Stuck with Mr. Grump

25. Emilia

CHAPTER 25

Emilia

I ’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I forgot about the scar. I was just so caught up in the moment, I wasn’t thinking straight.

Sterling doesn’t move for so long, I start to get worried. He’s practically shell-shocked, eyes filled with confusion. Finally, he shifts slowly, sitting down on the bed. He looks at me, expression blank. I hate it when he hides his emotions like that. But I know I deserve it in this moment.

“You…” He falters. “You had a baby.”

I swallow softly, absolutely frightened as I nod.

“She was… she came earlier than expected. There were some complications so I had to have surgery. But she’s safe now. She’s healthy and so beautiful,” I tell him.

“A girl,” Sterling breathes, disbelief in his eyes. “You had a baby girl. My baby girl?”

His calmness is even more terrifying than if he was shouting at me. I want him to give me some emotion, anything to let me know what he’s thinking.

“Sterling,” I say, reaching for him arm.

He rips it away, though, getting to his feet.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” he murmurs, pacing the room.

I don’t say a word, letting him work through it all on his own. He’s smart enough to understand. The room is so silent, you could hear a pin drop. He halts in his pacing to look at me again.

“That’s why you moved to Greenville, isn’t it? To keep people from knowing? Because you didn’t want me finding out, right? You were pregnant with my child and you didn’t tell me.”

“Sterling, how could I tell you? You were dealing with so much. I just wanted to give you time,” I say tearfully.

“No, that’s a fucking bullshit excuse. Do you even realize what you’re saying right now? You hid a baby from me!” he yells.

I wince at his tone. He’s never spoken to me like this before. I tell myself that I have to take it. That he has every right to react this way. I knew he would be angry. He should be angry.

“I’m so sorry,” I say softly.

His eyes narrow. He huffs out a breath before grabbing his jacket on the bed.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“This isn’t a fucking joke, Emilia,” he states, betrayal in his tone. “I need… I need to get out of here.”

There isn’t a thing I can say to stop him as he heads for the door. My heart breaks as he slams it behind him, effectively shutting me out. I just sit there and cry for a couple of minutes.

That went so fucking horribly.

After throwing myself a pity party, I know I have to get into action. I get to my feet, fixing my clothes before leaving the room as well. I call a taxi that takes me straight to Carson’s apartment. He’s in the middle of feeding my baby when I burst through the door.

“Carson, I need your help,” I state. “I need you to help me find Sterling.”

He frowns, slowly taking in my appearance. My tear-stained cheeks, my frazzled hair.

“Okay,” he says slowly. “Just sit down first. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

“He knows,” I state. “He found out I was pregnant.”

Carson takes that in with a blank expression.

“And how did he react to that information?” he asks calmly.

“He just left,” I mutter. “He barely gave me a chance to explain.”

A muscle ticks in Carson’s jaw. “I see. Here, take her,” he says, handing the baby to me.

She smiles at she looks up at me, and as always the sight of her has a calming effect. Everything will be okay as long as I have her in my arms.

I just want her father, as well. No matter what it takes, I need to fix this.

Carson grabs his phone and starts typing. My eyebrows rise.

“What are you doing? We need to leave.”

“Calm down, muffin. I’m texting Spencer. He’ll know where his brother is,” he informs me.

“Oh,” I murmur, waiting patiently. “What’s he saying?”

“He’s with Sterling right now. He says he’s in a rough way and that they’re headed back to Edenton.”

Oh, God. He left the city?

“We-we can go after them,” I say, breathless.

My brother shakes his head. “Spencer says he’s asked for space to think. You dropped a bomb on him, Em. Give him the night to take a breather. I’m not a fan of him leaving you like that, but I’ve got to see things from his perspective as well. Just give him time. Spencer says we should come over tomorrow.”

I breathe in and out, trying to calm my racing heart. Carson frown as he reads something off the screen of his phone.

“What is it?” I ask worriedly.

“He says to bring the baby when we’re coming.”

I slowly take a seat on the couch, staring forward as I hold my daughter tightly.

Of course he did.

