Page 91 of Thorns That Bloom
Theo
Sam and I spend an hour or two doing some retail therapy before we finally get the groceries and walk toward where Sam parked his car. I can’t stop smiling when I look at him, replaying in my head how excited he got when he found those cute baby socks with elephants on them in the clothing section that wesomehowwandered into.
There’s so much I still don’t know about him, but the way I keep uncovering more and more makes me feel like this is what I’ve been waiting for my entire life. This one person I get to spend the rest of my existence learning about and growing closer to until we’re exactly what I know deep down we’re meant to be—two hearts beating in one rhythm.
“My damn ankles are swelling so bad,” Sam mutters grumpily, rubbing his lower back.
“We’re almost at the car, right?”
“Yeah.Ugh, I can’t even walk around normally anymore.”
“You’ve had a long day. We get to yours and you can lie down, put your feet up, and wait for me to make you a feast, hm?” I turn to him with an excited grin.
Sam grimaces, then glances down at the heavy bag of groceries in my hand. “You bought way too much. Not that I won’t be able to eat it. This child is like a tapeworm. The hunger is endless. Then there’s the heartburn, and the swelling, and the— Well, you don’t have to know aboutallthe horrible side-effects,” he grumbles to himself. “Trust me. You don’t want to.”
I can’t help laughing. Not at him, though; at how grumpy he gets when he’s uncomfortable. It’s too endearing. I plan to make him as comfortable as humanly possible once we're at his place.
“Theo?” I hear somewhere behind us.
Sam and I both halt. I glance around, squinting in confusion. The voice is familiar.
“Itishim!” I squint and see the tall blonde waving at me from across the path leading from the shops toward the parking lot. It takes a few moments for me to place her—it’s Kailee, from high school. She has a pram in front of her and a group of women her age surrounding her. They’re all heading our way.
“Oh, long time no see,” I say with a little wave. I turn to Sam, who stands next to me with a slightly annoyed expression. He quickly changes it when he meets my eyes, but I know he’s not very comfortable. “I’m sorry. She’s from high school. Haven’t seen her in—”
“Catch up, it’s okay. Really.” He shifts on his feet and rests his hand under his belly. “Really.”
Before I can argue, Kailee gets to us. She’s beaming. “Theodore Reid!”
It takes a little longer to register the faces of the others. The curvaceous ginger with bright green eyes to her left,Hannah, went to the same school as us, only in a different class. The short woman with a bouncy afro had joined the school for the final year. I never really talked to her much. She was very shy, especially in front of boisterous, annoying alphas like myself. I don’t recognize the brunette with a toddler in her arms behind Kailee at all, but the woman next to her that’s on her phone, dressed in all black, was our classmate, too.
“Would you look at you!” Kailee gives me a look over from head to toe and goes in for a hug. “Knew it was you when I saw those broad shoulders and that bird’s nest. You haven’t changed your hair since school,” she adds with a chuckle.
“You haven’t changed much, either. In a good way,” I say, matching her cheerful energy. Only when she steps away from me do I notice she’s pregnant. Not as heavily as Sam, but the bump is definitely there.
“Always a flirt,” Hannah notes, looking up from her phone.
The women let out a cascade of playful laughter.
“I remember you always saying you would never settle.” Raising my brow, I glance over the hood of the pram to be met with the wide, blue eyes of the baby within. I expected it to be sleeping, but it focuses on me right away, cooing and flapping its arms and legs with excitement.
“Oooh, he likes you,” Kailee says, sounding like it’s an unusual occurrence. The women give me looks of admiration, as if I had done something. She reaches for the baby, pulling him out of the pram with a quiet huff. She rests him on her arm and rocks him a bit, giving him time to adjust. “I remember you saying the same,” Kailee notes with a smirk, glancing toward Sam.
I turn to him, then back to her with my mouth half open,ready to clear the awkward misunderstanding, but Sam chuckles. “Did he now?” he asks, narrowing his eyes with a crooked smile.
My heart hiccups. He didn’t correct her. He’s…he’s letting her think we’re together. That his child is mine. The realization makes my cheeks burn and my knees weak.
“This is little Yosef. His Mamma isverygood at getting Mommy to change her mind on many things, isn’t she?” Kailee tickles the baby, making him giggle adorably. “Yes, she is. She is!”
Huh!Kailee was only interested in guys in school. Then again, that was a while ago, and a person hardly knows themselves properly in high school. It’s a little surprising nonetheless.
Everyone gravitates toward the adorable tan baby with fat cheeks and peach fuzz for hair. His infectious laughter puts a wide grin on everybody in the vicinity. Including Sam. When I glance at him, he’s standing there, hand resting on his belly, gaze fixed on Yosef with a thoughtful expression.
I wonder if he’s worried or excited. Probably both.
“You want to hold him?” Kailee asks.
“What? Me? Oh, I’m not… I don’t know,” I mutter, quickly putting my hands up. She’s already thrusting him into my arms and, by god, he smells lovely. Like freshly washed sheets and sunshine and…okay, maybe a little like vomit, too, but he has thatbaby smell. The smell of innocence and a blissful, simple existence without a single worry weighing on his mind.
