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“I’d want you to be at the doctor’s appointments, helping me plan a nursery, the birth. Picking out strollers and clothes. I see you by my side.” My voice was soft.
My eyes met his as he said, “Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.”
“How do you feel about this? You haven’t said.”
“You were wound so tight I was afraid you’d break.”
“I’m okay now.” His insistence on me visualizing the future had softened something inside me.
“I’m surprised, but I’m happy. I want this with you. I want a future, a home, a family. I love you,” he said.
I blinked. “You do?”
“That’s what I was trying to say that night when you stayed in my guest room. I guess I didn’t do a very good job. I love you. I panicked the other day when I heard Austin would be speaking to the media. I fell back into old habits. But I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to stay and plan a future with you.”
“Is this because I’m pregnant?”
“Not just because of that. I talked to Ethan. Got some things straight in my head.”
Emotions swirled in my gut. He loved me. “I wasn’t sure I could tell you how I felt. I worried you’d think I was only telling you because I’m pregnant.”
“I wouldn’t believe that of you. You can be honest with me.”
I took a deep breath and let out everything I’d been thinking the last couple of days. “I love you too, and when you pushed me away the other night, I thought it was too late. That you didn’t feel the same. Or that it didn’t matter because Brody comes first. I completely understand that.”
“Don’t you see? This changes everything.”
“But I don’t want my pregnancy to change anything. I don’t want you to change your mind because of my situation if leaving is what’s best for Brody.”
“Your pregnancy isn’t a situation. You’re carrying our child, and I couldn’t be happier and more excited for the future.”
It was like he was saying everything I’d ever imagined a man would say in that situation. But I’d been burned before. “How can I trust that?”
My voice broke.
He stepped closer, cupping my cheeks. “I have to earn your trust. I think we both know actions speak louder than words.”
I wanted to ask how he planned to do that, but I was too scared to hope for something different.
“I know you don’t trust me yet. And that if you were on your way, I blew it the other night on the phone. But I’m asking you to give me a chance to prove it to you.”
“I want to give that to you.” But something was holding me back.
He took a step backward, his hands dropping away. “I have some work to do.”
I wanted to grab his hands and pull him to me, but I couldn’t. I needed something more than words.
“I’m going to show you that I’ll be there for you. All you have to do is feel my love and support.”
In a perfect world, we’d be talking about how the future would look, doctor’s appointments, where we’d live, how we’d manage work, but I wasn’t sure we were there yet. “That sounds so easy.”
“I know it might not be for you, and that’s okay. I’m a patient man.” His voice was sure. Confident.
He was happy I was pregnant. He wanted the child. He’d quit the minors to help Austin take care of Brody. I couldn’t say he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. He did. He seemed sincere, and I had no reason to doubt him, other than his declaration that he was leaving town.
“Are you still planning to move?”
His expression fell slightly. “I need to talk to Brody and Austin. But now, I don’t want to leave you.”
