Page 6 of His Everything

“He’s everything to me, Jayden. I won’t let anything hurt him…”

“I will never hurt him or you, baby. Never Luce,” I promise, cupping her cheek gently. “I love you. I always have and always will. It doesn’t matter that we met when we were kids, I know what I feel for you and what I don’t feel for other girls. I loved you completely and out of that came Liam. He’s incredible and ours. There’s no way I couldn’t love him, baby. No way I could ever begin to hurt him. We may not have planned for him, but I’m glad you had him. That he could show you want it meant tobe loved, to love so completely, because that’s how I’ve always felt about you. I feel it for Liam too already, and I want to get to know him, spend as much time as I can with him so he can get to know me, and hopefully one day, love me as much as he loves you, baby.”

“Swear?” she asks, and I nod, lowering my lips to hers, drawing it out soft and sweet, no matter how desperately I want her under me again. Today, tonight, needs to be about rebuilding our relationship from the ground up. As much as it might hurt not to relieve the immense desire rushing through me, it’s what’s best for Lucy and our son, and that has to be my priority now.

“I promise, I will never let anything hurt him or you. Mom and Dad will eventually get over their anger with me, but they’ll be thrilled to know they have a grandson the moment we tell them.”

“I…I’m not ready for that yet,” Lucy says, her face paling a bit and I understand she’s worried it’ll get back to her father and what he might do.

“Okay, when you’re ready, then we’ll tell them,” I agree, not about to get kicked out because I’d rather tell them now than wait. “Whatever you want, we’ll do. I promise.”

She relaxes into my hold, letting me just hold onto her as the afternoon passes by, and when Liam wakes, I get to spend the rest of the evening learning all about my son. Spoiling him and his mama with takeout from their favorite Chinese place. While learning they rarely ever do takeout anywhere other than the restaurant where Lucy works, because she gets a discount there and doesn’t have to pay delivery fees or a tip to a driver. It shows me that I need to step up, especially so Lucy can cut back on her hours at the restaurant to have more time with Liam.

Chapter 5

Lucy

Asmile hits as does a slight blush when Jayden jogs over to me on my way to my next class. A few that I know from classes openly stare as he leans down, giving me a kiss, deepening the blush on my cheeks.

“Hi baby,” he says, making my heart race and I honestly can’t keep the stupid smile off my lips. It’s hasn’t even been a full week and yet I’m so much happier than I ever imagined possible.

“Hi, what brings you over here?” I add, because most of his courses are General Ed with a few under the Business School, whereas mine are all with the College of Science division.

“I wanted to see you before you got to your last class of the day and then headed to the restaurant.”

“Why? If you can’t manage to get Liam from Mrs. Holmes it’s fine. I’ll just let her know I’ll pick him up like normal. She doesn’t mind the late hours,” I assure him.

“I’ll pick him up at six for sure. Hell, I’d pick him up from the daycare center and keep him all night if you’d let me,” he adds surprising me a bit despite his continuous presence in our lives this last week. “If I didn’t think Mrs. Holmes would be upsetto not see him, I’d keep him any time you insisted you have to work.”

“Jayden…I have to work to be able to make rent. I have a tiny bit left over from my scholarship that helps with the cost of food but rent and utilities comes out of what I make at the restaurant, so I have to work a lot of hours to afford it.”

“That’s part of what I wanted to catch you to talk about,” he says, making my brow lift curiously. “I’ve been sleeping on the couch for the last almost week and while I don’t mind it at all, will sleep on it until you’re comfortable letting me into your bed,” he adds, making me blush again at the way his voice drops, “there’s not really room for all of us in the apartment, especially with my clothes and books on top of yours.”

“There’s not room in my bed for both of us,” I tack on, making his eyes darken with desire and I can’t stop the way my body reacts to it.

“But there could be if we had a two bedroom apartment. We could get a bigger bed for us, and Liam would have his own space. He’s goes to sleep by himself so that shouldn’t be a huge change, and we’d be just a few feet away if he got scared or needed us.”

