Page 29 of Beyond our Forever

Of course I’m keeping it. I love it already.

As I shifted, I put my hands to my still flat belly, that gave no indication of what was growing inside me. Bruce wasted no time as he lifted me up to sit on his lap, wrapping his arms around me, entwining his fingers with mine, allowing the silence to mean more than the thousand words we were unable to speak.

Until that night, I had never felt so loved, like a miracle, without forgetting that the true treasure was growing within me. A chunk of him and a bit of me.

Our baby.

“What are we going to do with a baby?” I barely noticed that I spoke those words out loud.

“I have no idea,” he admitted quietly. “But we’re going to work it out together, because in a few months she will be here.”

“She?” Jeez, while I could hardly get used to the idea that I was going to be a mother, Bruce had already decided his preference.

“She,” he said with full confidence.

“I have no idea what I’m going to tell my parents.” That was another problem we had to face. I knew my mother was going to have a heart attack.

“I think we should start by calling your brother,” Bruce chuckled nervously.

Warren was very protective, like a good older brother should be, so I didn’t know how he was going to take the news and almost feared his reaction more than my parents’. And with how much bigger he was…poor Bruce…

“But not yet,” I murmured. “I want tonight to be just for us.”

In response I received a kiss that swallowed all my worries and with our clothes discarded on the floor, we celebrated the uncertainty of the future to come.

???

“Where is that fucking bastard?” my brother yelled when I told him the news.

Despite Bruce’s repeated complaints, I’d decided it would be best to invite Warren home and tell him the good news when the two of us were alone. See why?

“Tell me he’s going to marry you.”

My brother already had his phone in his hand, and I wasn’t sure if he planned to call Bruce to curse him out, or a couple of thugs to do the job without leaving the slightest trace.

“He’s going to marry you, right?” God, we hadn’t talked about it at the time, yet I was confident he wasn’t going to run to the hills like a coward.

That didn’t worry me, truth be told.

“Calm your tits. He’s not the kind of guy to shirk his responsibilities. He didn’t turn green when we found out.”

Just then, the door of our small apartment opened, and the father of my child walked in.

My brother came at him like a steroid-powered destroyer, and before Bruce could react, he punched him in the jaw.

“Warren,” I yelled. I don’t know what the hell my brother was thinking.

I saw Bruce wobble a little and lean against the wall not to lose his balance. I guessed he was as puzzled and surprised as I was.

“That’s for getting my sister pregnant, asshole,” Warren snapped angrily. “Now I want you to tell me when you’re going to marry her.”

Bruce smiled as he looked at me, not saying a word. He put his arm around my brother’s shoulder and led him out of the apartment, closing the door behind them.

Suddenly, it felt like the middle ages, when men decided in private the future of their women, without allowing them a say in the matter.

What a pair of cavemen.

Although I stuck my ear to the door, I could only hear the murmur of their muffled voices, without distinguishing much.

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