Page 44 of Love Me Forever

"I think we should take it easy. Not decide on a... setup,” he said in a disapproving tone.

I didn’t want to press the matter—besides, what more was there to say? Our days in Oceanwell Bay had been amazing. But they were never meant to be more than that, and I didn’t want to fool myself into thinking things would be different because we’d have a baby. I was going to give the little one the very best of everything, which included a cordial and stable relationship between its parents. Travis and I could be friends, I was sure of that. But anything beyond that was risky and potentially messy. I’d had a messy childhood. I’d do better for my child.

I focused on my food without saying anything more. The silence unnerved me. I could feel his eyes on me. What was he thinking?

As usual, I started babbling to fill the dead air.

"I have a doctor appointment next week, in case you want to come."

He perked up. "I do. What's going to happen?"

"I talked to her on the phone, and she said I’ll have an ultrasound.”

"Can they tell if it's a boy or a girl?"

I laughed. "No, not yet, but I have a funny feeling that it's going to be a boy."

"I have the exact opposite feeling. I think it's going to be a girl," he said with the world's most utmost confidence.

"Each of us has a 50 percent chance of being right."

"What else do you and the baby need?" he asked while we ate.

"Nothing for now. I honestly didn't have time to look up stuff. I'll do that further down the road. There's still plenty of time until the baby is born."

"I can ask Tate for advice."

"He's the brother with your niece, Paisley, right?" I asked.

"Exactly. Maybe he’s got some pointers. Probably my parents and Gran too. They're going to bite off my head when I tell them, but they're also going to have good advice. So overall, I think it's a win."

"How do you think they’ll take it?" I tapped my fingers on my thighs.

"They're going to be over the moon, all of them."

"Really? That you're going to have a child with a woman you don't even know well?"

I’d called Mom after I left the ob-gyn’s office that day. Remembering her reaction still made my heart shrivel.

He trained his eyes on me. My God, it was like he could see right into my soul.

"I know you, Bonnie. You know I do. But to answer your question, yes, they'll be over the moon anyway. And just a heads-up, they're going to want to meet you and give you plenty of advice. I'd like to tell you that I can protect you, but I can’t even protect myself from them."

"You don't need to protect me from them." This was unexpected. I figured Travis might keep his involvement to a minimum or at least not want to boast about it to his family so soon. The thought that the little one was going to have a big family to fuss around him or her was already filling me with joy.

"Do you want anything else?" Travis asked once we'd both finished eating.

"No. I'm so full, I'm probably going to roll back home. It's going to take me forever."

"Why? The traffic is slow at this hour."

"I haven't had time to buy a car yet. I sold my old one before moving away because it was old as dirt and was costing me a lot of money for repairs, so I'm going to ride the L."

"I'll take you home."

"Travis—"

"I'll take you home."

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