Page 10 of Independence Bae

Penn pushedhimself off the chaise to open the door, surprised it was Ted knocking.

“Is it three-thirty already?” Penn asked, looking at me over his shoulder, shaking his head in confusion.

“Oh. Sorry. It might be?” Ted didn’t even look at his phone. “Raven wanna go for a walk?”

I shrugged at Penn in apology. We hadn’t been having much of an earth shattering discussion. Just discussing the benefits of New York versus the possibility of Chicago.

Ted stood by the elevator waiting for the doors to open, two beers hanging between his fingers.

“You okay?”

He didn’t look okay. He was unusually quiet. He didn’t have the same level of energy he tended to have in normal circumstances. Instead of saying something smart assed like he normally would about being all over his ass or worrying like a mother hen, he simply nodded and shuffled into the elevator.

We pushed outside onto the beach area and began to walk towards some benches we spotted near a pier. I snaked my arm through his, leaning on his shoulder. It was then that I felt the tension in his body. And not just a tenseness from sitting in a position for too long. His back set ramrod straight and his shoulders felt like concrete.

“Ted? Talk to me. You’re kind of freaking me out.”

“Marley doesn’t want to leave North Pole.”

We sat on the bench almost at the same time, as if Ted’s comments pushed us both right onto our asses.

“She’s young, Ted. Give her a minute to sort it out in her head. We don’t even know if we’d have to move yet—”

There was going to be a move in our future when we accepted that contract. The question was back to New York, or Chicago.

“She doesn’t know anything other than North Pole,” I continued when he remained silent. “Does she know this is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity?”

“I started to explain…” His brows knit together, a frown surfacing, but I blinked, and it was already gone. “That’s when she told me about the baby.”

A baby. Holy shit. No wonder he was shocked stupid. That was a very unexpected development.

“Oh. Wow. That. Wow.”

“Similar to my reaction, but I hid it better. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“You can stop that sentence right there. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what you’re going to say and based on the fact I walked into the aftermath of said baby making practice yesterday, I’m good. I have the mental picture. We all know how that baby was made.”

Baby. Teddy Bear was having a baby. Giggles erupted unbidden at the thought. Despite how freaked out he seemed, that baby couldn’t get a better Dad if he picked him out of a catalog.

“The baby. Those words. Fuck me.”

“It’s okay to be surprised. Or scared.”

“Rave we haven’t even talked about kids. Like not a single conversation. I figured she’s young we have plenty of time. For now we can just enjoy ourselves.”

“Do you want kids, Ted?”

“Well, it’s kind of too late for discussing what I want, don’t you think?”

“Did you want kids? Before this morning—had you looked at Marley and thought she’s going to be the mother of my children?”

He hid behind a sip from his beer bottle. Though I could see in the sunlight that there wasn’t anything left. It was a delay tactic.

“I thought that maybe in a few years once we’d settled and figured out life a little bit, and by the time Marley started talking about wanting kids I’d be warmed up to the idea.”

I forced my face to stay impassive. I could feel my eyebrows fighting with me. The muscles around my eyes wanted desperately to raise in question. Right now, he didn’t need my judgement or my opinions, he just needed me to listen. I sat listening to the waves collecting strength and breaking against the dock and rushing onshore.

“I don’t know anything about being a dad, Raven. I’m not suited for kids. Poor Marley is going to have to witness me being a royal fuck up. Just knowing how badly I’ll disappoint her—”

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