“I can’t afford a bigger place, Jayden. Besides, I’m under a lease and to break it would cost money, plus a security deposit atop of that…as nice as it sounds, it’s just not possible,” I warn him, not wanting him to get his hopes up no matter how much I’d really enjoy it as well.

“I would be helping to pay rent then as well. Instead of living in the dorms, I’d be with you and Liam, so what I’d be paying for room and board, would go towards our place. I checked and it’s completely allowable with my school fund. If I move out of the dorms by the end of the month, I’ll get a refund for pretty much all but one month and there’s plenty in my college fund to cover my share of the rent.” I start to argue that it’snot just that, but he slips his finger over my lips giving me a smile that I feel deep in my belly. “I talked to the manager at the apartment complex. There’s a two-bedroom available on the backside of the complex, same floor as Mrs. Holmes even. The rent is completely manageable and by splitting it, your part would be less than what you’re even paying now, because they haven’t upgraded the kitchen or bathroom in it compared to the other two-bedrooms in the place. They were going to, but, if we take it as is, then they’re actually going to come out ahead, because they can increase the rent on your current place even without the upgrade in the kitchen because they have a lot of pending applications for one-bedrooms and none currently for two, because they haven’t had any available for a while.

“It’s basically your apartment but with an extra bedroom, and slightly bigger closets. They won’t require you to put down another security deposit and they’ll transfer you from your current lease to the new one with no extra costs. The only kicker is that we have to be out by the end of the month. I know that’s in three days, and I know it’s a rush,butI can get some of the guys from my dorms to help and we can knock it out in no time. Since it would just be moving things a couple floors down using the elevator, it shouldn’t be that much work.”

“You’re serious,” I ask, and he nods. “What if you get tired…”

Jayden’s mouth covers mine, stealing my words and breath at the same time, leaving me clinging to his shoulder as someone lets out a whistle behind us, mortifying me a bit. Jayden doesn’t seem to have the same problem as he pulls back, smiling fully at me, dropping little kisses all over my face like I do with Liam, until I have to smile in return.

“I’m fully committed to this, to you, to Liam, baby. Hell, I would take you to the courthouse right now and make it permanent if I didn’t think it would cause you to either run or have a heart attack,” he adds, and my jaw drops, staring at himin shock. “I love you, Lucy. You’re everything to me, already were but add in Liam and I’m never letting you go. I can and will let you take all the time you need to get to the same spot as me—in every way.”

“I…okay,” I manage to get out, desperately wanting to tell him I love him, but the words stick in my throat, worry that if I say them, something will happen to ruin it rushing through me. Liam loves him so much already. I can’t lose Jayden, and neither can our little boy. “If you really think you’re ready to move in with us permanently, I’d love it. We love having you with us and I love coming home to see you with Liam.”

“And you’re good with the rooming arrangements? I will sleep on the couch until you’re ready for more, but I think Liam would do better if we put him in his own room from the start with the move,” he says, and I fully agree with that.

“Like I said, I don’t think we’ll fit on my bed but maybe when we can afford to get something bigger…”

“Leave that to me, baby,” he whispers into my ear after giving me another heart stopping kiss. “If you can manage it before you go in tonight, I’ll let the manager know you’ll stop by to sign the paperwork that will transfer your lease to the new place. There won’t be any additional due for this month they just need your signature to make it official. I can stop by and put down my deposit and set up the guys to help us move maybe tomorrow? You’re not scheduled until tomorrow night, right?”

“Right and I can always call and say I might be fifteen minutes late tonight if we’re running behind for some reason. Then I should be home by one. Liam never sleeps in so I’m up in the morning anyway so that should work. We might need some boxes to move clothes and kitchen stuff,” I warn, amazed that I wasn’t at all scared about moving in together. It honestly sounds like the most incredible thing ever.

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