Page 51 of No Faking a Second Chance

“Canwe have breakfast now?”Asmuch asIlove this moment right now and figuring out where our child is going to sleep, our child is also desperately ready to have some breakfast in its belly.Iam eating for two now, after all.

“Ofcourse.”Hewalks us out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him, then leads us down the stairs.Whenwe get into the kitchen, he lifts me onto one of the empty chairs and smiles at me. “Youjust sit here and look pretty.”

Ismile at him. “IthinkIcan do that.”

Thefunny thing is, hadInot gone to visit my mother one day this week,Inever would’ve realizedIwas pregnant.Shetook one look at me and gushed about howIlooked likeIwas glowing, then proceeded to ask me ifIwas pregnant.

Iwould’ve told her no —Iwanted to — but then thought about whenIhad my last period and realizedIneeded to take a test as soon as possible.

Assoon asIsaw the two lines on the plastic stick,Istarted getting nervous that this wouldn’t be a good thing forBishop.Wenever really talked about having kids together, andIwas worried even if he did want kids with me that this would be entirely too soon.So,Iplanned a nice meal to break it to him as easily as possible, and it went as well asIhoped it would.

ObviouslyI’mnervous and scared, but less so knowing he’s as happy asIam.Iwatch as he mixes pancake batter in a large bowl, then proceeds to dump small dollops onto the griddle sitting on the counter.I’mmoving in, which is somethingIalready felt likeIwas slowly doing, butI’mexcited to know that he actually wants me here all the time.

Eversince our fight in the driveway about the wholeCamdenthing, we’ve been amazing.Hecould’ve handled the situation better, butIunderstand why he reacted the way he did — considering the way we started out.I’vebeen going crazy thinking that he would regret being with me, and hearing him ask me to move in was whatIneeded to feel more secure in our relationship.

Igrab my phone from the counter and go toWinnie’scontact, asking if she would be up for lunch today soIcan tell her the good news.WhileIwait for a response,Bishopslides a plate of pancakes in front of me, andIgroan at the scent of them wafting through the air.

“Thatgood, huh?” he asks with a chuckle as he takes the seat next to me with his own plate. “Well, dig in, can’t have you and the baby going hungry.”There’sa shine to his eyes thatIhaven’t seen before, and it only makes me that much more excited for everything to come.

Myphone pings with a text,Winnie’sname shining back on the screen, andBishoplooks it over before handing it back to me. “Isthis a lunch you want me to come to?”

Ishrug, taking a sip of the orange juiceIhadBishopgrab for me. “That’sup to you.Ifyou want to be there you can, but it shouldn’t be anything too crazy.”ThenIgive him a small smile. “I’mjust going to tell her about the pregnancy, since my parents already know.”

“Youtold them before me?” he asks.

“Notat all, my mother noticed as soon asIstepped through the door.Obviouslymy father was also there, so he overheard everything.Youare the first one to know after it’s been confirmed by the test.”

Bishopshakes his head with a smile. “Idon’t thinkI’llbe able to get over the fact that we are going to be parents.”

“Youdon’t think it’s too soon?”

“Withthe wayIfeel for you?Nevertoo soon, baby.I’mecstatic, while also terrified.”

Isnort. “I’mgladI’mnot the only one.”ThenIlift from my chair and wave my phone around. “Ifyou’re coming with me,Iguess we should start getting ready to meet her at the diner.”

Itonly takes about thirty minutes for us to both get ready —Bishopsporting jeans and a t-shirt, whileI’mwearing a simple pastel yellow sundress with sandals.Idon’t want to fuss with my hair, soIbraid it to the side and lead us to the front door quickly.Winnieshould be meeting us there any minute now, andI’dhate to keep her waiting.

Bishopleads me to his car, opening the passenger door for me before walking around to the driver’s side.Themusic hums low through the speaker andIlean to turn it up just a pinch, listening asBishoptaps along to the lyrics.Thewind blowing through the car in the mornings is one of my favorite things, soIlean my head back against the seat and let it blow on me with a smile.

Thisis a good day.

Assoon as we walk through the door of the diner,Iregret jinxing myself asIglare across the room atCamdensitting next toWinnieat a table.Sheimmediately finds me in the throng of customers, waving me over with a tight-lipped smile, and it turns into a frown when she notices my angry expression.

Iasked her to come here to give her good news, not come here withCamdenand blindside me.

Bishop’shand comes around my waist, pulling me into him. “Don’tlet him get to you.Hearhim out, okay?”Iturn a wide gaze onto him and he shrugs. “Hemay have stopped by my office during closing hours last night.”

Whywould he do that?

Insteadof givingCamdena piece of my mind as we reach the table,Iflop into one of the empty chairs more aggressively than necessary and narrow my gaze at him. “Whatare you doing here?”I’mtrying to sound sincere but, judging by the squeeze on my thigh fromBishop,I’mnot doing the best job.

Camdensighs and glances betweenBishopand me. “Iwanted to apologize to you,Georgia.”Helooks toWinnie, who’s nudging her head and urging him to continue. “ForeverythingI’vedone.Forhurting your relationships and making you look like the bad guy.”

Ican appreciate his apology, but this isn’t somethingIcan easily get over.Hell,I’vebarely gotten over it withWinnie.Atleast withBishop, he already had a similar experience with me and couldn’t trust what he was seeing.ButforWinnieto immediately side with her brother and treat me like crap?Ithurt, and still does every so often.

“Thankyou for the apology, butIcan't be so quick to forgive right now.Youcaused me so much hurt, and that’s not somethingItake lightly.”

Henods, then lifts from his seat and waves to the rest of us. “That’sunderstandable.I’lllet you continue your lunch, thanks for hearing me out.”NotthatIhad much of a choice, butI’mgladIheard him out too.

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