Page 45 of Lost Summer
Here we go.
“I’m seventeen weeks pregnant. I had the sixteen-week scan last week.”
My chest ached. “Why didn’t you ask me to come?”
Elena flicked her hair over her shoulder and met my gaze with a cruel smirk. “Someone else came.”
I didn’t care who went, but I would’ve liked to be consulted. I’d made it clear to Elena that I wanted to be involved with everything to do with the baby; this was another sign of her dominating the situation, exerting her control.
“You lost that privilege,” Elena clarified, her eyes flickering toward Adele for a brief second before returning to me. “Probably around the time you left me for...well, you know. This.”
She motioned around us, her lip curling slightly. I could almost feel Adele shrink beside me.
My mouth went dry, and I clenched my fists at my sides. “Elena, that’s not fair.”
“Oh, it’s not? Nor is leaving your pregnant fiancée for some woman you shacked up with as a teenager,” Elena fired back, jabbing a finger into my chest.
I exhaled through my nose, trying to keep my temper in check. “Elena, please...”
Elena laughed, a cold, humourless sound. “Don’t ask me for anything, Edward. If you want to be part of this child’s life, then come back with me and leave this...womanbehind.”
She had to be joking.
Adele moved forward. I could sense the tension in the room thickening. “Elena?—”
Elena cut her off without even looking at her. “Don’t speak to me, homewrecker.”
I felt Adele stiffen at the sharpness of Elena’s words, and my body tensed up. “Watch it,” I snapped, my patience already wearing thin. “You don’t get to come in here and talk to her like that. This is her home; show some respect.”
Elena turned her attention fully on me now, her eyes narrowing into slits of venom. “Respect? Really?” She let out a sharp, mocking laugh, her gaze snapping to Adele like she was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. “You know, that’s rich coming from you,darling.”
Adele instinctively straightened, but Elena was already back onto me, her polished nails tapping annoyingly against her phone like she couldn’t be bothered with this anymore. “Look,Edward, I’m just here to give you a choice. Come home with me and—” she paused, arching a perfectly manicured brow, “—the baby.”
“Elena,” I said, my voice trembling with anger now. “There is nous. We spoke about this.”
“It’s a boy,” Elena interrupted, her voice toneless.
For a moment, it felt like I had the wind knocked out of me.
“What?”
Adele’s arm gently wrapped around my waist, her touch warm and grounding, like a glass of water on a smouldering summer afternoon. I felt her body subtly press against mine, the gentle weight of her presence anchoring me in the moment. Her fingers found my hand, weaving through mine. The familiar scent of her vanilla perfume curled up around me, soothing and intoxicating, as steady as the pulse of her heartbeat softly thrumming against my side. When her fingers squeezed mine tightly, it wasn’t just a gesture—it was a lifeline, pulling me back from the waves of uncertainty and into the warmth of her presence.
A hug that said—I’m here.
Elena nodded, her expression stony. “It’s a boy. So, congratulations, I guess. You’re going to be a father, and no matter what you think…you don’t get to walk out on us. Me or the baby.”
The room spun for a moment. I wasn’t sure if it was the weight of Elena’s words hitting me, or the realization that this was real. That this was happening. A boy. I was having a son.
Adele stayed silent beside me, but I could feel the shift in her, the way her energy pulled inward, like she was bracing herself against the storm brewing around us.
“I intend to be a father,” I finally said, forcing the words through the knot in my throat. “But don’t think for a second that it means I’m going back to you. Ever.”
Elena stared at me. For a moment, her tough exterior seemed to crack, just a little. “You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”
What the fuck was that supposed to mean?
“I’m not giving up on my child. But I’m done with you. I’m sorry, really, I am. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” I explained, my voice firm.
