Page 111 of My Vows Are Sealed

“‘Kay,” he mumbled sleepily. “Love you too.”

Nathan started to walk toward the door, not even bothering to wait for her. He looked like a soldier trudging off to war, not like a boy going home with his mother, and it broke my heart even more than usual. Maybe knowing that I was going to be a father soon just made the ugliness of this situation hit home with me more tonight.

I wouldneverlet my child know this kind of pain and neglect. They would never have to wonder if Darla and I cared about them. I would make sure they never had a doubt in their mind that even though they weren’t planned, they were very much loved and wanted. I might not have known how we were going to put food on the table or where we were going to fit a crib in this shoebox apartment yet, but Ididknow that much for sure.

“You’re still planning on spending time with him after church on Sunday, correct?” my mom asked, staring me down like it was a contest.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” I sighed.

“Very good,” she said, like she’d just completed a business transaction.

Then she turned on her heel and walked out the door without even bothering to say goodbye. As the door shut behind her, I let out a huge sigh of relief. She’d never even suspected that Darla was here.

I went to lock the door, then headed into the bedroom, where I found Darla sitting on the bed wringing her hands together. Sitting down next to her, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her head.

“She’s gone,” I whispered.

She sniffled quietly as she slid her arms around me. “What are we going to do, Brendan?”

“Well, for the moment, we’re going to focus on making it another couple of weeks until your birthday. And then once we get married, I’ll start looking for a second job,” I told her.

“You don’t have time for a second job,” she mumbled.

“I’ll make time,” I insisted. “You’ve worked too hard to get into college with a full ride. You can’t give that up.”

“Taking care of this baby’s more important,” she countered. “I can get a job.”

Yeah, I wasn’t going to let that happen. I’d work three jobs and only sleep two hours a night before I let her give up the education she’d worked so hard for and the chance to become a teacher. But I knew we weren’t going to get anywhere talking about this right now. She’d had a long, emotional, exhausting day, and she wasn’t firing on all four cylinders.

“We don’t have to figure it all out right away, baby,” I told her. “We have a little time.”

She sighed. “I know. My head’s just about to explode.”

“Mine is too. But I already love this baby so much that I can’t even wrap my mind around it, and I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Her?” she asked, looking up at me.

Honestly? It had just slipped out of my mouth before I even had a chance to think about it, but somehow, it felt right. Didn’t they say that parents sometimes had intuition about what gender their baby was going to be before they could find out for sure?

“Don’t ask why, but I just feel like it’s a girl,” I chuckled, kissing her forehead.

Her hand drifted to her stomach, and she looked down where our child was growing, cracking a smile. “I thought it was the mom that was supposed to have the crazy intuition right away?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe both parents can have it. What do you think it is?”

She giggled quietly. “I think you’re right. It’s a girl.” Then she sighed. “I should probably get going. You have an early day tomorrow.”

My chest tightened and tears stung my eyes as I thought about the prospect of her leaving this apartment tonight. Both of us had a huge bombshell dropped on us today, and I just wanted to spend the rest of the night holding her and making sure she was okay. I never wanted to let her go to sleep alone again, but it wasn’t safe for her to move in permanently yet, so I’d have to settle for tonight.

“Stay. Please,” I begged. “I can’t stand the idea of you walking out that door tonight.”

A few tears started to trickle down her cheeks, and she looked up at me again as she nodded. “Okay.”

She still looked so scared and lost that it broke my heart, but at the same time, it looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Like she could breathe a little easier. And once again, I was filled with a conviction that, somehow, God would see us through. Even if I couldn’t see His plan, I had to trust that He had one and that this baby was part of it.

Chapter 30

Darla

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