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“Pfft.” She dismisses my concerns with a wave of her hand. “I hadn’t eaten.”
I study her, not following the correlation.
She pats my chest and sits up against the headboard, tucking the covers below her arms.Darn it.“I guess you’ve never been around pregnant women, huh?”
“And you have?” I laugh, joining her, side by side.
“Point taken. But as a pregnant woman, let me tell you a few things.” She starts counting on her fingers. “One: pregnant women throw up. Usually when they’ve waited too long to eat, or a smell turns our stomachs, or…”—she shrugs—“Honestly, sometimes I turn my head too quick, and it makes me nauseated. Two: I’m hungry all the time. Three: My nipples are sensitive as fuck, which leads me to four: I’m horny.” She touches my leg, squeezing hard. “Like, all the damn time.”
“The last three sound amazing.” I’m sure I have a stupid smile on my face.
“Yeah, well, it also comes with the need to pee more than I drink, heartburn strong enough to burn down a city, and mood swings that have me crying or laughing so hard I pee my pants—so there’s a lot of fluid either way.”
God, I know she’s not meaning to be funny, but she’s cracking me up. I try to stifle my laugh behind my fist, but her last remark has me losing it. “It sounds like quite a ride.” I sober as it dawns on me. “I’m sorry I’ve missed it all.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
Somberly, I pull her on my lap. “That’s no excuse. I should have never left. But I’m here now, and I’m not leaving your side.” I kiss her forehead, coaxing her to lay her head on my chest so I can hug her close. “God, I don’t even know how far along you are.”
“Fourteen weeks. I’m in my second trimester.”
“I missed the first one.” Nothing she says will reduce the guilt of knowing I left her alone and pregnant.
“Be glad you did. It was lots of puking and crying.”
“And Rowdy helped you through it?” I already know the answer. He told me himself she cried a lot. But he left out the news of her being pregnant—with my baby.
She nuzzles into my neck. “I’m sorry it wasn’t you too, Gabriel. But I’m glad he was here. I’m not sure I would be this sane if he hadn’t been there. Heartbreak and pregnancy were a full bag to carry.”
Jesus, fuck.I guess she’s not trying to reduce my guilt, after all. Nor should she. I’ve been a dumbass.
I squeeze her tighter. “I’ll make it up to you. Every fucking day of our lives. I promise.”
She sits back, a hand flat on my chest, her eyes clear of remorse. “We needed that time. I needed time to find my way and realize if I had to, I could live without you.” Her voice cracks, and a tear slides down her cheek. She quickly wipes it way before I can, but not before my heart that’s been thumping away since I laid eyes on her skips and falters, breaking a little more for the pain I’ve caused her.
She pats my chest until she’s able to continue, “You… You needed the time to realize you couldn’t live without me. Your fear of having a future with me wasn’t bigger than your fear of no future at all.”
No lie. “Damn, my Angel is smart.” Forehead to forehead, I give it up. “I promise you, here and now, I’m a better man for knowing you. I’m a better man for leaving you. And I sure as hell am a better man for coming back, begging you to love me and forgive me for all the shit I’ve put you through.”
She presses her lips to mine. “Never forgotten. Always forgiven.”
I kiss her back, but before I can get my tongue inside her delectable mouth, she bounces from the bed. “Now that we’ve got that settled.” She picks up her phone and dials, putting it on speaker and tossing it on the bed as she starts to collect her toiletries from my bathroom. Her clothes aren’t in here. She admitted earlier that while using my bathroom was practical, she couldn’t sleep in here without me. It made my absence more painful, a fact I’m distracted from dwelling on due to her current state of nakedness. Not a bit of shame in her as I watch my baby mama move about the room.
When a familiar voice answers, I sit forward, glance at the clock and wonder what my Angel is up to.
“Cap?” She pauses her packing and sits next to me, her phone now on my lap.
“Hey, honey. How you feeling?” His love for her is apparent by the warmth in his voice. I guess he’s not pissed at her.
And I just figured out he knew she was pregnant too.Who else knows?The thought is dismissed by the sound of my name.
“Gabriel has some crazy idea he’s throwing his fight. I need help getting him back to Vegas. Can you help?”
“That depends.” Cap’s cool tone comes through loud and clear. He has a demand. I’m not sure I want to hear it.
She frowns. “Depends on what?”
“Gabriel?” He must have figured I was close by.
