Page 54 of Cruel Love

“Having a baby is going to get really expensive really fast, Boxcar.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” she says with a scoff. “Baby necessities aside, have you seen the potential hospital bills? This might be a really shitty time to tell you this, but I don’t have health insurance.”

I swallow. “Oh, yeah?”

“Selling my shop isn’t even going to begin to cover this. We are so screwed, Box.”

“Well, hold on. Don’t you get some health benefits for being a veteran or something?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” she says. “But I wouldn’t count on it. They weren’t my biggest fans when they discharged me.”

I lean back against my fridge. “Okay, well… we’ll figure it out.”

“How? I have no money. I have no space for this. We need—”

“Caleb, calm down,” I say. “I’m going to take care of us. You’re barely pregnant, remember? We have time.”

My phone vibrates. I twist my wrist to read the text message.

Order up!

“Look, Caleb, I gotta run but we’ll talk later. Okay?”

“Okay, be safe.” She sighs. “I love you.”

I clear my throat. “I love you, too.”

“Super safe.”

I smile. “I will.”

“Stay with Fox.”

“I will.”

The call ends but I keep the silent phone to my ear for another minute.

Oh, god.

What the hell am I doing?

I’m going to be a father. It’s hasn’t even been a whole day yet. I haven’t had time to stop and consider exactly what being a father requires.

We really are so very screwed.

I look over at Fox again. His smug smile is gone. He’s never been the I-told-you-so type but he still stares back at me with sympathy.

I drop my phone into my bag and throw it over my shoulder again. “I’m gonna go meet Milo,” I say to the room. “You guys stay here.”

Lilah shoots up off the couch. “Hold on. You’re not going by yourself.”

“I’m a big boy. I’ll be fine,” I say with rolling eyes.

“Yeah, I’m not concerned. I’m suspicious.”

“Lilah…” Dante warns with a protective hand on Lucy’s knee.

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