Page 109 of My Vows Are Sealed

“Well, since I have awesome genderfluid superpowers, I’m not an auntoran uncle, so I’m dubbing myself Captain Ash,” they explained.

“Clearlynotinfluenced by the fact that we’re watching a superhero movie right now,” Kate giggled.

“It’s adorable,” Heather chuckled. “I love it. It’s unique, just like you. And Darla, I’m not going to lie and say the timing doesn’t suck, because it does, but Ash is right. If there were ever two people who were completely meant to be parents, it’s you and Brendan. I’ve known you probably the longest of anyone here, and I’ve seen how amazing you are with Nate.”

“I’ve known you almost as long, and I agree. Plus, youknowAuntie Nay is going to spoil this baby rotten, right?” Naomi said, squeezing me a little tighter.

I smiled a little. “Yeah, I know.”

The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter as I thought about what I had to do now. Really, I shouldn’t have even taken this test here, but I knew Brendan would have been freaking out as much as I was, and I’d needed someone to be strong and calm for me while I couldn’t be. I’d figured I could at least wait until I knew for sure one way or the other.

But now I knew, and I couldn’t put it off anymore. I had to tell my fiancé that he was going to be a father.

* * *

BRENDAN

I’d just opened the door for the pizza deliveryman when I saw Darla rushing up the stairs to my apartment looking like she’d just seen a ghost. I quickly took the box from the deliveryman and shoved the cash in his palm, then held the door open for Darla.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“Darla!” Nathan exclaimed from his spot on the couch. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

Instead of answering either of us, Darla made a quiet gagging sound and then rushed off into the bedroom. Beyond confused, I set the pizza box down on the coffee table and looked at my brother.

“Make sure you wash your hands before you dig in, bud,” I reminded him.

“I know,” he mumbled. “Is Darla okay?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m going to go check on her.”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything, and I sighed and walked into the bedroom. I was immediately greeted by the sounds of my fiancée’s retching and then the toilet flushing.

Oh. My. God.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not like this.

I’d known something was going on with her for the past few weeks. She’d been so tired all the time, even though she wasn’t really doing much of anything all day, and she’d gotten a few random bouts of dizziness and vertigo that she’d passed off as just standing up too quickly.

I’d known it, but I’d dismissed it. Because I couldn’t let myself think of what it might mean.

But I couldn’t dismiss it anymore. There was only one reason I could think of why Darla would rush over here when she felt this sick instead of staying in bed at Kate’s house.

“Hey,” she sighed as she walked out of the bathroom. “Sorry about that.”

“You don’t have to apologize for not feeling well, baby,” I said as I walked over and pulled her into my arms. “It’s okay.”

A sob caught in her throat as she tightened her arms around me and buried her head in my chest. Her tears soaked through my shirt, and I took a deep breath and swallowed down my own tears before dropping a kiss on her head.

She didn’t have to say another word for me to know what had her so upset. I’d already added it up in my head. And while it scared the shit out of me because there was way too much going on right now for us to even try to prepare for a baby, at the same time, I couldn’t help the spark of joy that lit up inside me.

Had I wanted to wait a little while before Darla and I started a family? Of course. But ever since the day I’d admitted to myself that I was hopelessly in love with her, I’d always known she and I were going to start a family one day. This pregnancy was way sooner than either of us had planned on, but it wasn’t anything we didn’t already know was going to happen eventually. And I already couldn’t wait to meet our child.

“We need to talk,” she sniffled. “But after Nate goes home.”

My head was spinning and I couldn’t even begin to make sense of the emotions swirling around inside me, but I knew I had to be strong for her right now. And part of that included not making her wait until my brother was gone before getting this off her chest.

“You don’t have to say anything, Dar,” I whispered, pressing my lips to her head again. “I know what you need to tell me, and it scares the hell out of me, but I love you so much and I promise we’ll make this work, just like we’ve made everything else work. We always knew we’d have a family one day. One day’s just happening a lot sooner than we thought.”

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