Page 124 of Mace

I hold my breath, scared this might not be real. She’d only come off the pill two months ago, and we’d expected it to take time. Maylie said it could take a year to fall pregnant, so this knocks me off balance.

“That’s what the test said… all seven of them.”

Fuck.Maylie is pregnant.I press a hand to her stomach, feeling nothing different there.

“You took seven tests?”

“I had to be sure. The first six could’ve been wrong.” She laughs. “I thought we’d have a little more time. How the hell are we gonna manage two newborns?”

I grab her face as my urges to keep her safe explode inside me to a level I’ve never experienced. As I duck my head to kiss her, she turns her face away. “I just almost threw up. At least let me brush my teeth before you kiss me.”

If she thinks I give a shit about that, she’s wrong, but I relent as I can tell she feels weird about it. “We need to go home.”

“Okay.”

“You’re not getting on the back of my bike again until the baby is born.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m not sure you should keep working at Temptation either.”

She frowns at me. “Are you okay?”

I scrub my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know. I know we wanted this, but I never considered the reality of how I’d feel when I became a dad.”

She smiles as if her world starts and ends with me, which is exactly how I feel about her. “You’ll be amazing. You already are with Ivy and Toby. I’m more worried about where everyone is going to fit.”

“It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.”

I kiss her forehead, needing to touch her somewhere, needing to feel her skin against mine. “I fucking love you.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

My hand goes back to her stomach, hers sitting on top of mine, and I realise in this moment that I have everything I wanted when I was that scared boy of fifteen. I have my family, and I couldn’t ask for more.

THIRTY

MAYLIE

Ivy’s daughteris possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. She has this tiny little button nose and the bluest eyes imaginable. Despite being six weeks old, she still seems like a doll.

My sister is completely smitten, peering down at her as if amazed she made something so perfect. I don’t blame her for that. I’m sure I’ll be the same when my baby is born.

Mace and I decided to keep it secret for a while, just so that Ivy got to have her moment in the spotlight, but that won’t be possible for much longer. I’ve managed to hide my morning sickness from both her and Toby, thanks to having a separate bathroom, though I suspect my brother knows something is going on. Unlike Ivy, he hasn’t had anything to preoccupy his mind. He hasn’t said anything though, allowing us to keep this secret.

I rest a hand on my stomach subconsciously, unsure if the swell there is bloat or if it’s the start of my baby making its presence known. I’m twelve weeks today, thenatural time when couples usually reveal their good news, but I’m happy to keep this private a little longer. I like that Mace and I share this huge secret between us.

“She’s so perfect,” Ivy says in a dreamy voice. “I don’t even care that I’ve only had three hours sleep.”

I smile, astounded by how motherhood has changed my sister. There is a newfound maturity in her, a desire to only do what she needs to for her baby.

We never told her that Mace killed Link, and I have no intention of her ever finding that out. All she knows is that he hasn’t been around, and she’s been so focused on Seren that she hasn’t noticed or even asked.

“She is very cute,” I agree.

Ivy lifts her gaze to me. The days when Toby is at school and it’s just me and her, we’ve really become close, and I love it.

“When are you going to tell me the truth?”

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