8
Reed
For most men, another guy’s baby would be a deal-breaker. They’d be angry and lashing out, saying stupid shit they don’t mean. Hurting their woman.
Thank fuck, my parents raised Theo and me better than that.
When I should have been sleeping, getting ready to pick Hope up from the hospital this morning, I was busy rearranging her living room to be more functional for her needs over the next few days. She’s in pain and should have everything on one floor. I’ve turned half of her sofa into a bed for her, making sure there’s a table nearby to put her things on. I brought over my recliner because that beast is the comfiest piece of furniture I’ve ever sat in.
And I won’t be going anywhere either. I’ve taken the next two days off so I can be around to help her more. I also hit the supermarket as soon as it opened this morning to stock up on a few things she might like to eat or I can make for her. I might have also grabbed two boxes of diapers.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe she isn’t looking to have me in her life in the same way I still want her in mine. But I know I won’t give up without a fight. I want her as my girl, my wife, the mother of my children. And that means claiming the child she carries now.
A little girl.
Hope is having a baby girl. Even though the infant isn’t biologically hers, I know she’s going to have her momma’s compassionate soul.
Noticing the time on the dashboard, I hop out of my truck and quickly make my way inside just as visiting hours begin at the hospital. I’ll be by Hope’s side for as long as she’ll allow me to.
Stopping in the flower shop first, I grab a bouquet of pink daisies and a small pink teddy bear. Arriving on her floor, I quietly enter Hope’s room to see her curled on her side, the bruises from her accident yesterday more pronounced now. But what kills me inside is the noticeable tear stains on her cheek.
She’s been crying and doing so for a while.
Placing the flowers on the small table and the bear in the chair, I climb on the bed behind her. Spooning my body to hers, I slip one arm under her head and the other across her hips. Pulling her as close to me as I can get her, I kiss the back of her head.
“Whatever’s got you so torn up, I’m here, Hope,” I reassure. Her body relaxes slightly, and I like to think it’s because she registers that I’m with her.
Grazing my free hand along her side, I stop when I reach her belly bump. It’s still small, and with the baggy sweaters she always wears, I’m not surprised I never noticed. Gently curving my hand around the precious cargo, I close my eyes and savor the intimate moment when I feel a slight movement. Nothing significant but enough to let me know she’s growing a little life inside of her.
Not long passes before I feel her breathing change and her body tense up as she feels me. “Sshh, pretty girl, it’s just me.” I try to calm her.
“You’re here.” Her words are filled with surprise.
Scooting back, I roll her onto her back before speaking again. “Did you think I wasn’t coming back?” Her hesitation makes me frown. “You thought the baby was going to make me run?” She nods this time.
Blowing out a deep breath, I’m not sure how to explain my train of thought on this. “Kids don’t scare me, Hope. The idea that there is another man out there, one that you might love, that fucking terrifies me. Because the only man I want you to love is me.”
“You do?” She breathes the question.
“Yeah, pretty girl, I do. I’m selfish and possessive, and would I rather it was my baby in your belly? Maybe. In the future. But her, little peanut here, she deserves everything you plan to give her and so much more. You both have suffered a tremendous loss, and if you’ll have me, I plan to love you both until my dying breath.”
Hope’s eyes water. “Don’t do that. Don’t cry. I can’t handle it when you cry.”
“I’m sorry.” She wipes at the tears in her eyes.
“Don’t be sorry. Just say you believe me and let me work on making you fall in love with me.”
“I believe you, Reed.” A grin takes over my face, and soon, she fashions one too, and I think it’s the first genuine smile I’ve seen from her.
Hope
“Don’t move,” Reed barks as he jumps out of his truck and rushes around to my side to help me out. From the moment I woke up this morning, Reed has been tender and loving. Attentive to the range of my possible feelings.
We’re both treading unchartered waters here, and I don’t want either of us to be walking on eggshells around one another.
As he opens my door, I lift a hand for him to stop. “Reed, please, don’t feel obligated to take care of me like this. I might be a bit fragile right now, but I’m not incapable.”
“Pretty girl. I’d never think of you like that. This is just me wanting to take care of you. We’ve had nothing but ups and downs since the day you moved in, and I want this to be how we begin our relationship together.” His honesty is refreshing. While it might not be something he’s used to showering on a partner all the time, I’m humbled that he gives it so freely to me.
“Thank you, Reed.”
“For what?” he questions after closing the truck door and placing a hand on my back as we walk to my front door.
Struggling to find the right words and emote what I’m feeling is difficult. “For accepting me the way you have. For not getting angry and walking away.”
Standing on my porch, facing each other, Reed cups my jaw and leans down. Our lips brush in a tender kiss. Not meant to incite driving lust but intended to reinforce our growing feelings.
His arms wrap around my back, and before we can deepen the kiss, I’m reminded of the pain from the accident.
“Shit. Sorry. Let’s get you inside and relaxing, so you can feel better quicker.” Unlocking the door, he closes it behind us, and when I gaze around the room, I’m stunned.
“You moved things around,” I whisper. The couch is by the window like I wanted, facing towards the rest of the main floor. As my belly grows, this will make things easier to move around, instead of darting around furniture.
“It’s more functional this way. Those idiot friends of your brother's shouldn’t have just dumped shit and left.” He shakes his head, and the glower he’s wearing shows his frustration.
Now that I’m not hiding who I am from Reed anymore, and he understands my flaws, I find reading him is marginally easier. Like now, with his brows drawn inwards, I can tell that’s his annoyance or frustration. And I noticed in the hospital, when he smiled at me before I was discharged, that his eyes crinkle in the corners with his happiness or amusement.
Reed is open to me in a way that even Luca isn’t. My brother remains a mystery to me in some ways, and when I first met Reed, he was too. Now I comprehend just a little more.
“I didn’t want to be a bother,” I tell him as he helps me into a recliner that I know isn’t mine. “Where did this come from?” I stare up at him as he places a blanket across my lap.
He shrugs. “My place. You needed the best.”