He blinked a few times then turned to look back out over the city. He was deadly silent for what seemed like minutes on end.
“Rick?” I prompted him to say something.
“Could it be mine?” he asked quietly, barely sounding his voice at all.
“No.”
“How can you be sure? A November due date puts conception pretty fucking close to when we were last together,” he hissed.
“No, Rick! You are not the father of my baby. I’ve had tests and conception was weeks after we had sex for the final time.”
“Had sex,” he muttered angrily under his breath.
“Look, I knew you’d be angry, but it is what it is. At least I didn’t fall pregnant with Bryce’s baby while we were still together.” Shit! I just can’t fucking help myself, can I?
He looked at me with hatred. “I want a paternity test. The timing is too close.”
“You know what, Rick? Fuck you! You have no right to demand this. You cheated on me. You had another child with someone else. This child is not yours, it’s Bryce’s. You have two choices: either calm down and realise I’m telling the truth and re-join the party, or continue to act like a selfish prick who is grasping at straws that are no longer embedded in the earth and go home. What’s it gonna be?”
He pushed off the balustrade and in turning looked at me. “I want the paternity test.” Then he walked back inside and exited the apartment.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After watching Rick storm away from me, I turned back around, facing the still night air that bounced off the surrounding buildings. The sounds of city traffic echoed quietly from 43 floors below, capturing me briefly in their humming lull. My focus shifted from the city ambience when I heard footsteps coming my way.
I’m not sure if it was the sound of his strides toward me made, or the sheer probability that it was him who would be looking for me, or even just the unmistakable feeling I got when he was in my presence. Regardless, I knew Bryce was making his way toward me, and when I felt his warm, strong, loving arms embrace me from behind, I felt at peace again; calm, content, happy and relaxed.
He rested his hands gently on my belly where our child was safe and sound. “Did you tell Rick?”
“Yes. Couldn’t you tell by the way he stormed out of the building?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I knew he wouldn’t like the news, but I never expected him to think the baby was his and then demand a paternity test.”
Bryce spun me around to face him, nearly sending me vertically into the air from sheer rotational lift. “He said what?”
“He wants a paternity test. He said the timing is too close for him to just take my word for it.”
“He’s fucking lucky he has left the building. There is no way I will let him stake his claim to my child.”
“Bryce, settle down,” I said calmly. “No one will be staking claim to our baby but us.”
He wasn’t looking me in the eye, instead killing a focal point somewhere beyond my head with his murderous glare.
I reached up and touched his face. “Hey, look at me. This baby is yours. I am one hundred percent certain of it. So regardless of Rick’s pathetic attempt at whatever it is he is attempting to achieve by his demand, it doesn’t matter. He is wasting his time.” I tenderly rubbed his cheek bones with my thumbs, helping him let go of some of his anger. “I’m yours Bryce.” I placed his hands back on my stomach. “We are yours.”
He sighed dejectedly. “You were once his.”
“You know what? Looking back, I don’t really think I ever was Rick’s. I mean, on the surface...maybe, and on paper...yes. But deep down, I was waiting for you to come along and show me what it is to truly belong to someone: mind, heart, body, and soul.”
He threaded his fingers through my hair, gripping the sides of my face and pulling me to him. The kiss he placed upon my lips and mouth was just about the most passionate, emotional and possessive kiss I had ever experienced, and after he pulled away, I literally had to be forced back to the present moment.
I was standing there, my head supported by his hands which were still firmly placed on either side of my face, and my mouth was open, confused by whether or not it still functioned. I slowly opened my eyes, finding his equally impassioned expression.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I know,” I whispered back.
He growled. “Come on. The kids are on their way back from the arcade. It’s time for your cake and for me to tell the world that I’m the luckiest man alive.”
I smiled at him. “Oh good, because I have been desperately waiting...waiting for...cake.”