Page 45 of Better as It

I swallow the pill and look out at the tree line.

“I’m scared,” I admit, just above a whisper.

“Good,” Tripp says. “Means you’ve got something worth losing.”

His words play around in my head on repeat long after he walks away and our conversation is over. By the time I’m back inside, Doll and Maritza have shown up and taken over the decorations with terrifying precision. I barely get through the door before I’m handed a roll of tape and told to start on centerpieces.

Dia’s not arriving until later, she thinks we’re just having a casual club lunch. The surprise is half the point.

I finish the last table and glance around. The room’s packed with balloons, red and black streamers, diaper cakes, and handmade signs that say“Tiny Biker Riding In.”

The baby doesn’t have a full name yet, just Benjamin.

But they’ve got a family in spades.

Dia walks in two hours later, blinking in the doorway like she’s walked into another dimension.

BW blows a horn.

Maritza shouts, “Surprise!”

Doll grins like she’s orchestrated a wedding.

Dia stares, then bursts into laughter and tears at the same time. And when her eyes meet mine, I see it.

That quiet kind of love.

The kind that forgives the past and chooses the present.

Later, after the games and the gifts and the million photos I know she’s secretly dreading, we sit together in the back of the room, plates of cake half-eaten in front of us.

Her hand rests on her belly, the curve now visible even through the soft cotton of her dress.

“You did all this?” she asks softly.

I shake my head. “Wasn’t just me. Club helped. Your mom stepped in and bullied. I mean rallied.”

She smiles, but there’s emotion in her eyes that goes deeper. “You must be exhausted.”

“Not gonna lie. I’m wiped.”

“You didn’t have to do this for me.” She looks to her belly, “for us.”

“You’re worth it. Both of you. Not a damn thing I wouldn’t do for either of you.”

Her fingers brush mine. I take her hand and hold it, grounding myself in the warmth of her skin, the rhythm of her breath.

“I don’t think we’re gonna have to buy anything for the first year not even diapers. Who knew Hellions liked to shop so much.” She jokes.

“Ol’ ladies like to shop. Hellions do not shop unless absolutely necessary.”

She laughs and settles in. “Thank you, Justin. I know it’s hard for you to have much energy these days and trying not to show it adds to the fatigue.”

“Tripp knows,” I share.

Her eyes widen.

“I told him about the cancer. About you. The baby.”

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