Page 105 of Bae

I giggled. “There’s no baby to talk about… yet.” I felt my own eyes widen. “Unless!” I glanced at her midsection.

“Oh no!” Ivy shook her head. “I’m not pregnant.”

“Are you going to have more?”

She averted her gaze, picking at the fruit.

“Ivy?”

“Braeden wants to.”

“But you don’t?” I pressed.

“No, I do… I just…”

A lightbulb went off overhead. “It’s because of me, isn’t it?” I whispered.

“No! No, I…” Her shoulders slumped. “I can’t think about having more kids right now when you’ve been struggling so much. It seems cruel.”

I grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I would never want you to put your own family on hold because of me. I would never be hurt by you and my brother having more children.”

It touched me more than I think she would ever know that she considered my feelings when contemplating her own life choices. It also made me feel a little guilty, as if I were holding her back.

“You’re our family, too,” she insisted. “Besides, I’m busy with work right now. Nova is a handful. It’s your turn. Yours and Romeo’s. Maybe next year will be ours.”

“But what if I can’t?” I said, voicing the same redundant fear that always seemed to come up and bite me.

“You can,” Ivy said, her voice absolute.

“Yes. I can,” I echoed, more for myself than her. “But promise me you won’t put your life on hold for me. And if and when it happens, I want to know. Don’t not tell me because you think it will break me. I love Nova, and I will love any other little Braedens you have.”

“Girl!” Ivy scoffed. “You may be little and the guys might argue with me, but I know you aren’t so easily broken. Neither of us is.” We both laughed. Then she turned serious. “Thank you.”

“So…” I began, lightening up this girl time. “When do you leave for New York?”

“In a few days.”

“Are you taking Nova? Want me to watch her?”

“Actually, I’m bringing her with me. My mom is flying in. She’s going to stay at the hotel with Nova when I’m in my meetings. Then we’ll hit up a couple kid museums.”

“Just your mom?” I asked, thinking of the birthday party disaster.

She made a sour face. “Oh yes, I made sure of that. I can’t handle my father right now.”

“He still hasn’t come around at all?” I murmured, thinking of the hurt I saw on Trent’s and Drew’s faces.

“No.” Ivy’s voice was hard. “And I just can’t understand it. I gave him a piece of my mind when he showed up here, and it wasn’t a friendly piece either.”

“I don’t understand either,” I said, slipping into my own private thoughts. It was way too soon for me to think I couldn’t have children; it wasn’t totally out of the cards for me. However, being a woman who just went through the loss of a child, it seemed unfair. Why would someone who was blessed with not one, but three children be foolish enough to push one away while other people out there would kill for the chance to have just one and love them no matter what?

I cleared my throat. “Was your father upset when you read him the riot act?”

“Of course. He tried to lecture me. I wasn’t about to listen to it, and we got into an argument. Of course, Braeden heard, and you know how he is. The second he heard my father raise his voice at me, he was showing him the door.”

“I’m sorry.” I laid my hand on hers. “I know what it’s like to have a rocky relationship with a father.”

She smiled. “Good thing we have each other. I figured this trip would be a chance for my mom to see Nova, because we won’t be seeing her during the holidays. It’s neutral territory, and I’ll be busy so there won’t be much time to get into it about Drew.”

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