Page 65 of Accidental Baby Daddy

“Wait. Your asshole ex is in town? When did this happen?” She frowned at me.

“Last night. I just haven’t had the chance to tell you. He came looking for me at the bar.”

“Jesus,” Gillian muttered. “You’re really having a rough go of it, aren’t you?”

“I am,” I whined, leaning against her. “And I feel like if I so much as smell food I’ll throw up, but I am hungry.”

“Maybe we should try something simple? Like soup?”

“Oliver’s grandmother sent over some chicken ginger soup. I could try that.”

Gillian nodded, going to the kitchen to heat it up for me.

I took a couple of tentative sips and hunger gnawed at my belly. I started to eat a little faster, noticing my stomach was seeming to settle as I ate.

“They were right about this ginger,” I murmured. “Good for the stomach.”

Gillian just looked at me, out of the loop, setting off a hysterical laugh. I had no idea what I was going to do about this baby, about Oliver, about Dick, about any of it. The laughter was better than tears. I knew if I started crying there was a good chance I might never stop.

“I’m a little worried about you, sis,” she said hesitantly.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Don’t be worried. I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

“You don’t have to do this alone.” She put her hand over mine, and tears sprang to the backs of my eyes. I fought hard, but I couldn’t keep them from falling.

“Thank you, Gilly. For everything.”

“Don’t say that like you’re about to disappear,” she said, fear evident in her voice. “You can’t just take off.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” I admitted. “I don’t really have the funds to start over, but I can’t stay here. I’ll start to show, and then Oliver will know.”

“Shouldn’t he know?” she asked quietly. “Oliver has the right to know you’re pregnant with his baby.”

“I can’t tell him. He’ll never let me leave Wagontown.”

She frowned. “He can’t stop you.”

“He’d never try to stop me, but he’d work hard at convincing me to stay. He’ll tell me the baby is better off having two parents, that they would be more mentally and emotionally stable growing up in a solid home. He’d be right on both accounts, of course, and I’d be stuck here for the next eighteen years.”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. You haven’t even thought about whether or not you’re going to keep the baby.”

I rubbed my stomach, thinking about it. I couldn’t imagine not having this baby, now that I knew it existed. As complicated as things were, Oliver and I had been very much in love at one point, and this was proof of that love.

I knew that I would love this baby. So, so much.

But that didn’t mean I wanted to get back together with Oliver.

Or did I?

Could this be the string that finally pulled us together? Could I ever trust him to trust me again?

I didn’t know. So for now, I had to keep it a secret.

I took Gillian’s hands in mine. “I’m going to keep the baby.”

She squealed, hurting my ears. “I’m going to be an auntie!”

I laughed. “Yes, you are. But you can’t tell anyone. Not yet.”

---