Weathering the Storm by Brynn Paulin
Chapter Eighteen
~ Heller ~
She stared at me, her head shaking back and forth, but no words coming from her mouth. I knew she wasn’t answering no to my question. Tears streamed down her too-pale cheeks, and I was afraid she might crumple to the bathroom tiles.
“Becca…” I prompted.
“I… It wasn’t on purpose. At least, not consciously. I don’t… I’m keeping it, but I don’t want this to change your plans. We’ll be okay. I promise. But you still have to go to college and pursue your dreams. Become a lawyer. I—”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I chided. I was filthy, covered with oil from the garage, but I stepped in and pulled her into my arms, needing to hold her.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, “and you’re leaving.” She held up the stick between us, showing me the two pink lines.
She was having my baby. The love of my life was having my baby.
“We’re having a baby,” I breathed, barely able to think of anything but that. The baby and her, the very center of my universe.
“You have to leave us.”
I shook my head. “No, babe.”
“You can’t give up your dreams,” she insisted.
“I won’t. I promise. Remember how I told you we just need to figure out the how? This is one of those.” I caught her chin and brushed my lips over hers. “Were you thinking of not telling me?”
She bit her lip, and her gaze skittered away.
“Becca…” I chided. I knew I should be angry that she’d considered it, and if she’d actually kept the secret, I’d have been pissed. But I knew her. This was something she wouldn’t have been able to keep from me for long…especially since I had zero intention of leaving her behind. We hadn’t worked out that part yet—more like she didn’t understand she was coming with me, yet—but pregnant or not, she would have been by my side.
“Not forever,” she confessed. “I couldn’t keep that from you.” She sighed. “I haven’t figured out anything. My head has been in a jumble all day. All week, at least. Do you think that’s baby brain already? I’ve heard there’s something called baby brain where you—”
“Becca,” I interrupted. Her eyes met mine, and I smiled, trying to show her all my feelings for her. “I love you.”
“You do?”
I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. She sounded so shocked. “Yes, completely.” My oil-covered hand flattened over her belly. “I’m so happy you’re having our child. That we’re going to have this life together. I know it won’t be easy, but my life has never been easy. It will be a lot better with you by my side, though. And I will do everything I can to give you the best life I can. I want to give you everything.”
“I don’t need everything,” she said emphatically. “I just need you!”
“And our baby.”
“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes glassy, but she didn’t look as if the world were ending anymore. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I think you should quit your job. Pack this place up. Come with me in two weeks. We’ll settle into the apartment there and explore the area a little before I start school.”
“I think they’re going to fire me, anyway.”
“Nah, they know what an asset they have in you. That’s why Simon is such an asshole, but has never acted on a single thing he’s said.”
“You think?”
I nodded. “There were rumors at school about him, because of his daughter going there. Enough rumors that there’s probably some substance somewhere. I wouldn’t be averse to digging if I have to.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“His daughter was a nice kid. Shy and withdrawn, but not someone I’d want to inadvertently hurt by dragging out dirt on her dad. So I kept it in my back pocket…just in case. You were handling him, and as much as I wanted to swoop in and kick his ass, I didn’t think you’d appreciate it.”
“I love you, too, you know.”
“I was hoping.”
“I do. I love you so much, Heller. I don’t know how everything will work, but I want to figure it out with you.”
“Isn’t that life, though? You never know how things will go; not for sure. All I know for sure is I don’t want to do it anymore without you by my side.” I caressed her belly. “You and our baby.”
“Just promise me you’ll never give up on your aspirations, okay?”
“You are my dream. Not having you would be worse than not going to law school. My life wouldn’t be better without you. I need you,” I vowed. “But yes, I’ll be the best damn lawyer there ever was. And you will be that lawyer’s wife.”
“Will I?”
“Yes. Because you’re mine,” I growled, because I loved watching her little shivers when the dominance crept into my tone. I gathered the skirt of her dress in my hands. I’d already ruined it with my greasy hands. Staring into her eyes, I rent it from the hem to her waist where the front fastened like a shirt. With a second rip, buttons went flying.
“Heller!” she gasped, laughing.
“Let’s take a shower and celebrate before I have to go to work at the restaurant.”
“You are kind of dirty.” She unfastened her bra and let it drop. Her panties followed a few moments later. My gaze fell to her still-flat belly. Soon, it would round with our child. I couldn’t wait to see it, to curve my hands on it and feel the kicks. To bury myself in her, knowing my seed grew inside her body.
“You have no idea how dirty,” I told her, thinking how inventive we could be in bed. She smirked, guessing my meaning, and I drew my fingers in a path along her exposed breast, leaving a streak in their wake. “I’m marking you up, too.”
“Already marked as yours,” she assured me.
“I want my ring on your finger.”
“Okay.”
Lifting her into my arms, I set her on the vanity and stepped between her legs. “We’ll go to the courthouse tomorrow to apply for the license. Get married next week.”
“Okay.”
I leaned my forehead to hers. She was my calm in this fury of life. “Wasn’t asking, baby.”
She shook her head, giggling. “You’re like a tornado sometimes.”
“Nah…I’m your refuge, and we’re going to weather this storm together.”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw the perfect contentment I sought because she was my refuge, too. “Yes,” she agreed. “We will. I love you, Heller.”
“I love you, too, weathergirl. I love you forever.”
