every single decision with a magnifying glass.”
“I would never forgive you if you died because of a man like Bert, Brandon.” My heart ached when Katie’s voice cracked harshly, and I kissed her crown before a soft knock sounded on the window. Popping open my door, I held her hand to help her out of the car, and she heaved several breaths and wiped her face before following. “Do... Do you really think that about our moms, I mean?”
“Seriously?” Katie regained a little of her color against the bright lights lining the garages, and I wrapped my arm around her waist with a chuckle. The place was surprisingly well lit, but Nathan stayed close as we headed for the stairs at one end of the horseshoe. “I’m honestly surprised they haven’t done it yet, really. They’re on the phone literally all the time, and I doubt the idea hasn’t come up yet.”
“That would be nice.” Glancing around, Katie frowned under deeply furrowed brows, and the tension rolling off her was palpable. Being a woman was exhausting. Only a minute ago, she looked ready to burst into tears, and now she just looked pissed off.It’s kinda cute, honestly.“My mom has always wanted grandchildren... like, she would talk to her friends about them when I was, like, ten and stuff. Which is fine and all, I guess, but it’s not like I particularly want to pop out babies one after another. She wants, a horde of them. I tried to get her to work at a daycare once, but she couldn’t get out of bed.”
“I don’t want that, either. It’s a good thing you’re twenty-five, though.” Chuckling as we reached the landing, I squeezed Katie to my side as she barked a harsh laugh. “Wh—”
“There you are! I’ve been calling you forever, Kat!” Hard steps rushing down the walkway followed the angry, shrill call, and I tore my gaze off Katie to tense. Renee glanced between the two of us with wise, narrowed eyes, and she pursed her lips thinly before speaking up. “So, I take it that you finally realized you were pregnant?”
“What?” Shock thickened my tone, and Renee rocked on her heels to stick her hands in her jeans pockets. Her expression softened, and she shot me a toothy grin that highlighted her extremely Mexican features.
“I’m a natal nurse at Saint Sebastian’s, and I’ve had three of my own. I figured it out before you went away for a month. I wasn’t going to say anything, though. Anyway.” Turning her attention to Katie, Renee’s casual response stunned me, and I blinked hard under tightly knit brows. “That guy who’s been sitting outside your apartment for three hours. Do you know him? He spent, like, an hour alone banging on the door, drunk, yelling that you betrayed him or something. I even heard him say he should’ve ‘taken what he’s owed’ or something. What’s that about?”
“Uh, yeah... that’s Mason. He’s been a little... well, he’s not happy that I’m in a relationship.” Glancing up at me, Katie’s eyes flashed vividly, and I huffed softly before she turned back to Renee. “This is Brandon, the guy I told you about? Ah, we’re actually marriednow.”
“Oh... Brandon, yes, the guy—did you figure out the thing about the thing?” Katie nodded furiously as I glanced between the two of them, and Renee’s smile widened as she bopped her head from side to side. “Good. Okay. I just wanted to know you were okay. It really freaked us out before. I was considering calling the cops, but when my husband and I opened the door, he ran away. I had Julio stay with me while I watered your plants, just in case, but we saw him run down the street.”
“Thanks. If he does show up again, feel free to call the cops. I didn’t tell him I was moving out.” Renee nodded, turning on her heel to saunter two doors down, and I reached to rub my jaw as Katie pulled her keys out of her pocket. Quietly debating what ‘the thing’ was, I only shook my head after a moment, and Katie stepped out of my arms to unlock her apartment door.
