Page 6 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
"You know me."
"Fine," David relented. "Although I really don't think you should work in--"
"Don't say 'in your condition.'" I rolled my eyes at my friend. "I'm pregnant, not disabled, okay? The kid and I will be fine." So what if I'd gotten a little fat? I could still move around and be useful.
"Okay. Eat your waffles and then I'll help you get settled in." David made to rise from his chair again, but I reached out to stop him. "What?" he asked.
"Just... Thank you." Things had become awkward between us and he didn't have to go out of his way to help me, but he had anyway. David was great like that, and I was grateful for it.
"No problem," David said, as if it was truly no big deal at all. He gave me a smile and then he stood and went back to work.
And I cursed myself for getting with Nigel and those stupid guys at that stupid party, when David had been here all along. But we werefriendsand I didn't know if he could ever see me as anything more than that.
Especially not now that I was carrying another alpha's baby.
* * *
Before I settledinto bed that night, I sat at the small desk in the Clark's guestroom and gave my cousin, Aiden, a call. I didn't have any siblings. My parents' policy had always been 'one and done', and honestly? I didn't blame them for it. I'd been a handful. I hadn't needed siblings either, because I had a lot of cousins. Aiden was only a couple of weeks older than me so we spent a lot of time together growing up. We might as well have been brothers.
"You don't usually call," he said, answering his phone. His voice sounded tinny. Probably because he refused to buy a new phone like a normal person even though his was so old I sometimes joked that it had been excavated at a dig site. He then usually asked if that was where I found my jokes too.
"I got too much to say for text. I broke the news to my parents today."
Aiden sucked in a breath. "No shit?"
"No shit." I almost had to laugh, Aiden sounded so shocked.
"I really kinda thought you were gonna take that secret to your grave."
"Hard to hide a baby."
"If anyone could do it, it would be you. You could have skipped town and never come back. I wouldn't have put it past you."
"That does sound tempting," I admitted, even though I loved my family too much to ever seriously consider anything like that.
"How did they take it? I bet Uncle Zander was all stoic-like while Uncle Nick wanted to rip your head off."
"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." I stretched, suddenly feeling the need to move. The desk wooden chair cut into my back uncomfortably.
"You know they wouldn't be like that if they knew how--"
"Cut it," I said. "I don't want to talk about that." Aiden thought if my parents knew how I got pregnant, they would act differently, but I wasn't going to tell anyone that story. I didn't even want tothinkabout it anymore. So someone might have slipped something in my drink, so what? I shouldn't have been at that party in the first place. I shouldn't have gotten so drunk that I didn'tnoticesomeone slipping something in my drink. This was my responsibility. I sure as hell didn't want anyone to view me as a victim. I didn't want pity. I didn't need it.
"If you don't tell them, maybe I should," Aiden said.
"Don't you dare." I nearly hissed into the phone. This was none of Aiden's business. He was supposed to have my back, not back me into a corner.
"Look, you should at least talk to Conner. If nothing else, he can help you figure out how to claim benefits and shit. That's like his job. You're gonna have to see a doctor and there's gonna be medical bills and shit."
"I know all that," I claimed, even though it hadn't occurred to me to talk to Conner. That wasn't the worst idea. "I'll give Conner a ring in the morning and you keep your mouth shut, okay? How's things at school?" I asked to change the topic, since unlike me, Aiden hadn't dropped out of college. He was at Lakeforest International College, a school not too far from here.
"Things are okay, I guess. Still, can't wait for the break. I swear one night I'm going to kill my roommate in his sleep. Ugh."
I laughed. Every time I spoke to Aiden, he complained about his roommate's snoring.
"We should do something fun when you get back here," I said.
"Yeah, for sure. Just after I've caught up on sleep."
