Page 28 of Because of Them

I choke on my own saliva. “Yes.”

“Will he have more sleepovers?”

I don’t know, but I might want him to.

“We haven’t really talked about that. But the baby won’t be born for a while so we don’t need to figure it out right away.”

“Is it a boy baby or a girl baby?”

“We don’t know yet, chicka.”

“Okay!” She bounces off Callum’s lap and turns to face him. “So can Jackson and Halley have a sleepover?”

Just like that, she’s moved on, and I’m left wondering if I was overthinking the whole conversation. It’s good, now that it’s out in the open and I don’t have to hide my pregnancy from her. But I’ll have to call my parents to tell them before Maisie sees them next.

“No honey, you have kinder tomorrow. If it’s okay with mum you can sleep here though.” Callum turns to me to add, “I’ll drop her there in the morning, if it’s alright with you? Then you can pick her up as normal for the rest of the week.”

Maisie presses her hands on one cheek, tilting her head and pouting her lips. “Please mummy? Please, please, please?”

Like I could say no to that face.

MICHAEL

Callum’s new house is nice, although bare. A solitary grey couch sits in the centre of the living room, a table three times too small for the space has been left to the side of the kitchen, and the whole front room of the house was empty when we walked past.

It leaves the clean lines of the architecture exposed and my mind begins to tick at all the finishing touches. The exposed woodwork hasn’t been hidden behind plasterboard or paintwork, and combined with the large tiled floor it oozes modern sophistication.

Making our way towards the back of the house, my shoulders curl forward. This isn’t just meeting some of Audrey’s friends. This is meeting her ex-husband, her daughter’s father. Callum is friendly enough as he welcomes us in, but I’m frozen in my tracks when his girlfriend steps in to say hello.

I recognise her instantly, and any ounce of confidence I might have been faking slowly trickles away. I pass her the small houseplant without a word, dropping my gaze to the floor. I want to show Audrey that I can be the man she deserves. The man they deserve. Her and the baby. But I don’t know how to do that with Cassidy here.

She squeaks as she takes the plant and spins around, finding somewhere to place it. There’s no doubt she recognises me.

Fuck.

I look up to see the back of Cassidy’s hair as she steps outside. I knew my past would catch up with me at some point, hell it already has considering a little mini me will be running around my feet this time next year. But to have a girl I treated so poorly show up right when I’m trying to prove myself is more than a kick to the guts. It’s a twenty-five-kilo plate straight to the balls and a nail gun to the chest. Should I talk to her? Apologise? Or would it be better to leave the past in the past?

Callum pulls back my attention, shoving a drink into my hands, and I follow him and Audrey out of the kitchen. I freeze after taking a step through the sliding door when I finally look up. I was expecting … something … from a house so grand. A nice decked area or a landscaped garden to match the front facade. But the backyard is completely bare save for a large gumtree in the far corner.

Cassidy has retreated back to her small circle of friends, all seated and laughing on the lawn. I decide to leave it be, for now at least.

Beside me, Audrey stands awkwardly, gazing at the small group of women sitting on the grass. In her linen pants and signature grey cardigan, Audrey is the perfect vision of a pregnant woman. She might not feel it through the morning sickness she said she still goes through, but she glows. It’s fucking stunning.

I lean into her to whisper in her ear, “You look beautiful.”

My stomach flutters in a way it never has before. She is more than beautiful, and I will tell her every day until she believes me. Then I’ll remind her every day after that.

My fingers twitch next to her hip, but I hold them back. Not wanting to push the boundaries of our … whatever this is between us. I want to pull her into me, claim her mouth and hold her close. I want her to brush her hand along my back when she walks past, and I want to be able to go back home later and do all the unspeakable things I’ve been daydreaming about. Something sparks in the small space between us, and I back away slowly before it explodes. But I don’t turn away until Audrey sucks in a breath of courage and heads over to sit with the women.

Callum calls me over, introducing me to a tall man he says is Cassidy’s cousin.

“Noah,” the bloke introduces himself. He barely glances my way, eyes focused on the women on the grass. One girl lies back in the sun, kicking at the long skirt that covers her ankles.

Audrey is like the sun, bright and warm and she pulls my attention away from the group. I pick at the label of my beer, distracted by her presence across the lawn. The conversation barely registers, not keeping my attention the way I know it should. I just can’t stop thinking about Audrey and howrightthis feels. Us, being at this small family gathering, together.

I’m getting ahead of myself, I know that, but I can’t help it. Everything about Audrey screams at me to be a better man. It has since the moment I met her, and I’ll do everything I can to convince her I’m worth keeping around. I don’t just want to be the baby’s father. I want more. I want Audrey to be mine and I want to be hers. I want the three of us to be a family. No, the four of us, because Maisie counts too.

I’m in way over my head, because Audrey has made it clear that she doesn’t feel the same way. That she isn’t in this for us, but because of the baby we are having. I crave the thought of convincing her to give in to the chemistry that still drips from us. To remind her just how perfectly we were made for each other and just how good it feels when our bodies move in sync. But that doesn’t mean I don’t desperately want more. And some previously unknown part of me is holding back, protecting my heart until I know she is in this just as deep as I am.

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