He said nothing, waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop.
"Well, I've just been thinking.” She let out a long breath. "And I came to the conclusion that what we have here might have just all been in my head, you know?"
“What was?” he started and she shook her head.
"I liked the idea of a big happy family, but that's not who we are. I don't love you. I hardly even know you."
He could see the determined set of her jaw. Hear the chill in her voice, but still, he couldn’t stop himself from trying. “We’ve spent months together now—”
"Months doing what?” she asked with a shrug. “Preparing for our baby. I love this baby with all my heart and all that energy...well, somehow I think it got passed on to you, and I don't think it's right to lead you on. When the baby is old enough to be away from me overnight, we can talk about custody days and things like that, but I think it would be better if we were co-parents at a distance rather than a couple."
Was this seriously happening? His brain reeled wildly, running through the past few months, combing through every memory for some clue that this was on the horizon, but he came up empty. “Tawny, I don't know what the fuck happened in the past two days, but if you just tell me--"
"Nothing happened, Luke. I just came to my senses. This baby is coming. Soon. And we need to make sure we're being practical. Our decisions now lay the groundwork for the rest of his life."
"And two loving parents together--"
"Look, don't make me say it," she snapped, and then he looked at her--really looked at her and saw the hurt and pain on her face. The way her mouth twisted and trembled.
"Tawny--"
"I don't want some life where I'm stuck with you forever just because we had a baby together. Is that what you want me to say? Is that what you want to hear?"
He swallowed hard. "Only if it's the truth."
"It is."
Fuck, that hurt.
He stood from the table and paced toward her. "You love me. Three days ago, you loved me. I could feel it, Tawny. What happened?"
"I'm not going to argue this with you. I'll text in a few days and we can discuss if we need a mediator or if we should get lawyers involved."
"Lawyers?" He blinked. "What the hell? What are you--"
"Custody. You can keep everything from the baby shower here. Your family gave most of it to you anyway--it wouldn't be right for me to keep any of it besides the crib from Suzette."
"You can't afford to replace all that stuff.”
"I'll manage." She stood and stalked toward the door, her shoulders high and proud. “Goodbye, Luke. I’m sorry to put you through all this.”
“Don't go--"
But it was too late. With a click of the door behind her, she disappeared and he was left in his room, staring at the stacks of gifts from the shower and wondering what the hell had just happened.
How had it all gone so wrong? And right when he was about to propose...
For the briefest moment, the shock wore away and he was left alone with what replaced it--a deep, seething grief. And anger. And confusion.
It all came over him like waves and he found himself running to the door to chase after her one minute, then stalking back across the room and punching the fucking wall the next.
He needed to get out of this room--to go to a bar, to find some release and vent. But then, if he went someplace like that, everyone would know. Word would spread around this town that he and Tawny had split and, before long, people would be coming up to him, asking him about how he was holding up. He didn't want that--couldn't handle it.
So, instead, he hauled the box with the crib inside down the steps and into his car, then did the same with the rest of the gifts. Tawny didn't want this stuff?
Too fucking bad, she didn't have a choice.
If she was going to leave him, she sure as hell wasn't going to leave behind everything that reminded him of her, too. Their child would soon be reminder enough.
So he drove to her apartment and dropped the boxes off in front of her door, careful not to make a sound, then, when he'd unloaded everything, he got back in his car, slammed the door and hit the road.
He didn't know where he was going or why--all he knew was that he had to do something to get out of his own head and focus.
Focus on himself and the fact that now he would be a single father.
The fact that after all these years of needing so desperately to be in a better situation than his parents, he'd landed exactly where they'd started out...except worse.
She'd already tried to keep their baby from him once and now she was doing it again. Visitation every other weekend wasn't fatherhood. Hell, seeing his kid three times a week wasn't even fatherhood.