Page 127 of Roses and Skulls

I let her slide off my lap, and she settles next to me, pulling her legs to her chest.

We stare at the ocean, the powerful waves crashing against the beach. “You can tell me anything, Rosie. Just spill it, you’re torturing me. Are you trying to call us off? Cause that’s not happening…”

She cuts me off by handing me something. I stare down at it.

“I didn’t lie to you. I really thought I was on the pill, but Lanie picked up my script and Draven, well, he told me he tampered with it.”

My heart is beating out of control as her words sink into my thick skull, the two pink lines staring at me.

“I’m keeping it. You don’t have to do anything. I don’t expect…” she turns away from me. “I don’t know whose it is.” Her words are strangled as if she’s drowning in sorrow.

No. No. This is not changing anything. I’m here to get my girl. I’m taking her home.

I’m taking them home.

“Nobody knows but my therapist and the doctor I’ve been seeing. You can walk away now. Well, I need a ride home but…” her voice fades.

“Rosie, why didn’t you tell me before now?” I ask, turning her to face me.

She looks everywhere but at me. “I had to get stronger.”

“Baby,” I hush. “You shouldn’t have had to go through this alone.”

It’s then that her watery gaze settles on me. “I’ve never been alone, Elijah. I know that I have many people who will stand beside me no matter what and I had your letters. I never felt alone, trust me.” She turns her face towards the water. “But I needed to go slow. To think about all that had happened. You will need that too. I want you to make a decision for yourself, not for me, not for…” Her hand falls to her stomach and I feel like I’ve just been punched in mine. “Do what is best for you because that is what I did. I’ll keep it a secret until you decide. No one has to know that we… that we’ve been together. It will just be mine,” she finishes softly.

I stare out over the ocean as the sun begins to dip below the horizon and I let out a harsh laugh. “Did you hit your head when you were with him?”

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t remember,” her eyes widen as my hand slowly reaches out and wraps around her throat.

“You must have, if you think for one minute that you’re not mine.” Placing my hand gently over her womb. “And this, this is now mine too.”

“But…”

“No fucking buts, baby. You both belong to me.”

She bites her lip, drawing my eyes there. God, her mouth is perfect. She is perfect.

Relief washes over her in waves as deeply born sobs wrench from her chest. I pull her back onto my lap. “Mine, Rosie. Mine,” I whisper over and over until I’m sure that it will stick. “I don’t need to think about it, and I don’t need a fucking test to tell me it’s mine either, so don’t even go there.” She cries harder as the sun disappears, hopefully taking any remaining doubt with it. “So, do we still get to drive fast on the way home?”

She chuckles, wiping her eyes, her forehead still pressed to my chest. “Maybe just a few miles an hour over.”

“Baby, our kid is going to want to go fast. Trust me.” She laughs again, finally raising her face to look at me. Her face is red and blotchy and fucking beautiful.

“I have something to give you and don’t you fucking dare try to give it back. This little peanut has nothing to do with any of it. This is between me and you. Got it?” I dip my head and catch her crystal blue eyes. She’s happy.

I shift my hips, almost bucking her off, making her giggle again but eventually I get it. When I open the box, her eyes widen. “Elijah,” she says as her finger runs over the stone.

“Lily helped me make it. It reminds me of your eyes when you’re happy.”

It’s a small silver band of diamonds surrounded by a sapphire, not any old sapphire but a cracked one, mended by a seam of gold.

Billie Rose stares at it and then her face drops. “Elijah, I’ve upended your life. It’s quiet here, don’t throw that all away for me. I know your parents miss you.”

“Goddammit, why can’t you just accept that I want this. I want you and whatever comes with that. It might be quieter here but it’s boring. Have you ever known me to like the mundane?”

Her bottom lip slips between her teeth. I gently pull it out with my thumb and then I kiss her. Kiss her like I’ve dreamed of every night since she left. Her mouth slowly parts and she finally lets me in. My fingers wrap around her bottom, pulling her close. We are both panting by the time I pull away.

I take the box from her and slip the ring on her finger, kissing it before meeting her eyes.

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