Page 10 of The MC's Surprise
Prez made an irritated noise, scowling at me. “She wouldn’t be slumming it with you. Shut up.”
“What’s slumming?” Zoey asked. She was four now and too damn smart for her own good. I winced and Prez flashed me an irritated look.
“Its complicated, princess. Can you do me a favor and take Ellie to go play? I need to speak to Uncle Vegas.”
She stuck her lip out in a little pout, but did as asked, holding her hand out for Ellie to join. Once the door closed behind them, I let out a long sigh, slumping in my seat.
“What the hell am I going to do?”
“Well, first, you’re going to get a paternity test,” Prez informed me. “Then, once we know, we’ll figure it out. This isn’t our first rodeo, thankfully. We can handle another kid.”
Yeah, but the kid had never been mine before. I still found it hard to wrap my head around that.
6
Sierra
“Sierra!”
I heard Mom calling, but chose to ignore it. After things went so poorly with Vegas, I threw myself into figuring out what I was going to do next. There would be no next big idea. I needed a stable job, something that either paid well enough to afford child care or that I could do from home.
Mom offered to watch the baby while I worked, but I didn't want to stay in town when Vegas so obviously didn’t want anything to do with me. I figured he’d call, but forty eight hours later, nothing. That was answer enough for me. If he didn’t want a part of this, that was his choice. I wasn’t going to torment him by hanging around where we could run into one another.
Scrolling through the job listings in the nearby city, I chewed on my lip. I figured closer to my parents would be better, instead of trying to go all the way back to California. The climate was better, and I had friends there, but it was too expensive. I barely afforded to live out there alone and babies are expensive.
Mom pushed the door open, frowning at me. “Did you hear me? I’ve been calling for you.”
“Sorry, Mama. I’m filling out applications.”
She hummed, her usual suspicious tone softened. “Any luck?”
“Not really. If I want something stable, I might have to go back to school but with the baby on the way, I can’t afford that.”
“I’m sure we can figure something out,” she replied readily. “There’s someone at the door for you. Put that down for a while and take a break. It’s bad for you to be stuck in bed all day.”
I sighed heavily. Ever since she found out I was pregnant, she’d been hovering even worse than when I was a kid. She forced me to take walks with her and was pushing so much water at me, I felt like I was about to move into the bathroom I was peeing so much. I was hoping the scan later today would help settle her a little, once she saw that the baby was healthy, but I doubted it. If anything, it’d make her double down. I’d yet to figure out an excuse to not take her with me.
Setting the laptop off to one side, I rolled off the bed. It wasn’t until I reached the living room that I realized what she’d said. I didn't know anyone in the area. The friends I’d grown up with all moved away. Who would be visiting me?
I came to an abrupt halt, my heart hammering in my throat as I took in the man standing at the door. He looked better than when I’d last seen him, less pale and horrified. His short blond hair was messy, which didn’t surprise me given the helmet tucked under one arm. He always rode a motorcycle, even on the rainy days. I’d forgotten about that.
He was clean shaven like always, because he said it was a crime to women to cover his dimples. His normal charming grin was missing, though, and so were the dimples. He looked uncomfortable standing there, eyes taking in the room. When his gaze landed on me, he stiffened and sucked in a breath, those baby blues wary and uncertain. So unlike the man I knew. I hated that I was the one who did that to him.
“Uh… Hey,” he greeted uneasily.
“Hey,” I answered, crossing my arms awkwardly. It was hard with the bump in the way, but I pretended not to notice. Vegas didn’t. His eyes dropped to my belly and he froze again, like he had in his office. I’d skipped the heavy sweaters and my t-shirt was a little small, showing a strip of my belly as it stretched over the bump. Only my mom’s voice snapped him out of it.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to talk. I’m going to run to the grocery store before our appointment. Did you want me to pick up anything for you, sweetie?”
“Broccoli,” I answered automatically, then wrinkled my nose. I normally wasn’t a huge fan of broccoli but right now, it felt like a necessity. I’d decimated my parents’ fridge of it already and almost cried when I realized there wasn’t more. Pregnancy is weird.
Mom huffed and nodded. “That’s at the top of my list, don’t you worry. Call me if you think of anything else.”
Vegas sidestepped, giving my mom a polite nod as she brushed past him. She smiled, patting his arm in understanding before leaving. When I told her how he reacted to the news, she told me to give him time to come around. I guess I should’ve been more patient.
Clearing my throat awkwardly, I gestured to the living room. “Come in. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Uh, no. Thank you.”
