I snorted at the insinuation that she might not be.
“—then you need to get married, baby girl.”
Bailey’s eyes darted between Jack and Milo, her brows lowered, a frown marring her beautiful face.
“All those years wasted, Bailey. We could have been a family. You don’t want to take that away from your son or daughter, do you?”
Bailey’s eyes filled with tears. “No,” she agreed, “but this isn’t the same thing, Dad. Wyatt knows, and I have no intention of keeping them apart if there is a baby.”
“Besides,” Jack huffed, “she has us now. She doesn’t need a fair-weather husband who wouldn’t know commitment if it bit him in the ass.”
One more comment and so help me, I was going to staple his mouth shut.
“Jack!” Milo snapped. “You’re not helping.”
Bailey’s watery eyes were fastened on Jack, a flash of fear darkening the ocean blue.
“Jack is right, though, isn’t he?” she asked in a whisper, looking back at her dad. “I have my family to support me.” I’d never seen Milo wear the expression that came over his face, she was clearly precious to him, and it notched up my admiration for him in every way.
“Of course, baby girl. No matter what you decide, we’ll be here for you.” His countenance suddenly perked up, his face hopeful. “Does this mean you’ll move here permanently?”
This whole discussion was ridiculous and it was starting to piss me off. I didn’t know where she was visiting from, but I’d be moving her ass here and into my house as soon as possible. We were getting married and could get to know each other as man and wife. Besides, I already knew she was my forever, and now that we were having a baby, it would be easier to convince her.
“Of course, she’ll move here,” I barked. “My wife and baby will be living with me.”
Bailey glared at me, and I just shrugged. This wasn’t up for debate, it was the way it was going to be, damn it.
Chapter 5
Bailey
I didn’t appreciate how a man I barely knew thought he could make decisions about my life for me. Unless you counted carnal knowledge because he certainly had that in spades. I shook my head, trying to focus on anything but the images of how he gained that knowledge.
“We don’t even know if there is a baby,” I argued, my focus wholly on Wyatt as my dad stood and moved away to let him get closer to me. Sure, my period was late, and the smell of pot roast had just made me puke my guts up, but it could be something else. Right? “I could have picked up a stomach bug or eaten something which didn’t agree with me.”
Wyatt’s gaze dropped to my belly and then moved back up to my face to meet mine. “You didn’t catch anything except my baby.”
I lowered my voice to the barest whisper, not wanting my dad or brother to hear any of the details about the night I’d spent with Wyatt. “But you wore a condom both times.”
He crouched down in front of me, taking my hands in his and matching his tone to mine. “It broke, baby. I didn’t realize until I woke up in the morning.” His hold tightened, almost as though he was afraid I’d move away from him. “I would have talked to you about it sooner, but you pulled a vanishing act on me.”
His evident frustration surprised me. It had been hard to leave his home that morning, but I figured it was what I was supposed to do—what he expected from me. I’d acted completely out of character with him, but even while I was freaking out about the situation, I’d felt safe wrapped up in his arms. I hadn’t intended to hurt him, but I was starting to think that’s exactly what I’d done. Maybe I should have listened to my best friend’s advice and gone back to his house the next day. She’d screeched so loudly in my ear while yelling at me for running out on him like that during our call that I’d thought I might go deaf. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d want me there for the whole awkward morning after thing.”
“You thought wrong, Bailey,” he growled, his voice rising slightly. “I wanted you there that morning and every one after.”
“Sure you did,” Jack hissed.
My head jerked up, his interjection surprising me because I’d somehow managed to forget my brother and dad were in the room with us. My fascination with him was just that absolute.
“Stop saying shit to make your sister doubt me,” Wyatt tossed over his shoulder before turning back to me. “Do you know how many Cross families there are in the state of Nebraska? Because I do.”
“How?” I gasped.
“I’ve spent the last month looking for you, Bailey.” It was impossible to doubt the sincerity of his statement. At least it was for me. My brother was an entirely different matter.
“This is bullshit.”
My dad stepped forward and pulled Jack back a few steps. “He’s your best friend, Jack. You’ve known each other forever, and you and I both know he’s a good man. I get that being a big brother is new to you, just like having a daughter to protect is for me, but we both need to let Bailey and Wyatt talk this through without making the situation harder for them.”
“We don’t even know if we have a situation yet,” I groaned, utterly mortified by the whole conversation.
“And that’s where I come in,” Sharon said from the front door, shutting it behind her. I hadn’t even realized she’d left, but she held a bag from the drug store down the street in her hand. She walked over and dropped it into my lap. “Since your best friend isn’t in town, I figured it was my responsibility as your step-mom to run out and buy you a pregnancy test.”
Gripping the bag tightly in my fist, I jumped up from the couch and hugged Sharon. There was no way I could make it through the day without finding out if I was pregnant. Heck, I didn’t even know if I could make it another hour, and now I didn’t have to because of her. I raced back into the bathroom and dumped the contents of the bag onto the counter. There were three different kinds of tests. Who even knew there were so many types available? Scanning the back of each one, I decided to use the one which offered the most obvious result. No pluses or lines for me. I wanted the test that promised to provide early results with the words “pregnant” or “not pregnant” on the display.
I ripped open the box and started to turn towards the toilet when I caught a glimpse in the mirror of Wyatt’s reflection. He was standing in the doorway watching me. “Nope. No way.” I nudged him back a step. “You can wait out there. I’m not going to pee in front of you.”
I shut the door gently, resisting the urge to slam it in his face. It wasn’t his fault the condom broke. I’d been a willing participant in everything we’d done together. My hand dropped to my belly, rubbing lightly, as I walked back to the toilet. I did my business and laid the stick back on the counter. Then I leaned against the door, wanting to be closer to Wyatt but not quite ready to open it and see him yet. My pulse was racing, and my stomach was turning again as I waited for the results to come in. Three minutes never seemed to last quite so long. And then it was over and the results were in.
Pregnant.
I was pregnant.
Ohmigod I was pregnant.
With Wyatt’s baby.
And he was waiting right outside that door.
“There’s no time like the present,” I whispered to myself before pulling the door open.
Wyatt was standing right there, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I knocked you up, right?”
“You’re not supposed to look so happy about it,” I grumbled. “Besides which, these tests aren’t one hundred percent accurate. I should probably find a doctor so I can get a blood test to confirm it.”
His grin turned even more smug and he picked me up and spun me around.
“Put the girl down before you make her sick again,” Sharon chided.
She had a good point because my head was already spinning, and not in shock. This was the light-headed kind where you ended up with black spots dancing in front of your eyes. “No joke.”
“Sorry, baby. I should know better. I promise to do better from now on.” He placed me gently on the couch. “Starting with getting you in to see a doctor today.”
When Wyatt put his mind to something, he got things done, and fast. It was only forty-five minutes later when I found myself in the doctor’s office being ushered back to an exam room with Wyatt by my side.
“The doctor will be in shortly. Go ahead and get into a gown, ties in the front, panties off but you can leave the bra on if you’d like,” the nurse instructed, shutting the door behind her.
“Turn around.” I circled my finger in the air at Wyatt.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before,” he grumbled, but turned and faced the wall as I’d asked. “Touched, licked and sucked it, too.”
“Yeah, you did,” I mumbled under my breath, blushing at the memories while I finished changing into the gown and climbed onto the exam table.
“What?” Wyatt asked.
“I said you can turn around now,” I totally lied.
“You sure that’s what you said?”
I was saved by a quick knock on the door. The nurse from before peeked her head inside. “Hey, the doctor is running a little behind and wanted me to get your blood draw started. Are you decent?”