Page 46 of Agony of Our Regret

“Or ask Miranda to prep more frozen meals for us to reheat.”

I rolled my eyes. “Or ask her to teach us.”

He cringed. “We can’t rely on her forever. Between the three of us, we should be able to figure it out, and we need to think about cutting back on restaurants. It’s expensive, plus a child needs variety. Lemon can’t survive off spaghetti forever.”

“When you put it that way, it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“What did you two do before me?”

Gavin stopped at the last light before our apartment building, and he tapped the steering wheel, thinking. “Lots of pizza. Sandwiches. Grabbing food while we were out.”

I scrunched my nose. “Well, we need to eat healthier from now on. Maybe throw in a fruit or vegetable every few days.”

He laughed. “That sounds fair.”

We circled back to work talk for the rest of the drive, and he explained a coding project he was working on to gather data from somewhere to feed into something. The complexities went over my head, but I listened carefully. His excitement grew as we parked and exited the car.

“We weren’t sure the best way to sort through what was coming in, and when I pitched my idea, they all agreed!”

I smiled up at my nerd and lifted to kiss his cheek as the elevator doors opened on our floor.He blushed, but his shy grin disappeared when we stepped off. I turned to see what was wrong and found Vince waiting in front of our apartment with grocery bags in his hands.

“What are you doing here?” Gavin asked.

Vince’s gaze dropped to me for a second before he answered, lifting the bags. “I asked my mom about morning sickness and what helped her most. I wanted to bring them over.”

“You didn’t need to do that.” Gavin shoved him aside enough to put in his key and unlock our door. “Or you could have dropped off the bags. You didn’t need to wait.”

“I wasn’t going to just leave them here. What if they got stolen?” Vince argued, as he followed Gavin inside.

I waited in the hall, debating what to do.

I asked for space, and he showed up.

I more than respected his wishes, but he disregarded mine. I set a boundary, and he blew past it.

How did I feel about that?

“Ave?” Gavin called.

I went in finally and shut the door behind me, but stood against the wall.

I should tell him to go.

But this was him trying.

He asked his mom for advice. Confided in her and acted on what she said. That was big for him. He was making an effort. He was trying to help.

Should I punish him for that?

No, but he didn’t listen to me. Respect my wishes.

But did I really want them to stay away?

I shouldn’t let them back into my life so easily.

Especially, not him.

He was the only one who hadn’t said what his plans were. He wasn’t set on staying.

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