Page 58 of Be My Baby

He took the last few steps to the door and hauled it open just as Millie’s knuckles would’ve made contact. She stumbled forward a little and had to brace herself on the jamb.

Lightning flashed and thunder continued to rumble around them as they stared at each other in the fast-fading light. The storms had been around all day.

Max cleared his throat. “I’ll grab you a towel.”

Millie reached for him and he stopped moving at the touch of her hand on his wrist.

“I’m fine. Please just let me say what I came to say, or I’ll chicken out.”

She stood straighter, a determination seeming to steel her. The last thing he’d ever wanted to do was hurt her or make her unhappy, but only that morning he’d achieved both and hated himself for it.

Millie opened her mouth, then frowned, looking away to his right. She sighed.

“I know you don’t owe me anything. I know you weren’t looking for anything permanent when we started all this—with trying to get pregnant, I mean.” She looked back at him, her large, luminous eyes full of suppressed emotion. “And I know I’m not Lucy, never will be. I could never replace her. What you guys had…”

Max bit his lip. She didn’t know that he’d never compared them, that it had never crossed his mind to do so. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t dare interrupt her.

This time it was Millie who crossed her arms and gripped her biceps. “I miss her too, Max. So much. I know it kills you a little more each day that she’s not here with us. But you have to live too. You can’t keep hiding away, pretending you’re fine, not actuallyliving.”

This time he opened his mouth. Millie reached up and pressed a gentle finger to his lips. A shockwave ricocheted outward from that point of contact and sent shivers coursing down his spine. His gut tightened into a hard knot.

“Please, just give me a minute.” She blinked, as if clearing suddenly tight or stinging eyes. “I care about you. You know that. And before you say anything—no, I’m not here to beg you to be with me. Because we both know that if you wanted to be, you would be already.”

She stepped back and spread her arms wide, a wry smile tilting the corner of her mouth. “It worked. I’m pregnant. It’s early days yet, but I went to see Doc this afternoon and he’s cautiously optimistic.”

Max’s brain stopped working. Completely. He couldn’t even breathe.

Pregnant.

She dropped her arms, her slight smile fading, along with the happy light in her eyes.

“You’re going to be a father. I’ll have Trey finalise the documents and add any adjustments to them that you want. I realise you won’t want to be part of this anymore. I get it. Really, I do. So much has happened and you need to focus on sorting that out first. I just thought it right that you know.”

The worddocumentssnapped his attention back.

He raised a hand to cup her jaw. He couldn’t help it, he needed to touch her.

“I can’t… A child? It really happened?” He shook his head and let out a shocked bark. “You seriously think I don’t want you, or the baby? I realise most of that is on my own head, what with our last conversation, but Millie, it’s not true.”

A surge of happiness laced with intense longing flooded him. He fell to his knees and pressed a shaking hand to her stomach, then tilted his head forward until it rested on her belly beside his hand.

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Millie Stevens. Longer than you could know. This… This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I realise that I’m not in a position to offer much, not yet, but I’m going to rebuild. I overreacted this morning. I thought I had lost everything; that I had nothing to offer you or any potential child. I panicked and pushed you away. I’m so sorry that I took it out on you. It will take years to get back to where I was, if ever, but if you give me a chance…”

Millie dropped to her knees and cupped his face, her own disbelieving. “You love me?”

Max swallowed and nodded. Uneven breaths jerked into his chest. “Yes.”

There was no other way to say it. Simple and one syllable, one singular word that meant everything.

Yes.

*

Millie bit herlip as it wobbled, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. Max loved her. She almost couldn’t believe it. Particularly after what he’d said only that morning.

She wouldn’t think about that, didn’t want to diminish the warm glow that was spreading inside her.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I love you too, you goose.” A soft, choked laugh left her lips. “My God, Max. I love you so much it hurts. I think I have for years, but was too stubborn or too scared to acknowledge it.”

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