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“Sit down, Drake,” she calmly ordered.
I shook my head. “No. What’s—”
“Sit. Down. Drake,” she commanded again, this time emphasizing each word.
I slowly sat down on the edge of the couch next to my dad, tension riding my muscles. Mom drew in a deep breath and then slowly released it, like this was hard for her to break to me.
“Elizabeth is terrified to tell you, so I told her I’d break the news to you for her.” She looked down at me. “You love her, right, Drake?” I nodded, confused as fuck as to why she was asking me that. “And you won’t leave her, will you?”
“Never,” I rasped. The mere thought of her no longer being mine fucking hurt.
What the fuck was going on?
Mom blew out a soft breath and clasped her hands in front of her. “Elizabeth is pregnant, Drake. You’re going to be a dad.”
I choked. All of the air in my lungs felt like it’d been punched out of me. Dad clapped a hand to my shoulder, tightening his grip to the point it hurt to keep me grounded. “Breathe, Drake,” he ordered.
I sucked in a deep breath and shook my head, trying to wrap my head around this.
“So, he didn’t…he didn’t r-rape her?” I stuttered.
Mom shook her head, understanding passing over her features. Dad wrapped an arm around my shoulders and drew me against his side. “The only time he touched her was to drag her around the house and to the abortion clinic, which he failed at forcing her to get.”
“Oh, thank God,” I breathed, lurching from the couch. “He didn’t touch her, not like I’d been fearing.”
Then, I rushed past my mom and to the kitchen. Elizabeth was staring blankly at the table, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. When she heard my boots thump across the tile, she looked up, agony and fear residing in the depths of her eyes. It wrenched my soul apart.
“Oh, baby,” I whispered, quickly eating up the distance between us. “I’m here, baby girl. I’m here for both of you, and I’m not letting either of you go.”
13
Drake
I was going to be a fucking dad.
A dad.
If you’d asked me at the beginning of the school year how I planned for my senior year to go, none of this came into the plan. Not Elizabeth. Not her staying with me. And certainly, not a baby.
But to be honest, I’d never change any of it. Even if it meant things would be harder for both of us from here on out, I still wouldn’t change it. I loved her. And I would love our baby just as much.
I lifted her from the chair, and she wrapped her arms and legs around me, clinging to me like a my own personal spider monkey. I pressed my lips to her temple and carried her up the stairs to my room, which would hopefully soon become our room. I never wanted to be apart from her.
“I’m here, baby girl. Everything’s going to be okay,” I soothed when I felt her tears begin to wet my skin. I tightened my hold on her and sat on my bed, scooting backward until I could lean my back against the headboard. “I’m never going anywhere,” I swore.
“This weekend has sucked,” she croaked.
I rested my chin on her shoulder. She needed to decompress. I knew that. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the shit she’d gone through this weekend. And I hoped I could convince her to press charges against her dad when she was calm enough to discuss that. He needed to pay for what he’d done to her.
“It has,” I agreed. “But you’re here with me again, and I’m never letting you go back to that house. And your parents can never force you back there, you hear me? They’ll have to get through me and my parents first. You’re safe, and so is our baby.”
She hiccupped. “I love you,” she croaked, her voice wobbling.
Fuck.
Those words…they were everything. And I would cherish them for the rest of my fucking life.
“I love you, too, baby. More than you’ll ever fucking know,” I swore.
She snuggled closer to me. “I know I need to eat, but I need a nap,” she whispered. “Please don’t let go.”
I shook my head. “Never, baby.”
She rested her head on my shoulder, getting a little more comfortable on my lap. It wasn’t long before exhaustion won out, and she was snoring. I grabbed my phone and began to text Kaleb, needing to talk to someone about all of this.
Bro… you won’t fucking believe this shit.
What’s going on?
It’s been a crazy fucking day. Went to check on Liz only to find her locked in her room. Parents were treating her like shit. She was a fucking mess, man.
You get her out?
Yeah, she’s here with me. But that’s not all…. fuck, man, I’m going to be a fucking dad. She’s pregnant.
