Page 102 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

“Well, look at this. It fits. Can you pass me the screwdriver? No? You’re just going to lie there and look cute?”

Silence from Chloe.

I moved to the doorway of Alien’s room. Jackson sat on the floor, head bent over a partially built piece of furniture. Chloe lay on her side and wagged her tail when she saw me. Jackson had already assembled the crib and the matching dresser.

He glanced up at me but didn’t speak. God this man confused me.

“Wow, you assembled Alien’s bed.”

I stepped over Chloe and walked over to the beautiful mahogany crib, running my hand over the smooth wood. He had placed the mattress in the crib. I looked down at the bed, and my heart pounded in my throat. One day Alien would leave the safety of my body and would be out in the world. Tiny and helpless. And I would be responsible for his care. The thought was almost paralyzing.

Jackson stood up behind me and slid the dropside rail down. “Here’s the clasp to move the rail up and down.”

As we stood there, it dawned on me that we were in this together.We were having a baby. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. How had we gotten here?

“You ordered the crib,” he said. “From New York?”

I ran my hand over the tiny mattress. “Yes.”

“Okay, make sure you give me the receipt so that I can pay you back.”

My entire body froze. I looked over at him. He moved back to his project on the floor, the change table. I had ordered the bedroom set from an exclusive baby store called Giggle, in New York.

“For the furniture?”

“Yes.”

“I can pay for it.” Jesus. It wasn’t like I didn’t have the money.

“I provide for you.”

“Yeah, but I can help.”

“I’m your husband. I’m working. I take care of you and our bills.”

I looked over my shoulder at him. He looked up at me, his expression was clear.

“Why should you have to pay for everything?”

“It’s my job.”

My heart started beating at his somewhat old-fashioned view. “You’re serious?”

“Completely.”

It was preposterous that he wanted to pay for everything. The amount of interest I accrued from my investments in one month was more than Jackson made in an entire year.

“Can we talk about this later?”

“We can, but the outcome isn’t going to change.”

“We’re married now. My money is your money.”

“I don’t want your fucking money, Emily. I’ll never touch your money.”

I felt a weird lump in my throat. I almost couldn’t speak. It was the stupidest argument in the world, considering how much money I had, but it still made me want to cry.

Almost every friendship and every relationship in my life wasbuilt on the fact that I had so much. That he didn’t want any of it, made me want to cry. No one had ever said that to me before. It also made me want to share all of it with him. For the first time, I was in a relationship without my money. It felt so glorious and free, and it made me love him that much more. I looked down at him, unable to speak. He lifted his eyes up at me.

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