Page 92 of In This Together

‘Your dad… he tries, I know he does, but he’s equivalent to having another child in the house; a very large, hairy child.’

At that choice moment, TJ belly laughed. ‘Is that funny? That Daddy is a big hairy monster, does that make you laugh?’

She turned TJ, bringing his back against her stomach, and she leaned her head back, lifting her face to the sun’s rays. And she was struck by a stark reality – Hannah really had no idea what she wanted because she had never truly put herself first. Since she fell pregnant in college and dropped out, since she took a job with Andrea and followed her to XM Music Group to make sure that she was okay, because everything she did was led by thoughts of Rod and her children and the money their family needed.

She was in her late thirties, with three kids, one of whom would be looking to go to college very soon. If she didn’t do something for herself now, would she ever?

She thought about Andrea and how alone she must be feeling. Assuming Hunter was the father of the baby and he didn’t want anything to do with it, Andrea wouldn’t be alone generally but when it came to home life, she would.

Her heart panged for her friend, despite everything.

And she realised something that she had been overlooking for a very long time.Shewasn’t alone. She had a husband and maybe it was time for her to stop being a martyr.

What do I want, for me?she thought.

Working out the answer to that question was her number one priority. Right after she had faced the music and confessed to Rod that she was unemployed.

23

ANDREA

The sight of a Range Rover with blacked-out windows escaped Andrea’s attention as she walked past it, heading home from the office. It had been a long day of figures and administration, all of which, she realised, took a heck of a lot longer without Hannah, which meant she had spent her Sunday in the office, alone, working through a backlog of tasks.

The sky was dark, despite it being June, which told her without needing to check a device that she had been in the office late into the evening. Her stomach growled with hunger, since she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. All she really wanted to do was crawl into bed, but there was something the size of a small vegetable growing inside her that needed to be fed.

As she crossed the street towards her apartment building, the door to the Range Rover opened and the person who stepped out of it made her pause in the middle of the road.

Tommy.

She was rooted to one spot, watching him close the door and fold his arms across his chest as he leaned back against the vehicle.

‘It’s been repaired,’ he said, gesturing to the front of the Range Rover.

She suddenly felt extremely weak, her legs drained of energy. In the middle of the road there was nothing to hold on to, and she swayed.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ she managed, still unable to take her eyes off Tommy and get a handle on the tightness in her chest and stomach at the sight of him.

It had been just over a week since her trip to The Hamptons, since her car accident, since three pregnancy test kits gave her a positive result, since she ditched the damaged car with Tommy’s security guy and left without explanation.

It felt like it had been much longer. Her body yearned to go to Tommy, to throw itself into his arms. Her mind reminded her of every fear she had – that he had no idea she was carrying a child, that she didn’t know who the father was, that there was a chance she had been stupid enough to get pregnant with Tommy when things had maybe, possibly, had a chance of working out between them.

‘I’m not bothered about the car, Andi. I’m here because I’ve given you more than enough time to get in touch and explain why you ran out on me, again.’

He stood straight, taking his back off the car. ‘Could you please get out of the road?’

At that moment, a cab came hurtling towards her. Her eyes widened but she didn’t move as the cab passed so close by her, the force blew her hair back from her shoulders.

Instinctively, her hands covered her tummy.Sorry, Bean. I’m sorry.

Tommy’s concerned gaze moved from Andrea’s face to the hands covering her unborn child, and back to her face. His eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed, but he said nothing as Andrea crossed the road towards him, thinking she had to face up to him at some point. Now was as bad as any time.

‘Come up?’ she asked, moving beyond Tommy and opening the entrance gate to the apartment block. ‘Can I get you a drink of something?’ She stepped into her apartment ahead of Tommy and flicked on the lights.

‘You tell me,’ he said, folding his arms across his chest, again, and coming to lean against the lounge wall as Andrea set down her bag and work papers then removed her jacket. ‘Will I be here long?’

She sighed. ‘Could you at least try not to be a dick? I’ve had a long day and an even longer week.’

She flicked on her record player, and the last vinyl she had been listening to started to play. It was an EP from a relatively up-and-coming indie artist whom she had an eye on to bring over to Stellar. Her lyrics were so beautiful they were almost poetic. Her voice was soft but she could rock out in a chorus and spice up a key change.

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