Page 14 of Agony of Our Regret

Thank heaven for that.

“She’s right. I shouldn’t have pressed. I’m sorry, Avalon.” Wes ducked his head. “We were worried about you, but if there’s nothing…”

Suddenly, the need to get the secret out was more than I could control. Maybe it was seeing them all here, full of love and concern for us. Maybe it was being sick of keeping it quiet. The words poured out before I could stop them. “I’m pregnant.”

Luca’s eyes widened.

“Ave,” Gavin whispered.

I shrugged. “I can’t hide it forever.”

“What?” Daniel looked from his wife to me to his son, then back to Tessa. “You knew?”

“Wes and I guessed.” Tessa bit her lip and came forward. “Avalon, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have pushed you to tell us before you were ready.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Gavin scolded.

I didn’t care. We couldn’t deny the truth for much longer.

“It’s okay. I needed time to process, and we haven’t discussed when we would tell everyone else.”

Wes shook his head. “And we bulldozed in here. I’m sorry. I got excited.”

“It’s okay.” I stood and reached out to put my hand on his arm. “It means a lot that you care enough to notice I’ve been sick. You came to check on me, and that was really nice.”

He smiled. “No matter what the situation is between you and Noah, you’ll always be family. I’m thrilled for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait.” Chris grinned. “He asked about Noah, but you don’t know. Does that mean it’s a possibility it might be Sky’s?”

Fuck.

This wasn’t something I wanted to discuss with all the parents.

“We don’t know who the father is,” Luca said firmly.

“And we won’t be finding out,” Gavin added. “Especially not before the baby is born.”

“Do they know?” Wes asked.

I shook my head. “No, and I’m not planning on telling them.”

“What?” Chris shook his head. “But if there’s a chance––”

“He’s not here.” I locked eyes with each of them. “I don’t want any of them coming back because they think there’s a chance this is their baby. I want them to come home because it’s where they want to be.”

Wes began to protest, but Luca cut him off. “This is her decision. It’s only up to her.”

“They should know,” Wes tried.

My shoulders fell. “They made their choice, and it wasn’t to be with me. Luca, Gavin, and I intend to raise the baby ourselves. Paternity doesn’t matter to us.”

“It does if it’s Sky’s or Noah’s.” Chris’s voice was gentle. “I understand what you’re saying, but not telling them isn’t right.”

I sucked in a breath. “Maybe not, but I can’t bear the thought of them coming back only to see if the baby is theirs.” My voice broke, but I pushed through. “Please try to understand what I’ve been through. What we’ve all been through. They made their choices. They have their own lives, and right now, being here isn’t what they want. I don’t want them here under a false sense of obligation. I refuse to force them into a role or life they don’t want. Maybe if I was alone, my feelings would be different, but Luca and Gavin are here. The three of us are doing this together.”

Wes rubbed the back of his neck. “It might be what finally brings him home.”

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