Page 114 of Five Mountain Daddies

I nod a little bit, and he kisses me again. “It’ll be okay,” he says. “Ipromise.”

“How?” I ask. “This baby… what we have… we can’t haveit.”

“We can,” he says fiercely. “And we’re going to.Understand?”

I nod, a little meek. He kisses me again and I wrap my arms around his huge frame, hugging himclose.

I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my life, but I’ve also never felt so fulfilled. It’s such a strange feeling, knowing this man wants me to have my baby. I don’t know if he’s going to stay with me to help raise it, or if we can even have that kind of relationship. He’s the head of the union, after all. We’re on opposite sides of thetable.

Still, I want that. I realize it deep down inside of me. I want to be with him, and I want him to stay and raise this baby with me. I know it’s irrational, but it’s so powerful that I can barely breathe. The thought of being with this man, letting him take care of me, letting him into my life… it’s terrifying, but it’sexciting.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this excited for something before in my life. I’ve done a lot of things, but never something so difficult and scary and intense. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because it’s bringing me closer toSamuel.

He’s my baby’s daddy, and we’re going to be bound together forever. I don’t know how that’s going to look. It probably won’t be simple, probably won’t be clean. But maybe I like messy and complicated, as long as it’s with him. Anything else and it just wouldn’t feel asgood.

24

Samuel

I’m going to be afather.

The thought keeps coming back to me, over and over. I never knew I had any interest in being a father. For all my life, I’ve tried to avoid just this exact thinghappening.

And yet with Amelia, it doesn’t feel like the end of the world at all. So many guys talk shit and joke about getting a girl pregnant and running away, but I don’t think that’s funny. The idea of leaving Amelia alone makes mesick.

I want to be better than the people in this town. There are so many guys with deadbeat parents, missing fathers, abusive relatives, all that shit. I didn’t exactly grow up in a loving and peachy household. But I want to break that cycle. I want to get out of that, treat my baby the way he or she should betreated.

It’s such a terrifying idea. It’s hard and it’s messy but it’sright.

I glance over at Amelia. She’s in my truck, pregnant and smiling. That thought keeps coming back to me. She’s pregnant, with mybaby.

“Think this is a good idea?” sheasks.

I nod. “It’ll be fine. Most guys won’t be around,anyway.”

“I know they don’t like me,” she sayssoftly.

“It’s not you,” I say. “It’s your job. Your office. What yourepresent.”

“I know. I just wish it didn’t have to be thisway.”

“It doesn’t. We can make it better,right?”

“Right.” She takes a deep breath. “But you need to meet me in the middle. I have people depending on me,too.”

“We’ll make it work,” I say, suddenly confident that wewill.

I don’t know where this confidence is coming from. We haven’t been able to come to any sort of agreement since that first contract. But maybe this baby is changing everything, and maybe that’s a goodthing.

We park outside of The Shaft and head in together. Just like I predicted, most of the guys are gone. Still, we get some looks, but I just ignore them. Amelia sticks close to me as we head across the room, over towardRoy.

He looks up, nod to me, and then looks surprised to see Amelia. He stands quickly and they shakehands.

“Didn’t expect to see you in here,” he sayshonestly.

She laughs. “I didn’t expect to be inhere.”

“I’m glad you are.” He gestures and the three of us sitdown.

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