Page 8 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
R H Y S
A few days after my brother had pressed the pregnancy test stick into my hand, I visited him at his place to let him know how it turned out. It had taken me a few days to work up the courage to take it, to be honest—I had so much riding on this. I was only just getting used to being single again, getting ready to live my own life...
The thought of adding a baby to that now was terrifying. Especially if that baby was from the man I was trying to divorce. Jeremiah could never know. I made up my mind about that even before I sat down to take the test. If my husband knew I was having his baby, I would never get him out of my life.
Worse yet, I would never get him out of the child's life.
I couldnotraise a child in the cult I'd just escaped from. That was one of the big reasons I'd run in the first place.
I was shocked out of my thoughts when my brother opened the door to let me into his apartment.
“Rhys?” He looked at me with questions all over his face. “I didn't know you were coming over.”
“I'm sorry if it's a bad time.”
“No, not at all. I'm only surprised.”
“I...” I hesitated for a moment, taking my shoes off. Then, pressing my lips into a thin line, I got the test stick out of my coat's pocket as I took it off. Wordlessly, I handed it to my twin. This really didn't need further explanation.
My whole life, I'd never seen my brother's eyes grow so wide. Not even when they announced the live-action movie of his favorite comic book hero. He let out a short breath. Looked at me. Looked back at the stick. “It's positive?”
I fiddled with a button on my shirt and shrugged, trying to appear calmer than I was. “I thought you should know.”Because I really don't know what to do.I'd wanted children, yes, but not like this.
“How is this even possible? How far alongareyou?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “I guess about three months...” That was the last time I'd had sex, after all.
“So after you ran away from your husband you thought it was a good idea to invite him here and have sex again. Unprotected sex! I can't believe you, Rhys! You were supposed to be the smart one!”
“That's not really how it happened.” Nick wasn't being fair, and he knew that. “You know I only met with him to discuss the divorce. And the rest is just... It just happened.”
“In Dean's house? He was supposed to watch you two!”
I bristled. “I'm an adult, I don't need to be watched! But for your information, no, we didn't do it in Dean's house. Jeremiah, he invited me back to his room at the Bed & Breakfast that night...” I bit my thumb, recalling that particular memory.
“And you went?” Nick stared at me in disbelief. He still didn't understand that I hadn't run from my husband as much as I'd run from the community he lived in. From the people who surrounded him.
From his family. It was his brothers who beat me up when I left, not him. To Nick, though, it was all the same.
“He promised me he would sign the divorce papers without putting up a fight if I gave him that night. I thought it was a fair price to pay. You told me how hard it was for your friend Kade to divorce his Vinist husband, so I figured if there was an easy way to do it...”
My brother looked at me as if he'd had the wind taken out of his sails. He didn't know what to say, which didn't happen often. Eventually, he took my arm and led me into the living room with him. “Oh, Rhys,” he said softly, “what are you going to do?”
We both sat on the couch, next to each other. “I guess I'm gonna have to make a doctor's appointment,”
I said.
“Does that mean... wait, what does that mean?” Nick looked frazzled. “Are you going to keep it or not?”
“I already told you I wasn't going to abort. I haven't changed my mind.” And I wasn't going to. I was never going to pass judgment on omegas who took that option, but it wasn't for me. I was going to have this baby and raise it, somehow. Nick was right; I was the smart one. I would find a way.
“I can't believe you're pregnant,” Nick muttered. “I mean, I had my suspicions, but I hoped...”
“I know, I was hoping too.” But now we had to face reality. I could deal with this. I could. “It doesn't have to be a bad thing, does it? I mean, I'm not anti-baby or anything. Actually, I kind of enjoy taking care of Bastian and Aiden when Griffin and Dean aren't around.” How much worse could this be, really? If I could take care of my nephews, I could take care of my baby. Right? It didn't matter that I'd never imagined raising a childby myself.
“No, it doesn't have to be bad,” Nick confirmed. He draped an arm around my shoulders and pressed me against his side. “You know we'll all help you, right? And youhavebeen good with Bastian and Aiden. You'll be fine.”
I nodded. Of course I knew that I had Nick and the rest of the family. “I couldn't have left Crystal Bay if I hadn't known you would be here for me,” I admitted. Nick had visited me and my husband a few months ago, trying tobreak me out. He'd done this even after I'd shunned him for the better part of a year. Nick's methods were weird sometimes, but I knew he cared. I knew I could count on him.
