Page 112 of Bear
“Um,yourhouse?” Cecily scoffed.
“Our house.” I put my hands on her hips and squeezed.
“Yes, you’re outnumbered. Eleven to one,” she said defiantly.
“First of all Sarah and The new little one in Ivy’s belly don’t count. So where’s the extra person coming from?” I quizzed. I counted everyone in the study and even counting Sarah and Ivy’s unborn baby, there were only eleven people in the room with me included.
Cecily cleared her throat and placed my hand on her stomach. “Thisis the vote that matters the most.”
My heart stopped for at least twelve seconds. That’s what it felt like anyway. My brain buzzed with so many fucking emotions I didn’t think I was ever capable of experiencing. I was terrified and ecstatic at the same time. I was worried and proud. I was everything at once and it stunned me silent.
“Bear? Did you hear her, baby?” Lane asked.
“Um…yeah, I heard her. I just…I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been this happy before.” I blinked and stared at the perfect woman sitting on my lap. The woman carrying my child. My first child.
“Thank you, Cecily,” I finally said. I hugged her, pulling her body against mine.
“Thank you? Why are you thanking me?” She laughed a little but I saw the tears in her cognac eyes. Thankfully, they were tears of joy.
“Because you trust me enough to let me give half of myself to create a child with you. That’s the highest honor I could have ever been given. I’m going to spoil the hell out of this baby.”
“Not my grandbaby,” Luanne said shaking her head.
“Yeah, I’m with Lu on this one. We won’t have any spoiled grandbabies,” Lane said.
“What grandma don’t know won’t hurt her.” I grinned and rubbed Cecily’s belly. It was still flat but soon it would be swollen with our baby. “Wait, so all of y’all knew before me?” They all shared sheepish looks that told me all I needed to know. I looked at Cecily and she grinned, showing off those deep dimples I loved so much. I couldn’t be mad at her even if I wanted to. Not when she smiled at me like that.
“I’ll let it slide since you only told the family.”
Family.
The people smiling back at me, happy that I was happy. They were my people. I’d protect them with my life and none of them would ever want for anything. My stitched together family meant more to me than my father ever did. Once my heart was open, I realized it wasn’t so bad letting people in and loving them. It made me stronger in the long run and with my family around me, I was unstoppable.
BEAR
“Hey, you think we can spend some time together today?” Lane walked into my study with a small smile on her face. I turned off the computer monitor and looked up at her beautiful features. I saw so much more of myself in her once Dad was gone.
“I have something kind of heavy to take care of today.”
“And what’s that?” She asked, her hand fixed to her hip.
“I’m going to take Dad to the lumberyard today. So unless you want to watch me shred your frozen ex…”
“I do. I’m coming with you.” She still had a smile on her face and it was then that we were more alike than I realized.
“Okay, your choice. I don’t want to hear any crying about how gory it is.” I warned, standing up.
“I’ve seen my share of gory things, son. I think I’ll be okay. Won’t be the first time I’ve seen someone get handled at the lumberyard.”
“I get that but this is Dad.” I felt no remorse for killing my father but I was sensitive to the fact that at one point he meant something to Lane.
“My way of sending him off,” she smiled at me again but that time I saw sadness swimming in her eyes. It wasn’t sadness for my father and I knew it. I wish I knew what it was for though. “I’ll check back in a few hours. Will you be ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll be ready,” I told her.
I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what the fuck could have made my mother so sad. I barely noticed the day easing by because my mind was tangled in curiosity. Cecily was usually my anchor when I got too deep inside my own head but she was helping Kareema pick out a car courtesy of Tito. Those two were into their relationship so deep that I rarely saw one without the other. I was happy for her though.
Since Cecily was gone for the day, there was nobody to pull me out of my thoughts. The only thing that made me focus on the present was when my mother came by like she said she would hours later.
