She sat up. “I’m a good mother,” she yelled, though her voice was wobbly.
“I never said you weren’t,” I yelled back, swinging my legs to the side of the chair.
“I don’t think of our baby as a plant.”
“Then stop treating her like one.”
“What am I supposed to do? You have no idea what I feel.”
“Because you won’t tell me,” I shouted, my patience near the end.
“I don’t know how to do it.” A few tears leaked down her cheeks.
I swiped them away with my thumb. “You’re an amazing mom.”
“I know that,” she snapped before she softened. “I mean I try.” She knotted her hands in her lap. “If I had to give up Blake half of the time it would kill me.” I touched her knee, but she refused to look at me. “It hurts to think about being apart from her. Which is crazy, right? We’re having this baby neither of us wanted, but the thought of being without her makes me sick.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“We did this to an innocent person. Because we were so stupid and selfish, she’s the one who will pay the price.” Pure agony ripped through her voice.
“Not if we don’t let it. We can figure it out together.” I squeezed her knee. “We’ve got the same goal, Wicked. That’s doing what’s best for our child. Our children.”
Her lips parted, but nothing came out. Just because Blake wasn’t my blood didn’t mean I’d exclude him. He was part of Marlow and our baby’s life. Part of mine too.
“Right now, all options are on the table. We just have to decide what works for our family.”
She sniffled, aggressively wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
“I don’t see a solution.”
“We could . . .” I drummed my fingers on the edge of the chair. “Live next to each other.”
“No way would either of my neighbors sell their house.”
“What if you moved?”
“No,” she said quickly.
“One of us is going to have to compromise at some point.”
“I won’t on that.”
I pressed my lips together. I loved my place too. And I got that hers represented the life she’d built with another man. But when it came to gummy bear, I was quickly figuring out there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for her.
“We could try living together.”
Her gaze snapped to mine. “Are you insane?”
A little. Except the idea pleased me. The location, not so much.
“We will right after she’s born. I’ll have to research how long, but that’s non-negotiable.”
“That mojo you use on a jury won’t work with me,” she huffed. “Didn’t you just say we’d both have to compromise?”
“You haven’t yet.”
“Neither have you.”
“I haven’t heard a single suggestion come out of your mouth.”
She pushed to her feet. “I can’t do this.”
“You’re going to have to,” I called after her. “We aren’t leaving this place without a plan.”
The door slammed in response.
The woman could be vulnerable one minute and vicious the next. But I’d just found some common ground, and we could work with that. Neither of us wanted to be with gummy bear only 50 percent of the time. So that was where we’d start.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marlow
I sank down on the sand and pulled Blake between my legs.
“This is exactly what I pictured.” I ruffled his hair. “When I was a kid, I always begged Dad to take us to the beach. He never would. At some point, I figured it was because of her.”
He ran his fingers through the sugary powder.
“That made me so angry. I couldn’t understand.” I picked up a shell and held it out to him. “Now, I do. All too well.”
He examined the shell. Ran his fingers over the smooth surface.
“Did you know if you put it up to your ear, you can hear the ocean?”
“How.”
I pressed the small slit up to his ear. He covered my hand with his and laughed. He had no idea what we were doing, but he was happy.
“Don’t let me do that to you. Keep you from the things you want to do and see because I can’t handle them. Can you promise Mommy that?”
“Ass.”
I snorted. “Yeah. Don’t let me be one of those.”
We collected a few more shells that were near us. The lull of the waves gave me a sense of calm I knew was fleeting. I embraced it, looking up when Blake pointed at a few seagulls squawking above us.
“Do you miss Grandpa?”
“Love.”
“Me too, sweetheart. If you ever stopped talking to me, I don’t know what I’d do. Even if you’re a hundred.”
He touched my stomach and rubbed. “Your brother or sister is in there.”
“Love.”
“They’re lucky to have you.”
I collected our shells in a pile.
“One day, you’ll have these as a reminder of your first trip to the beach.” I kissed the top of his head. “We’ll come back when you can play in the waves.”
“Steaks are almost done.” Patrick closed the lid to the grill.
“Smells good.”
Blake ran over to him.
“Hey, little dude. Did you have a good time with Mommy?”
“Ass.”
“He’s got me all figured out,” I said wryly.
“I thought he was talking to me.” He winked. “Want to eat out here?”
“I’ll set the table.”
“I’ve found a place to start with gummy bear.”
I wiped my lips and made a show of replacing my napkin in my lap.
“Weren’t we going to enjoy a no-thinking day?”
“I never agreed to that.” He popped a bite of steak into his mouth. “We’re of the same mind about the time split. Neither of us are happy with fifty-fifty.”
“That doesn’t mean we’ve found the solution.”
“We’ve got common ground, and that’s something.” He reached for my hand across the table. I stared at it. Patrick was way too optimistic about this situation.
“It’s nothing if we don’t have an answer.”
He made a come on motion with his fingers. “Work with me here.”
Reluctantly, I placed my hand in his. “We’ve got plenty of time to figure this out.”
“You know as well I do that Gummy will be here
