Page 100 of Ruck Me

“I can’t believe you’re pregnant. You’re just a baby yourself," Declan said. Almost like this whole conversation was just now hitting him, like the words we'd spoken were just now making sense.

I glared at him. “Not helping big brother.”

“Yeah Declan, shut your pie hole,” Sophie chimed in and then they started laughing, caught up in their own privatejoke.

When their guffaws died down, I broached the topic I’d come here to discuss. “Now that’s done with, I have a favor toask.”

“Anything,” Declan agreed quickly and I knew he meant it. With all the money he’d made over the years from rugby and his endorsements, outside of this house, he hadn’t spent much on himself. He was always giving his time and money to various charities, and he’d been taking care of me and our mam for ages. That’s just the type of guy he was. While some went into professional sports for the money and fame, Declan truly loved the game. He probably would have played regardless of whether they paid him or not. But right about now I was thankful they did because I was about to become an even larger burden than I’d alreadybeen.

“You might want to wait until I tell you what it is,” I cautioned, knowing what I was about to ask for was more than a favor. It was mylife.

“If it’s in my power to give it to you, I’ll do it. Not quit stalling and tell me what youwant.”

“Remember how when I left Ballycurra I had nowhere to live and I came to stayhere?”

“Yes?”

“I can’t have a baby while I live with two other girls. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us, not to mention it’d be impractical. Instead of the guest room, I was hoping I could move into the space downstairs. I know it’s not finished, but the baby and I won’t needmuch.”

“Out of the question,” he shot back and my shoulders sagged.

“Oh.”

Living in Declan’s basement had been the only other option I’d been able to come up with, and now that he’d shot me down, I had no idea what I would do. “I guess I could go back to Ballycurra,” I offered, my voice flat. I didn’t want to move back in with our mother, but with my options at zero, I didn’t see that I had any other choice.

“No nephew or niece of mine is going to live in that rat hole,” he continued. “Take the guest room for now and I’ll get an architect out here to turn it back into an apartment.” His eyes shot to Sophie. “Shit. Is that okay with you? The noise and dust will be a pain in the ass on the days you work from homebut—”

“There are no buts about it,” she answered. “Your sister is moving in.” She turned to me with a grin on her face. “It’ll be great having another woman in the house.”

Declan slapped his palms down on his thighs and rose. “Great, I guess that’s settledthen.”

I’d expected to have to plead my case. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought Declan would offer to have the ground floor remodeled back into the apartment it’d been before the previous owners had ripped everything out to create storage space for their home brewing business.

I tried biting back my tears, but I was pregnant damn it, and my brother had just given me the world’s biggest lifeline. Launching myself into his arms, I thanked him—repeatedly and profusely—as tears fell down myface.

“I only have one stipulation,” he said once I’d finally given him a chance to speak again. “No. Make thattwo.”

“Anything!” I exclaimed, happy for the first time in days. “Whatever you want, just nameit.”

Again, Declan’s eyes shot to Sophie and I watched as she notched her chin in agreement. He turned to me then, his expression serious. “I want you to get a court-ordered mandate for maintenance from Eoin, and I want you to make sure the baby has his name. He may be angry, but you didn’t trap him into this. He told you he loved you and now you’re going to have his baby.” As if sensing my need to argue, Declan rushed to add, “I mean it, Aoife. If that kid isn’t a McGrath, we’re going to have a serious problem.”

He was right. Of course he was. I just didn’t know how to have that conversation with Eoin. Shit, I didn’t know how to have any of these conversations. As far as I knew, there was no manual for this sort of thing.

I nodded and tried to say okay but my voice broke.

Declan wrapped me in a hug and then pulled Sophie to his side, the three of us forming a human triangle. “If you don’t do it, I will, and he won’t like how I make my point.”

Declan had been itching for a fight with Eoin and this pregnancy gave him the perfect reason to start one. Even though the things Eoin had said at the end had hurt to hear, I didn’t blame him for the breakdown of our relationship—that was all on me. He might have handled the situation poorly, but that was no reason for my brother to kick his ass. I’d done him wrong; the least I could do was make sure he didn’t pay for our mistake with his body. Because apparently, even though I’d had no intention of asking him to, he’d be paying for it plenty with his bank account. And hisname.

“Okay,” I repeated, wanting to protect Eoin more than I wanted to protect my pride.

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