Page 117 of Pucking With My Head

Deep down, I knew I was ready to be a mother, and while the circumstances weren’t ideal, I was looking forward to it more than anything.

Chapter 45

Beth

New Year’s passed in a similar fashion, and before I even realized, it was January and Joey was back at school. I missed having her around all the time; she was a good companion.

I was standing at the kitchen counter, shoveling my third bowl of cereal into my mouth. Pregnancy made me hungry, and cereal was becoming a good friend of mine. I had several boxes of the ultra-sugary stuff hidden deep in one of the cabinets so Joey wouldn’t see. She tended to eat healthier cereals in the morning, and my peanut butter puffs were far from that.

I was still slowly trudging through my schoolwork. After speaking to my advisors, I had agreed to cut back my workload slightly and take an extra semester to graduate. As much as I didn’t like it, it was what was best for me and the nugget I was growing. At the end of the day I would still have my degree.

My phone buzzed, and I winced, thinking Jensen could sense my bad eating habits and was calling, ever the doctor. Only, it was a number I didn’t recognize.

Usually, I ignored all calls unless it was from someone I knew. I didn’t have the energy to deal with too many humans.

Growing a baby was hard work. My back was sore; my tits were swollen…It wasn’t a fun time.

Despite my exhaustion, I picked up the phone. It might have been someone at the doctor’s office, or maybe one of the team members whose number I hadn’t saved.

“Hi…Is this Bethany?” the soft female voice asked.

Not recognizing the voice, I frowned. “It is. Who is this?” I asked cautiously.

“My name is Heather. I’ve been seeing your brother?”

My eyes widened slightly. Why was she calling me? Had my brother sent her as some sort of flying monkey?

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m so sorry to just call you out of the blue, but I’ve been feeling like something is off and wanted to talk to you.”

I braced myself, preparing for the lecture of how I was abandoning my family. “Yes?”

Heather sighed. “Honestly, I feel like your brother is feeding me lies about you, and I just want to know the truth. He always spoke about you in such a helpful, kind, family way. And then, all of a sudden, he’s talking about you abandoning them, and I just…Something feels off. When I started to question it, he booked this extravagant vacation for us and then told me you were trying to stop it because you were jealous?”

He had told her what? The asshole had spent ten grand of my money and had the audacity to blame me?

“Oh, wow, he is spewing such bullshit,” I muttered.

Heather was silent for a moment. “That’s what I was worried about. What happened?”

“Do you want the full truth, even if it’s ugly?”

“I was considering a long-term relationship with this alpha. I need to know.”

I snorted. “Look, I love my family, but if I were you, I would run for the hills. My brothers have never had to look afterthemselves. I had to do all their laundry, all their cleaning, all the cooking. They’ve never been able to keep a job for longer than six months. They are grown man children who rely on the people around them to do things for them. I informed my family weeks beforehand that I wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving, and they did nothing, prepared no food, and then placed the blame on me.”

“You’re kidding…” She sounded horrified.

“Sadly, I’m not. You know that vacation Hayden booked for you guys? Do you really think he had money for that lying around?”

“That’s what made it so weird. I didn’t think he did. He claimed he got a bonus from work, but, well, that rang a bit false.”

“He maxed out my credit card to fund it. I am happy to send you the statement as proof. He felt like, because I didn’t come home for Thanksgiving and prepare a gigantic meal to impress you, you deserved a vacation on my dime.”

“Oh my god.”

I probably should have left it at that, but the floodgates were open, and I had been wanting to rant about my family for a while.

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