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“She and I had a DNA test done,” I told Lincoln. He looked over at me with an arched eyebrow. “The baby is not mine.”
He stared at me for a moment as everything clicked together in his head. “Holy shit,” he finally breathed. “The baby is mine.”
I nodded at him. “She cried for a while, terrified that I would hate her.” I snorted. Silly girl. “She should have fucking known better. I told her from the moment I saw those pregnancy tests on the counter that I was with her no matter what.” I sighed. “Then she started crying again because she was terrified you wouldn’t ever get out of jail.”
“Christ,” he swore, shaking his head.
I turned on my blinker to turn into the driveway of my place. The sale was done on it, but the new owners were giving me time to finish getting everything else moved out of it. “You need to get in touch with Dr. Gresham because she needs to see you, Lincoln. She’s been brave and strong as fuck, but I know this is hard for her. She fucking misses you, bro.”
“Yeah.” He sighed and ran his hands down his face. “I’m biologically a fucking dad.”
I laughed, clapping my hand to his shoulder. “Eh, you’re not alone in this, though,” I reminded him. “We’re both with West. That kid gets two dads, not just one.”
He nodded, but I knew what was going through his mind. His dad had walked out of his life when he was ten. I’d been there to watch it fuck him up inside. And his mother turned to drugs to deal with the heartache.
“You’re going to make a fucking phenomenal dad, Lincoln.” He turned his head to face me. “You’re not your dad, and you’re definitely not your mom,” I reminded him.
He blew out a harsh breath. “Thanks,” he gruffly replied.
I nodded once and got out of the car. Lincoln did as well. “So, this place you bought—any houses for sale around it?” he asked.
“For what?” I asked, confused. I stepped up onto the porch to go unlock the front door.
“Me, dumbass,” He retorted.
I cut him a look over my shoulder, frowning at him. “Why the fuck would you need your own place? That place is West’s, whether my name is on it or not. We live there with her. There’s no reason for the three of us to live separately.”
His eyes widened in surprise. What the fuck did he think was going to happen? She needed both of us, and there was no reason we all couldn’t live together. We needed to. “She going to be okay with that?” Lincoln asked me. “You know how she is about her independence and her space, Jessie.”
I grunted. It was easy to forget that he didn’t know who she was now. Julian hadn’t been wrong; we would have to learn everything about her all over again because she wasn’t the same.
“You’ll understand when you get to see her,” I told him. “She’s changed, Lincoln, and the woman she’s growing into…she’s fucking amazing. She’s going to blow you the fuck away with how much she’s grown and matured.”
Lincoln grinned. “I can’t wait. I always knew West was destined for more and greater things.”
Lincoln
I followed Meghan to the room she said West would be in. “She might be sleeping. The baby makes her pretty tired these days. I always tend to find her napping after she’s had something to eat.”
She pushed open the door and released a quiet laugh. “Yep, napping. Go on in and wake her up,” she told me. “Dr. Gresham is giving you three hours with her.”
I walked into the room and kneeled beside the couch West was sleeping on, taking a minute to drink her in. She’d gained some weight, and it looked healthy on her. Her face was smoothed out, no tension riding her features.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered.
I reached out and gently cupped her cheek, rubbing my thumb over her cheekbone. She released a soft groan as she slowly opened her beautiful green eyes.
“Lincoln,” she breathed as she stared at me.
I gave her a warm smile. “Hey, baby.”
Tears welled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. I laughed when she launched herself off the couch at me, sending us both toppling to the floor. Wrapping my arms around her, I leaned up to kiss her. She moaned, eagerly kissing me back.
She slowly leaned back to smile down at me. “I missed you.”
Fuck, she was so goddamn beautiful. Her eyes were no longer guarded, and instead, she was letting me see everything she was feeling. It was breathtaking.
“God, I missed you, too,” I told her, my voice hoarse. “I never truly knew how much I needed you, too, until we were separated, baby.”
I sat up, and she straddled my legs on the floor before she wrapped her arms around my neck and tightly hugged me. “I just need this for a moment,” she quietly told me.