The drive to Edenton is quiet. I haven’t been here in a while. Usually, Anika, my dad, and Priya come to Greenville to visit us. They’ve all been so supportive and understanding. They didn’t argue when I told them my plan was to have her without the Harringtons’ knowledge.

I thought Dad would fight me keeping a secret from them, but he didn’t. They helped me and they were there for me when we needed them.

We stop at my parents’ house first before going to the Harrington estate. Dad and Priya have already been made aware of the situation. Priya gives me a warm hug as soon as she sees me.

“It’s going to be okay, honey,” she says reassuringly.

“I’m just scared,” I whisper. “Did I do the wrong thing?”

Her expression is firm as she shakes her head. “You did what you thought was right, Emilia. You made the best decision for yourself and everyone involved. No one could fault you for that.”

“Trust me, Priya, Sterling’s faulting me for that right now,” I say drily, thinking about how upset he was last night.

“If he can’t see your side in this then he doesn’t deserve you or my granddaughter,” Dad chimes in gruffly.

“I second that,” my brother states.

I roll my eyes, although I’m secretly so grateful for them.

“Sterling’s a reasonable man. You just need to explain why you did what you did. He’ll understand.”

“I hope so,” I whisper.

I’ve tried to call him about twenty times since he left yesterday, and each call has gone straight to voicemail.

What if he’s just done? What if he never forgives me. I’m trying to be positive, though. Sterling’s not like that. I just have to get through to him.

“The whole family was invited to the mansion,” my dad informs me.

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Steven called me. He and his wife are there. I guess they also know what’s going on.”

“Oh, great,” I mutter. “So I have to deal with all of them judging me?”

“That’s not going to happen on my watch,” my dad states. “I’ll talk to Steven and Elana. You just deal with Sterling, okay honey?”

“Yeah,” I breathe.

We all head for the estate. Anxiety fills me with every breath as we draw closer. Karl’s already waiting as we pull up in front of the house. It looms in front of me like a figure of impending down. Karl steps forward as soon as I step down from the car. He looks down at the baby in my arms with a blank expression.

“Hello, everyone,” he greets politely before facing me. “Ms. Cameron, Mr. Harrington is waiting for you in the back garden.”

“Okay,” I murmur, handing my baby over to Priya.

“Good luck,” she whispers.

I exhale a soft breath, nodding once. One of the staff leads me away from the rest of my family to where Sterling’s waiting for me. He leads me past the garden to a small enclosed area beneath a tall tree. My heart pounds when I catch sight of Sterling. He’s on a bench close to the tree. His face is a hard mask.

I tamp down my nervousness, stepping toward him.

“Hey.”

His eyes narrow. “Don’t ‘hey’ me right now, Emilia.”

“You’re still angry,” I say on a sigh, taking a seat beside him.

He shuts his eyes briefly, running a hand through his hair. It’s a mess right now, like he’s done that lots of times.

“I’m not angry.”

“Could have fooled me,” I mutter. “Do you at least want to hear why I did it?”

He nods. “Yeah, I do.”

“You had a lot on your plate, Sterling. Your ex-wife was sick. You were leaving town—” He opens his mouth to speak but I quickly shake my head. “No, I need to get all of this out. I must have practiced what I was going to say to you in my head at least a thousand times. Just let me speak, please?”

“Go on,” he says lowly.

“I was going to tell you that night at the bar. I had just taken a test and my entire world was reeling. I came to the bar to tell you the truth, but then you told me about Marissa and I just knew it would be too much for you to handle at that moment. I didn’t want a pregnancy where you’d constantly feel guilty about choosing one responsibility over the other. I didn’t want to have to force you to choose. And I knew she needed you. Sean needed you, too.”

“You needed me as well,” Sterling says hoarsely.

“I did. But I also had my family and hella determination that I could do it on my own. I didn’t make a decision to cut you out of your baby’s life because I thought you didn’t deserve to be in it. I made the decision because I knew it was the right thing to do for all of us. When you left, you told me you’d come back. I was waiting for you to do that. And in all honesty, I didn’t want you to come back because I was pregnant or because I had a baby. I wanted you to come back for me.” My voice cracks. “I wanted you to choose me. And you did. I’m so sorry I kept it from you, Sterling.”

