Page 60 of Only for Tonight
“Are you done freaking out?”
“Absolutely,” I say, “not.” Which makes him laugh.
“It’ll be fine,” he soothes softly. “It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, it’s not you who slept with his son,” I mumble and his eyebrows rise. “Go get him. He’s probably freaking out.”
“Okay, baby,” he says and kisses me before he walks out of the room.
“He likes you,” the nurse notes.
“It’s probably because he left his DNA inside of me,” I try to make a joke about it, but my heart gets tighter as she just shakes her head and walks out.
It feels like forever before Jaxon walks in with Manning behind him. The nurses at the station all watch with their mouths hanging open. “Here she is.”
I take a deep inhale. “Hi.” I hold up my hand, and he comes over to the bed.
“Ariella,” he says, his voice cracking, “how are you doing?” He holds my face. “You look pale.”
“She looks better now,” Jaxon reports. “She was translucent when I brought her in.”
“Jaxon,” Manning hisses at him, “that’s not making her feel better.”
“Yeah, Jaxon, that’s not making me feel better.” I raise my eyebrows at him and he rolls his eyes.
“Want to see something cool?” He walks over to his father with his phone in his hand. “Listen to this,” he says and then the sound of the baby’s heartbeat comes out of his phone. “That’s the baby.” His face is filled with awe. “In there.” He points at me.
Manning smiles at him and slaps his shoulder. “My baby is having a baby”—he turns to look at me—“and with Ariella.”
“I’m assuming you didn’t call my father.”
“Of course not,” Manning assures me. “I figured we’d set up a game plan before, you know, we shock him with the news that his baby is having a baby. Plus, I don’t know how Ralph is going to take this.” He shakes his head.
“He’ll be fine,” Jaxon says.
“You’re having a baby,” Manning says to him and Jaxon’s smile goes big, which makes Manning smile. “Now picture that baby is a girl.” Jaxon rolls his eyes. “Then let’s say your best friend’s son gets her pregnant and they weren’t even fucking dating,” he explains the last part with his teeth together. “How happy would you be?”
“We need a game plan,” Jaxon immediately declares. “We tell him in a couple of weeks. Once she’s over the twelve-week mark.” He looks at me. “Two weeks and we’ll break the news to him.”
“Good, I have two weeks to talk you up,” Manning plans. “I mean, not that there's anything wrong with you, but you know, drop some hints about you doing good stuff.”
“He’s known me almost my whole life,” Jaxon reminds him. “He knows what kind of man I am.”
“And he’s known her forever.” Manning points to me. “It’s going to be fine.” He slaps Jaxon’s shoulder and squeezes. “I told you it was going to be fine. It’s going to be fine.” He then turns to me. “Right?”
I look at both of them, father and son, and wonder if the baby will be another generation of them. “Absolutely.” I nod. “Maybe,” I offer. Manning’s face tries not to laugh while Jaxon’s eyes go big. “Probably not,” I admit, “but it is what it is.”
twenty-two
Jaxon
I turn into the driveway and press the button for the garage door and watch it open slowly, before driving in and turning off the car and shutting the door. I take off my sunglasses, tossing them on the passenger seat before I step out of the SUV and reach in to grab the two protein shakes I just picked up after practice.
Opening the door that leads to the house, I hear the sound of her clicking the keyboard in her office. “Baby,” I call, filling the doorway and seeing her sitting in the chair behind the desk, her eyes going from the computer screen to me, “I’m home.” I can’t help but smile at her, walking into the room and seeing her laptop on the couch open. “How come you aren’t working on the couch?” I motion with my head toward the laptop.
“I was and then I got a call.” She pushes away from the desk and gets up, coming to me. She’s wearing gray-blue sweatpants with a matching top that falls off her shoulder. Her hair is braided on the side, and when she stands in front of me, I bend to kiss her shoulder.
“I got you a protein shake.” I hold it up. “Since you liked the one I got myself yesterday, I thought you would like your own.”
