My Future Husband

Chapter 73

Oh crap.

“You’re...”

She’s... She’s pregnant.

The second she says the words, she screams in agony.

Hope has wanted kids since she was a kid, I’ve never met someone more perfect to be a mum, but here she is, absolutely fucking terrified.

“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.” I tuck her in under my chin, and she wraps her arms around me so tight I can’t breathe.

That’s okay, I don’t need to breathe, I have you.

“Shorty...” Kage appears next to me as Hope screams and cries endlessly into my chest. “What can I do?”

Nothing. There’s nothing any of us can do now. This is her decision to make.

“Pick her up, she can’t walk. We need to take her home. Now.” Teal has no idea what’s going on, giggling and waving at us as Kage slips Hope into the back seat, before I climb in next to her. “It’s going to be okay.”

She doesn’t say a word, just collapses against me with exhaustion. I don’t think she even knows where we are until Kage is putting her down on the couch in the cafe.

“What do you need?” This is exactly why I love Kage. He never tells me what to do, never assumes he knows best. He only ever wants to know how he can help, what he can do, where you need him. I can’t remember how I did this before him.

“Just give us a minute? Get Teal ready for bed, bring him back down here when he needs feeding, but I need to talk to her.” She sits completely lifeless, her tears stopping but I think that’s just because she’s out of them.

“Okay, but shout up if you need me.” The first time she even moves is when Kage cups the back of my head, pressing a kiss to my crown. She looks at us; the delicate placement of his touch, the way he holds our son but never lets me go. Is this what she wants? Or is this what terrifies her?

He tries to walk away, but she leans over the back of the couch, taking his hand.

“I’m sorry. I should have come to see you before-”

“Don’t you worry about it, Beautiful.” He leans down, swiping the tears off her cheeks before replacing them with kisses. “That's better. How are you supposed to be my sunshine with your face raining like that?”

Sunshine. That’s exactly what she is.

For the first time, I see the closest thing to a smile on her face, but then her eyes move from Kage to Teal in his arms, and it all slips away.

Okay, how am I going to approach this? She doesn’t want to be my friend, but given what she’s just told me, I guess some part of her must still trust me, even a little bit.

I go to take the seat next to her, but now she’s calmed down a bit I think that might be too much, so instead take the one opposite, giving her the table between us for protection.

“Are you okay?” Jesus Christ, May! Could you pick a more ridiculous question to start? You just found her crying and alone in the same place she was kidnapped, of course she’s not okay! “I’m sorry, that was fucking stupid.”

“Just a bit.” She's not angry, which is a step up from every other interaction we've had since she came home, but she isn’t open either. She’s guarded, but I think some part of her doesn’t want to be. “I shouldn’t have told you that. This isn't on you to deal with.”

“Will you shut the fuck up? Of course it’s on me, who else would it be? You’re my best friend, I’m supposed to be the one you come to when you have a pregnancy scare.” I wait for her to roll her eyes, or tell me I will never be her best friend, but instead she just buries her face in her hands trying to stop her tears again.