Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Do lunch?” He immediately picks up on it. “Since when do you ask me to do lunch?”
She groans, “It’s during the week, so I don’t know if you made plans or not.” I walk around the other side of the bed, lying down on my side and putting my head in my hand as I watch her talk to her father. “Forget I asked, I’ll just do lunch with Mom.”
“What time are you arriving? I’ll pick you up at the airport.” She looks over at me and I lift a hand, telling her I have no idea what to say.
“I don’t have the time yet, I’ll send it to you once I book the ticket,” she tells him and I nod, making a mental note to get her a plane ticket when she gets off the phone.
“Sounds perfect, sweetheart. I look forward to having lunch with you.”
“Okay, I get it, Dad,” she grumbles, “I’ll see you next week.”
“I love you, honey,” he says and she looks down at the phone, her bottom lip quivering.
“Love you too,” she replies and quickly hangs up on him before he notices her voice cracking. “Your child has me all emotional and shit.” She looks at me with her eyes filled full of tears and it’s like you kicked me in the stomach. Apart from watching her be sick, this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. She wipes a tear away. “Looks like we’re going to Dallas,” she tries to joke.
I smirk at her. “Back to the scene of the crime.” I wink at her and the tears are suddenly gone and in their place is the laughter I love.
“That’s what I like.” I curl up and wrap my legs and my arms around her. “When you smile.” I kiss her neck before she melts into me. “It’s going to be okay, baby.”
“You promise?” she asks me.
“Absolutely,” I say to her and she looks up at me, while I smirk at her, “not.”
twenty-five
Ariella
The car stops and I look up, seeing I’m at the airport. I grab the bag from beside me. “Thank you so much,” I say as I open the door and get out of the car.
Putting the bag over my shoulder, I head straight into the terminal and to security. It’s too early in the morning for there to be so many people here, I think to myself as I stand in line waiting to be screened.
I grab my phone and pull up the text thread that I have with Lexi and Zoey.
Me: At the airport and on my way to tell my parents I’m with child.
I glance at the top corner of the phone and see it’s just a bit past six in the morning, and I doubt either of them are up. But I’m somehow not shocked when Lexi answers me first.
Lexi: You sound like you are having an immaculate conception instead of you got caught with your pants down.
Me: No one caught us doing anything.
Lexi: On a scale of one to ten, how nervous are you?
Me: One trillion.
Zoey: Will you FaceTime us so we can see his face?
Me: No.
Lexi: I mean, he’s going to freak out for sure.
Zoey: I think he’s going to freak the fuck out.
Me: Thank you so much, you two, for calming me. SO thoughtful.
Zoey: It’ll be fine, Jaxon will be there with you.
Lexi: When Zara told my dad, he called it a mistake and it really hurt her feelings. But then Gabriel was all like King Kong and said I’ll take her away and you’ll never see her again.
Zoey: Ohhh, I’d like to see what Jaxon would do if that happened.
Me: You two are the worst, honestly.
Lexi: It’ll be fine. What is the worst that can happen?
Zoey: They disown her and never talk to her again.
Lexi: Zoey.
Me: Zoey.
Zoey: What?
Zoey: It’ll be fine. Text us after and tell us everything.
Me: Maybe.
I walk up and put my things in the bin before telling the lady, “I’m sorry, I’m pregnant and can’t go through the detector.” She nods at me and tells me to stand to the side where she pats me down.
I grab my things and text Jaxon.
Me: Just got patted down and I’m headed to the plane.
Himeros: Who the fuck patted you down?
Me: Wouldn’t you like to know? See you later.
Himeros: Text me when you land.
Me: Maybe.
I get on the plane and sit down, texting my mother.
Me: I’m on the plane. I'll take a cab when I get there so you don’t have to pick me up.
Mom: I’ll see you later, Ariella.
I put the phone on airplane mode, looking out the window as we taxi down the runway. My stomach is going pitter-patter and up and down. I don’t even want to chance it by eating anything, so I stick to just water. We touch down and I turn my phone on. The first text that comes in is from my mother.