AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“First, can I hug you, right now? Just a hug?”
Her smile lifts the twenty-ton boulder on my chest, and I spring to my feet to meet her. When my arms take her, that soft floral scent fills my nose and my heart finally calms after months on the stormy sea.
It’s several moments before either of us move. Her small arms are unable to reach around me, but I eclipse her. The feel of her hair takes me back to our night together. Before my body starts to react, I pull back and finally step away.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” She laughs at my attempt at casual.
“So you’re pregnant.”
“Yep.”
“I was wondering if I might be lucky enough to be the father?”
Those tears from earlier fall as she nods. The confirmation fills me with a million different emotions. Pride, adrenaline, fear, excitement. Without warning, I bend down and sweep her off her feet, completely caught up in the moment.
“I’m going to be a dad!” I say, twirling around in a circle with my forehead pressed to hers. The moment is calm, when everything goes dead silent. All is right and good in the world and nothing can touch my moment.
Wrong.
“What the actual fuck!”
Our heads snap to the door to find a steaming Milo. His face is beet red, and he looks at me with absolute rage.
Reluctantly, I set Robin back on her feet.
As happy as I felt just a second ago, I feel equally terrible now. I’m not sorry for being with Robin. How could I be? She’s going to make me a father.
All happiness aside, betrayal sits heavy on my gut.
“Milo, calm down. We can all talk about this. He didn’t know,” Robin pleads, standing in front of me, acting as a shield from the damage her brother will most definitely inflict. The man’s not going to physically remove his pregnant baby sister, but I have no doubt I’ve got a knuckle sandwich coming.
“But you did know, Robin. Then proceeded to tell me you didn’t.”
My mind scrambles to think of a way to take the heat off of her. Her tears are back as her brother turns away.
“I’m so fucking mad at the both of you.”
“Milo, come on.”
I fully planned to launch into my speech, but my best friend seethes with anger as he yells again.
“You shut your fucking mouth. I can’t stand the damn sight of you, right now.”
Then we watch as he turns and stomps away, slamming a bedroom door.
“That could have gone better,” Robin whispers in the wake of his departure.
“I don’t think that could have gone any better, but I am surprised my face is intact, to be honest.”
“He’s going to be okay, right? He’ll forgive us?”
“Of course, he will. We just have a lot of trust to earn back. We knew his feelings were involved when we let things, um, escalate. I should have handled it differently. You both deserve better than that.”
She smiles softly up at me with far more respect than I deserve.
“Not that I regret it. If I had my way, I would flip you around right now and lift that skirt of yours.”
