Page 91 of Lady Sings the Blues

Elise squeezes me tighter when he nods.

“Yeah.” Chaos says, and nods a second time before roundin’ the hood to fold himself behind the steering wheel.

We let them go, me movin’ a shakin’ Elise to my bike and lift to plant her on the back.

“Someone will get your stuff from Liv’s. We’re headin’ home now.”

***

Not sure what just happened. I woke to Elise’s mouth wrapped around my cock, suckin’ me hard. And this, after spendin’ the night makin’ love until we passed out from exhaustion. Seven weeks apart, we deserved our time to reconnect.

My balls pulled tight and I was about to let loose a fuckin’ great orgasm when out of nowhere, she threw her hand over her mouth, and stumbled off the bed. She ran to the bathroom barely makin’ it to the toilet before the retching began.

Elise groans in pain when I fall behind her to hold her hair back. The sound just about rips my heart out. And she keeps spillin’ her guts into the commode until there’s nothing left but dry heaves.

Fuck.

She’s gray with sweat beading along her temples, dew-dampened skin over the rest of her face.

“Baby girl, you feel sick or you think you ate somethin’ bad?”

“Neither,” she says. Grabbing my hand, she pulls me to sit next to her so our backs rest against the bathroom wall tiles where she lays me out. “Beau, baby, I have to tell you something.”

I freeze.

Think my heart might’ve just stopped. “Go on,” I prod.

“Seven weeks ago, Beau…” she breaths in a deep breath and lets it out slowly before she continues. “Seven weeks ago you took me to Chicago and gave me a proper goodbye, but you don’t bother with condoms.”

What the fuck?

“Are you tellin’ me you’re carryin’ my baby?”

“Yes.”

“You’re havin’ my baby?”

“Yes.”

“I’m gonna be a daddy?”

“Yes.”

“Ho-ly shit!”

“Beau,” she starts on me. And I know I should probably handle this differently, but shit, she just told me she’s havin’ my baby. I shove up off the floor and run out of our bedroom into the hall.

Still buck-ass naked, I shout down the hallway to anyone who’s close enough to hear me. “I’m gonna be a fuckin’ father!” To that there comes at me the hoots and hollers of congratulations from my brothers.

Elise sits on the bed, my T-shirt draped over her newly pregnant body, knees bent, her chin resting on those bent knees, her feet crossed at the ankles. “So you aren’t mad?” she asks me.

Really?

“Mad? Darlin’ this is all I’ve ever wanted with you. You wearin’ my diamond, my baby in your belly. Bit unconventional, but now I just got to get my gold band around your finger, and we’ll be set. Beau and Elise Hollister livin’ the life we were meant to live. Raisin’ the kid we were meant to raise. This is so damn good, baby girl.”

“I’m scared to death. Yeah, we both know I was young, butJesus, Beau. I wanted that baby.”

“Know you did. I wanted it too, ‘cuz it was a part of you.” Elise don’t look me in the eye as I slide on the bed next to her. She don’t as I lift and deposit her onto my lap to wrap my arms around her, and kiss her cheek either.

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