He doesn’t speak for a long moment. My heart feels louder in the silence, each beat echoing through me as I wait.

“I wasn’t angry at you yesterday,” he starts. “I think I was more angry at myself. Because I felt like I had failed you. I wasn’t here for you and I was terrified you kept it from me because you didn’t want me in your life or hers.”

“No,” I say quickly. “I swear, I’ve always wanted you in our lives. I debated calling you so many times when you were gone. I just… I wanted to give you time. You have no idea how much you mean to me, Sterling. You’ve taught me so much. You’ve shown me how to care, how to be more in touch with my emotions. I had no idea how much pain I was walking around with in my heart until you helped to start my healing process. I don’t want you to doubt your importance to me for a second.”

He shifts on the bench, facing me, green eyes searing.

“You mean so much to me, too. You have no idea how much,” he says softly, placing his fingers against my cheek. “I’m sorry I left yesterday.”

“I understand,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry I kept this hidden from you.”

“I understand,” he says with a small smile. “It’s just surreal. I have a daughter.”

He sounds like he can’t believe the words even as he says them.

“Yeah, you do. And she’s the most perfect little girl. She turned one two months ago. She’s started walking and talking, although it’s mostly incoherent babbles. She called me mama a couple weeks ago,” I say my eyes filling with tears. “Oh, and she looks like you. She has your eyes.”

Sterling sucks in a sharp breath. “Can I… Can I see her?”

“Of course.”

I send a text to Priya asking her to bring our daughter. A couple minutes later she appears, carrying the baby in her arms. I collect her from my stepmother before taking her to meet her father.

“Sterling, this is your little girl,” I introduce. “Her name’s Stella. Stella Harrington. She doesn’t have a middle name yet. I thought you’d like to do the honors. Stella, this is your daddy.”

Sterling’s expression is tender as he looks at his daughter for the first time. I notice a tremble in his finger as he reaches to touch her cheek. She giggles, trying to reach for his hand, and he gasps softly.

“She’s perfect.”

“I know.”

“And you named her Stella,” he murmurs. “Beautiful name, angel. You did so well. I’m grateful.”

I beam. “Are you happy?”

“Are you kidding? I have a gorgeous little daughter.” He laughs. “I’m fucking ecstatic.”

Priya coughs in the distance, cautioning him against swearing. I giggle.

“Sorry,” he tells her before looking at our daughter again with wonder in his eyes, like he can’t believe she’s real.

“Do you want to carry her?”

He nods and I slowly transfer the little bundle of joy in his arms. She looks content in her father’s arms. And I just stare at them, my eyes glassy because this is all I’ve wanted all this time and now that I have it, I know I’ll be okay.

Sterling holds his daughter for as long as she lets him until she starts to grow a little fussy. When she starts crying, I know it’s because she’s hungry, so I collect her gently, giving her back to Priya.

“Could you give her a bottle, please?” I ask.

My stepmother nods, leaving with our daughter, and then it’s just us. There’s still some things left unspoken.

“So what now?” I ask once they’re gone.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure where I stand with you,” I say carefully.

He rolls his eyes before pulling me into his arms. I rest against his chest, breathing him in.

“What do you mean, you’re not sure? I poured my heart out to you yesterday, angel. Nothing’s changed. I still want you. I want to build a family with you. You, me, Sean, and Stella.”

“Oh God, Sean,” I murmur worriedly. “How’s he going to react to suddenly having a little sister.”

“He’ll be happy about it,” he assures me. “Thankfully, he’s been getting lots of practice looking after someone other than himself thanks to Lion. I’m sure he’ll be the best big brother.”

I look up at him. “You’re the best and I don’t deserve you.”

He shakes his head. “No you are. You’ve given me all I’ve ever wanted. Even the things I didn’t realize I needed.”

We eventually break apart to take a seat on the bench once again. I lean against his shoulder, taking in an easy breath, glad that we’ve finally worked it all out. Now I just have to figure out how to bring up one other problem.

“Hey, angel,” Sterling says after a minute. “Just to be safe. Are there any other life-changing secrets I need to know about?”

My lips tilt up in a smile. I’m really glad he asked.