Page 51 of Pieces of Us
Marcus looks like he saw a ghost. “The two of you are going to have a child together?”
Linc smiles. “We are.”
Jax puts a hand up. “Wait, did this happen the night of the wedding?”
I nod again. “Yup.”
He looks at Audrey beside him, and a big grin forms on his face. When he looks back at Linc and me, his face is beaming. “You guys conceived a baby on our wedding day? That’s kind of awesome.”
Audrey laughs. “You’re so weird.”
I take the ultrasound prints from my purse. “We got pictures today.”
Jax gets up and crosses the room, taking the print from my hand. His eyes get a little glassy, and when Linc stands up, Jax gives him a tight hug. He releases him and looks between Linc and me.
“Okay, so we’re happy about all this, right? We can celebrate this?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Linc
On Saturday morning, I start packing up my apartment. I’m going to miss it here; this was my first place on my own. And as I work through the living room and kitchen, I’m realizing that I’ve accumulated more stuff than I thought over the past four years, so I start dividing up things between my new place, storage, and charity.
I’m packing up my game console when there’s a knock on the door. I push up to stand, and when I get to the door, Marcus is on the other side.
“Hey.” I walk back to the living room.
“Hey.” Marcus follows me in, setting a bag of food on the coffee table. “Have you had lunch yet? Brought sushi.”
“Thanks. I haven’t actually, and I’m ready for a break.” I look around my mess of an apartment. “I didn’t realize I had so much stuff.”
“Just wait until baby stuff takes over.”
“I can’t wait for baby stuff. Let’s eat in the kitchen. I need to wash my hands.”
We move to the kitchen, Marcus empties the contents of the bag onto the island, and I wash my hands.
“Water good? I don’t have beer.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
I set the water down and look at Marcus as he’s filling his plate from the containers. “What made you stop by?”
He leans over his plate, elbows on the counter. “Are you sure about moving in with Melonie?”
“Cutting right to the chase, I guess.”
“I just don’t want you to get your feelings mixed up.”
“Marcus, I know where I stand with her.”
“Your brain knows that. But what about your heart and your dick?”
“My heart belongs to that baby, and my dick knows things are going to be very lonely.”
“So, you’re going to live with her, watch her go through this pregnancy, learn every little thing about her, all while not dating, and you think you can control your feelings?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I? If I want to be close to my child, I have to be close to Mel. I have to put everything else to the side because fuck, Marcus, I already love this baby so much.” I look him straight in the eyes. “When I saw the ultrasound, it was like my world stopped. I knew I would do anything in the world for that blob on the screen.”
