“Your paternity does not change who you are as a person.” She nuzzles closer to me. “That asshole can’t hurt you.” Her soft lips fall to my cheek and her sweet vanilla scent invades my mind. She speaks with conviction. “You’re not that little boy anymore. You don’t have to be afraid of him exposing the truth. You are a grown man. A loyal, dependable, caring, strong man. You’re successful and kind and…” There are tears falling from her eyes as she rambles.
“I know that now. I know that because of you.” I push out a breath I didn’t notice I’d been holding.
“I would have never talked to him had I known.” She squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry, Walker. I would have never talked to him. I’d never betray you like that.”
“I know,” I say with a nod. “I shouldn’t have behaved like that at the farmer’s market. I just…I got carried away, and I shouldn’t have.” I gently kiss her palm. She means the whole fucking world to me. I can’t lose her now. “I’m really sorry. Tell me you forgive me.”
I meet her green-eyed stare, those eyes that always draw me in. I wonder if the babies will have those same emerald eyes.
“You always shut me out like that when things don’t go your way,” she finally speaks up. She’s not ready to let me off the hook. “It’s not fair to me.”
I squeeze her hand between us. “I know. I know. I was an idiot. I’m an idiot a lot,” I admit and I see a little smile on her face.
“So you’re going to try and stop doing that? Stop closing up on me and ignoring me when something’s wrong? All I want is for you to talk to me, Walker.”
I sit up straighter, holding three fingers in the air. “Scouts’ honor.”
She rolls her eyes.
I weave our fingers together again. “Seriously though, P. I’m going to do better.”
She studies me hard, like she’s contemplating whether to make me suffer some more. But then, she throws her arms around me. “I forgive you, but I’m holding you to that,” she whispers.
I squeeze her tight. I’m ready and willing to put in the work so we can have a life together.
“Thank you for trusting me with your secret.” She climbs into my lap and kisses me. I hope that means she’s willing to put in the work, too.
47
Penny
I step out of the bathroom and nearly trip over Iris and Jude, making out in a shadowy corner of the hallway.
“Oh, my god, you two. You almost gave me a heart attack.” I clutch my hands over my chest.
They grin amorously at each other as they untangle themselves.
“Sorry.” Iris snickers, looking anything but apologetic.
Jude puts another kiss on my cousin’s mouth then smirks at me. “You know I can’t keep my hands off this woman.” He playfully smacks her ass and she yelps.
“Just hurry up and go get the car.” She plants a kiss on his chin. “I’ll grab us some leftovers from the kitchen.”
“Then I can take you home and tie you to the bed?” He quirks a brow.
Her eyes storm over. She bites his bottom lip, seeming to have forgotten I’m standing right here. “Baby, as long as you get naked, you can tie me to anything you want…”
Well, this is getting…uncomfortable.
I clear my throat. “Um, I’m not sure I’m supposed to be witnessing this.”
Their heads snap to me in unison. They tear apart. Grinning, Jude says good night to me and staggers off toward the garage. He’s beaming like the world’s happiest man despite the slight limp in his gait tonight. Every now and then, his knee gives him trouble, but he’s working hard on his recovery for the sake of his football career and, overall, his healing is nothing short of miraculous.
Iris loops her arm through mine and I waddle alongside her toward the kitchen. My stomach feels enormous right now. I’m not sure how much of that is actually the babies and how much is thanks to Diana’s cooking. Tonight’s family dinner was delicious and I shamelessly helped myself to seconds and thirds.
“So, it looks like you two are keeping the fire alive…” I elbow my cousin in the ribs.
She blushes. “Girl, we’ve been burning up the bedsheets. Daily. I can’t get enough of that man.”
I find myself chuckling. I’ve never seen her this happy. After all she’s been through, she deserves every bit of it.
She turns her eyes to me. “And what about you? Walker looked like he was about to ignite the tablecloth with those heated looks he kept sending you over dinner. What’s up with that?”
Iris and I are alone in the hallway but I can hear chattering and laughter coming from the kitchen at the end of the hall.
With a hand on my cousin’s wrist, I stop her in her tracks and lower my voice. “He says he wants to be with me, Iris.” I feel my heart thudding. I brace my stomach. “He says he wants us to be a family.”
Her twinkling eyes bulge. She steps closer and whispers. “He wants to be with you?!”
I nod.
My cousin wears a perplexed expression. “That’s a good thing…right? Why the hell do you look downright terrified right now?”
How can I explain this in a way someone else would understand?
I love Walker. I always have. I always will. Past tense. Present tense. Future tense.
If he’d proclaimed his intentions six months ago—before I got pregnant—I would have thrown myself at him like a toddler throws spaghetti at the wall. But my priorities are different now. I’m going to be a mom. I have two babies to think about. And that makes my decision-making process more complicated. Because how am I supposed to know that he’s doing this for the right reasons?
I speak in a hushed voice. “Walker may have the purest of intentions. But from the outset, he made it clear that he’s not a family guy. He
