Page 45 of Uxpectedly Ever After

Three freaking months. That's how long this tiny human has been growing inside me. Three months since that thunderstorm changed everything. A whole month since Banks found out and point-blank refused to go back to his own apartment, despite Kasen's increasingly confused questions about why he was still basically living on my couch. Not that Banks has slept on the couch even once since finding out about the baby.

Honestly, it’s a straight-up miracle we’ve managed to make it this long without Kasen somehow figuring out about the baby.

Banks comes up behind me, wrapping those strong firefighter arms of his around my waist. His hands settle right on my stomach, all protective and possessive in a way that still manages to make my knees go weak every time.

"Let him try," Banks murmurs, his lips brushing against my ear and sending shivers down my spine. "I'm not going anywhere, Freckles."

I roll my eyes at the nickname he refuses to drop, but secretly I love it. Not that I'd ever tell him that. His ego is already big enough.

"Your funeral," I mutter, leaning back against his chest. "Just so you know, I’m not visiting you in the hospital."

"Liar," he says, pressing a quick kiss to the side of my neck, right where it meets my shoulder. "You'd be the first one there, probably yelling at the nurses for not giving me enough pain meds."

The worst part is, he's one hundred percent right about that. When the hell did he start knowing me better than I even know myself?

Forty minutes later, we're walking through the front door of Timber, my brother's pride and joy. The microbrewery is packed for a Thursday night, the warm glow of Edison bulbs casting everything in a flattering light. The smell of hops and barley hits me like a truck, and I swallow hard against the immediate wave of nausea and the mouth full of saliva that comes along with it.

Banks's hand finds the small of my back and I lean back a little into the warmth of him. "You okay?"

"Fine," I lie, ignoring the way my stomach is launching a full-scale rebellion despite the peppermint I’ve been sucking on or the ginger tea I choked down before we came. "Let's get this over with."

Kasen’s eyes land on us as soon as we walk in, and his eyebrows shoot up in genuine surprise as we approach the bar.I take a deep breath that doesn't help at all and plaster on my besteverything’s totally normal and I’m not about to ruin your whole daysmile.

"Can’t say I expected to see you two together today. Everything alright?" He gives Banks a questioning look before turning his attention to me, already moving in for one of his bone-crushing hugs that squeezes my stomach. There’s a very real possibility I’m about to barf on my brother’s shoes, but I somehow manage to swallow it back.

"Yeah, everything's fine," I manage to say, but my voice comes out a little squeaky.

My brother frowns at me, but then he and Banks do that ridiculous handshake-turned-bro-hug thing that makes me want to roll my eyes into the back of my head.Men.

Kasen leads us over to a booth in the back and sits down.

His eyes narrow as Banks and I slide into the same side of the booth across from him, his gaze darting suspiciously between us. His fingers drum against the wooden table, and his tattoos shift on his forearm with the movement. It’s a little hypnotizing to be honest. I’ve always thought they were cool, the full sleeves of colorful ink that peek out from beneath his rolled-up flannel, continuing up his neck in a riot of colors that clash with the black beanie he's perpetually wearing over his messy dark hair.

I’m not brave enough to get my own, but I sort of wish I was.

"Okay, what's going on?" he asks, startling me out of my runaway thoughts. "You call me sounding all serious about needing to talk, and then you show up with him?" He nods toward Banks. "Not that I'm complaining about seeing my two favorite people, but you two arriving together when you've been acting weird for weeks... Something's up."

I glance at Banks, and he must read the panic on my face because he grabs my hand and threads our fingers together. Now that the time has come to spill our secret, the words are just…gone. We’ve spent hours this past week planning exactly how to do this. But sitting here across from my overprotective brother, whose suspicion is only getting worse by the second.

"We have some news," Banks says, rescuing me from my sudden muteness. He squeezes my hand, tightening his grip and I squeeze him right back to let him know I appreciate him doing this with me. For me.

Whatever.

Kasen looks between Banks and me again. "The two of you have news,” he repeats, his voice flat. He leans back, crossing his arms like he’s bracing for something. “Okay..."

"Clover's pregnant," Banks says, and how is his voice so steady? I swallow down the bile creeping up the back of my throat "We're having a baby."

Yep.

He just said that.

Out loud.

Kasen's face goes through about fifteen different emotions in five seconds—shock, confusion, disbelief, and finally, something that looks a whole lot like murderous rage.

"You're what?" he finally manages, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Pregnant," I repeat as I finally find my voice. "Twelve weeks along."

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