Page 107 of Claiming What's His

“Leave.” I said firmly, standing up and pointing to the door. “If you came here to point out how pathetic I am, just leave Dex. I have no problem recognizing that on my own. I don’t need your help.”

He scoffed at me and pulled me back down to the couch. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.” He said and I glared at him. “You’re skin and bones Cora. Are you eating?”

“Eating is kind of hard when you have an alien inside of you that makes you throw it all back up Dex. I don’t know if you know how growing a human works or not, but it’s actually a miserable process.”

“I know it is.” He said sadly and then “I was a dad once.”

The air instantly blew out of my sails, and I wilted into the cushions of the couch. “What does that mean exactly?”

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face and undid his tie, tossing it over his discarded jacket. “I was married to a woman that I loved… far more than she loved me. A year into our marriage she got pregnant, and I was elated to grow our family. Ecstatic really. I was there for every step along the way.”

I turned on the couch to face him, “So what happened?”

“Turned out the baby wasn’t mine; she’d cheated on me and knew the whole time that it wasn’t mine. But let me think it was until she decided she wanted to be with the other guy.” He sighed as his eyes glassed over. “She left with my son when he was eight months old, and I never got to see him again.”

“Oh my God.” I said, covering my mouth as tears burned the back of my eyes for him. “I can’t imagine having a little baby for eight months and then losing him like that. I’m so sorry Dex.”

He nodded and continued on, “I waited around, hoping she’d come back to me.” He looked down at his ring finger where his wedding ring still circled his finger. “I guess a part of me still waits.”

“God.” I whispered and took his hand. “I’m so sorry.” My attention fell to my own wedding ring on my finger that I had contemplated taking off a million times lately.

He shook his head and took a deep breath, “I appreciate that, but that’s not why I came here.”

“Why did you come?”

“To make sure that you were taking care of yourself and that little one. Because I know how hard the first few months of pregnancy are on a woman.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be… fine.” I said, giving him a sad smile. “I have to be right?”

“Right.” He agreed, but it lacked conviction.

The alarm on my phone rang loudly out into the room and I got up to grab it off the table next to my forgotten about breakfast.

“What’s that for?” He asked, watching me as I turned it off.

“To remind me to leave.” I said and then looked over at him, unsure of how much information I should tell him. We hadn’t discussed Maverick and I didn’t know if he was going to tell Mav what he found out today. I was too proud to let my husband keep tabs on me without doing it himself.

“Leave for what?” He asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“Have you talked to him?” I asked, unable to hold back any longer.

He held my stare for a moment and sighed. “I have. A few times.”

I clenched my jaw and processed that as anger coursed through my veins. I was glad to hear he was still alive, but I hated that his radio silence was only directed at me. “Got it.” I said and walked into my bedroom and shut the door behind me. “Well this visit has been great Dex, but I need you to leave now.”

I said and took my shirt off, searching for something a little looser to wear to the doctor to see my baby for the first time. Maybe this visit with Dex was for the best, because I had a renewed sense of anger in my veins, and it made me want to make sure this baby was okay, if for no other reason than to prove to Maverick that I didn’t need him if he didn’t need me.

I came back out to the living room to find Dex standing with his jacket back on and his tie hanging from his pants pocket where his hands rested.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked him.

“You; turns out I have the rest of the day off. So I figured I could buy you lunch after whatever it is that you have to do this morning.”

“Turns out huh?” I asked him sarcastically as I grabbed for my purse. “Well you’re not invited to tag along, so get lost.”

He smiled at my fire, and I fought the urge to punch him in the gut for it.

“Good try Jones.” He said, using my new last name that sounded bitter in my ears. “But you’re going to have to deal with me tagging along.”

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