Page 473 of Now and Forever

Chapter 178

We are in the hospital waiting area for our first ultrasound together and Drake looks anxious. He sighs for the umpteenth time and I grind my teeth together, irritated.

“If you sigh one more time I will murder you. For the love of God calm the heck down, will you?” I glare at him. Drake looks offended from my mild outburst.

“I get that you’re hormonal and all, but don’t bite my head off. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just . . . I don’t know, I guess I’ve never done this before,” he murmurs, sullenly.

Wait, but wasn’t Shannon pregnant before? “You didn’t go with Shannon?”

He shakes his head. “She said it made her uncomfortable to have me in there with her. I had to do what I had to do to make her happy, I guess.” What he spouts out next is completely unexpected. “I guess, now that I think about it, I’m not sure that she was pregnant to begin with. I think Shannon used that so I would marry her.”

If I hadn’t met the woman, I would argue about this, but I have and the woman is wretched, delusional and off her rocker. So, yes, I do agree with Drake on this score. “Good thing that you two didn’t get hitched then. You should thank your lucky stars that I came in at the right moment and saved your sorry ass!”

Drake cocks his head and smiles at me. “Yeah, I do thank them . . . Every. Single. Day, Lil.”

I wet my lips and look away. I suppose living with Shannon was one giant ball of nightmare. Yeah, he should be thanking those stars.

I’m more than thankful when they call out my name. We’re ushered into a semi-dark room where the female doctor is kind enough to point out everything for us. Drake has tons of questions. The experience is definitely amazing. Our child is a puny thing on that screen, but I already love it with all of my heart.

After thirty minutes or so, we are driving back to my house. “That was totally crazy, don’t you think?” Drake says much to himself, still amazed from the experience.

“Yeah, it was awesome to see it like that,” I murmur. My thoughts are somewhere else.

I want to be detached from Drake, but he’s making it impossible. I expect him to drop me off once we get to my house, but he follows me inside.

Since my plan was to ignore him, I go upstairs and shut my bedroom door. After a few minutes, I hear him knock.

“Lil?”

I groan. “What?”

“Can I come in?” he asks as he opens the door. “I just wanted to talk.”

More talking, great. “Anything important?”

Drake pauses and sits on the foot of my bed. He waits a few more seconds before he starts, “Ever since the day we were born, we were meant for this. We were meant for each other, but it was my cowardice that made the journey a hell as I tried to fight it tooth and nail.”

Damn, that admission from him hurts. He really doesn’t want me. “Exactly, Drake, that’s my point right there.”

He huffs and gets up pacing, ending up leaning against the wall. “I was a total moron. It was a selfish thing to do, but at that age, it meant commitment and marriage would follow after you’d finished college. Our parents wouldn’t have let us date without pushing us in that direction. I didn’t want that. I wasn’t ready for that, but I am now, Lily. If you just give me another chance. I do want you and the baby.”

I sit up on the bed. “You are going to be a part of his or her life. I’m not going to take that from you.”

“Yeah, but I want it all, with you included, as a family unit. Together.”

Damn it. Fine. “I’ll think about it. That’s all I can tell you at the moment.”

Drake comes over and kisses my forehead. “Thank you. I will work hard to earn your trust. I promise you that.” He leaves after he gives me a beaming smile.

??

I wake up the next day and find a note on the kitchen counter underneath a big vase of calla lilies along with a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and a fruit bowl.

I just wanted to do something nice for you and the baby. I’ll be thinking of you.

I smile like an idiot after reading it. I’m lucky enough that I don’t have any morning sickness. Although I do get dizzy spells here and there, it isn’t all that serious. I’ll take dizzy spells anytime over vomiting my guts out.

From then on, I receive breakfast and different type of lilies on a daily basis. I spend most of my time reading baby books about what I should be expecting. Most days, I’m online checking out baby room designs and themes. Yeah, I’m ecstatic to be a mom and with Drake’s breakfast redemption strategy, I am close to just getting over it and giving us both a fair shot.

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