Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
It wasn’t until now that I wondered why.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WEST
Maggie’s sobs were breaking my heart. Knowing I’d made her cry like this had me so damn twisted up I couldn’t take a deep breath. I had to calm her down. I’d never heard her this upset, and I never wanted to again.
Taking her arms, I turned her around and wrapped my arms back around her. “Please, baby. Stop crying. I’m sorry. Just please stop this. You’re killing me,” I pleaded.
She nodded her head against my chest and hiccupped, struggling to control her outburst. I kissed the top of her head. This wasn’t like Maggie. Normally when we fought or got into an argument she held her own. She was fiery and tough. That was what I expected from her. Not this.
“I should,” she said, then hiccupped, “have told you.”
She thought I was mad because she hadn’t told me. Hell, I wasn’t sure I had been mad. More frustrated about the way it was all playing out. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. We were supposed to get engaged and married. I wanted her all to myself for a few years. Maybe more. I didn’t want to share her.
Yes, it was fucking selfish, but it was the truth.
More than that, I didn’t want her to think when I proposed that it was because she was pregnant. That wasn’t the memory I wanted her to have. She was supposed to get the perfect story to tell our grandkids. Not this.
I ran my hand down her damp head. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine,” I reassured her.
She nodded and sniffled. The sobbing had stopped, and I had never been more fucking thankful. That shit was soul-crushing. I couldn’t handle it. If anyone else had made her cry like that, I’d have killed them.
“It’s my fault. I forgot it was time for another shot. I didn’t put it on my calendar,” she said, then sniffled again before looking up at me.
I tucked the wet hair hanging over her face behind her ear. “It’s okay,” I repeated.
Her eyes were red and puffy as she frowned. “You were angry. It’s not okay.”
I ran my thumb over her lips. “I was surprised. I reacted like an ass, but I would have handled it better if I’d known it would upset you like this.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “We never talked about kids, but I want this baby, and… and I’m happy about it. Scared but happy.”
A baby. Just hearing her say it was terrifying. But I couldn’t say that. She was scared, and I had to be the one to ease her fears.
“It’s a part of you. I want it too.” That was the truth. Anything that was a part of Maggie, I wanted.
“It’s a part of you, too. It’s both of us. We made it together.” There was a slight tug at the corner of her lips.
“You should start praying now it’s a girl and nothing like me,” I told her.
She laughed then, and the sound was what I needed to mend the pain her crying had caused. Maggie happy was what I needed to keep my world centered.
She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, then swayed slightly. I pulled her tighter against me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling panicked and completely useless.
“Nausea and I’m weak. I need to eat something. It’ll help,” she said softly.
I picked her up and started for the door. “On it,” I assured her.
“West, I can walk,” she said with a small laugh.
“Maybe, but I need you to let me carry you. Please,” I replied. The idea of her fainting or getting hurt was more than I could deal with at the moment. I’d just been informed I was going to be a dad. My reason for living had broken down on me and cried pitifully. I was currently damaged and needed to hold her.
“What if Aunt Coralee sees us?” she asked.
“Not real worried about her at the moment. Just you. Always you,” I told her, then pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MAGGIE
I didn’t cry much. It was rare. West wasn’t used to it, and the way he had gone from angry to hovering over me so quickly had been because of the tears. I knew that. He was beating himself up about making me cry. I felt silly for crying now. My emotions were heightened lately.
When Riley had called and asked me to go shopping with her and Bryony then get ice cream, West had surprised me by encouraging it. After he had carried me to breakfast and fixed me dry toast and orange juice then dried my hair for me, I hadn’t expected him to let me out of his sight all day.
Bryony had been little when Brady and Riley began dating. I had watched her grow up, and she called me Aunt Maggie. Brady had become a dad so easily, as if he were born for the role. Bryony saw him as just that. Her dad. They were something we were used to, as if it had always been.