Beyond Broken(80)

Her brow lowered in confusion, "We?"

"You should end your apartment lease and give them notice you're moving out." 

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You'll be moving in with me," he informed her.

Her jaw dropped. "No, I won't be."

Caleb just raised a brow that said, Oh, you're not? Try me.

Maddie got flustered. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean this changes anything between us. You can be in the child's life obviously, but we're better off not together."

"Bullshit," he said. "This changes everything, princess."





* * *





He couldn't be serious.

Maddie gaped at Caleb in complete disbelief.

"Look at you, Maddie," he said, his gaze raking down her body. "You're not taking care of yourself."

She felt herself flush, but she couldn't deny his words.

"And now, I've just become very invested in your well-being. And how exactly did you think you'd be able to manage this pregnancy if you couldn't even afford car repairs?"

Maddie knew that he wasn't being malicious, just pointing out facts. It still didn't stop her from feeling like shit. And when she lowered her gaze, he cupped her cheek.

"What were you planning to do?" he asked softly.

"I'm going to stay in school," she murmured. "The baby's due in August. I'll be on summer break by then and I can take the fall semester off if I need to."

Caleb shook his head. "I know how much school is important to you, Maddie, but you can't get too stressed out. It won't be good for either of you."

"You can't tell me whether I'll stay in school or not, Caleb," she snapped. "I've already made my decision."

He stared down at her, assessing. His thumb swiped her cheek and he got a strange look on his face. "And I've made mine."

She frowned. "I'm not moving in with you."

"Think what you want," he said, the picture of confidence. "But I guarantee that you will be. If you want to stay in school, fine. But you won't be working on campus anymore, you won't be throwing away money on your apartment lease, and you'll be living with me so I can keep an eye on you and the baby."

"I will no-"

"Have you eaten today?" he asked, eyebrow quirking.

"I … " No, she hadn't. Her stomach had been in knots all morning just thinking about coming to tell Caleb that she was pregnant. Food had never even crossed her mind.

"That's what I thought," he said, temper rising. "It's past four fucking o'clock, Maddie, and you haven't eaten anything!"

"I didn't know how you'd react," she mumbled. "And I was in classes this afternoon."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. Jesus." His lips pinched down into a scowl. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To go get food in you. And lots of it." He pulled both of them away from the door so he could open it and Maddie knew better than to argue with him when he was in this kind of mood. Maddie had gone through a lot of different scenarios in her head when she imagined telling Caleb the news. But one of them had not been that he'd be pissed over her health and demanding that she move in with him. Out of all the things he could've done-from yelling at her, to denying that the baby was his, to simply walking out of the office-this caught her off guard … this overly attentive Caleb.

Maddie trailed after him as they went down the stairs, passing Caleb's employees and a confused looking Brian. Peter was just entering the garage as they were exiting and he looked at Maddie in surprise, then at Caleb.



       
         
       
        

"I won't be home tonight," Caleb told him. "Make sure you set the alarm before you go to bed."

Peter only nodded and watched as they trailed past him towards Caleb's SUV. Maddie could feel everyone's gaze on them as they walked across the parking lot and climbed into the car.

"What was that about?" she asked him quietly when they drove out of the lot.

"I found him sleeping in a closet about a month ago," he said, still sounding a little pissed. "And then I found out that his son-of-a-bitch father has been beating him where no one could see for the past year. Needless to say, he's been staying with me."

Her heart both softened towards Caleb and went out to Peter. "Oh my God. Is he okay?"

"He's fine now. His parents haven't come looking for him yet."

"You think they will?"

He cut a look over to her at a red light. "I don't know. They don't seem to give a shit as far as I can tell."