34. Logan
Chapter Thirty-Four
LOGAN
I wake up with a start to the daylight streaming in the window. I bolt upright, realizing slowly where I am, and panic rises up my throat.
I have to get out of here before ? —
Wait.
It all comes flooding back, and I can’t help but laugh at myself.
Meredith’s warm body is pressed up against me, and she shifts in her sleep, snorting.
I laugh.
She’s always snored like a purring cat, and it’s one of the quirks I love about her.
I stand up and get dressed before heading to her bathroom, brushing my teeth with some toothpaste and my finger to make sure I don’t have lethal morning breath.
When I walk out of the bathroom, she’s awake, sitting up and frowning, rubbing at her eyes.
“I thought you left me.” Her pout makes my heart ache.
“Princess. I will never leave you again.”
“You promise?” Her bottom lip trembles, and I frown, sitting next to her on the bed.
“Of course. I should’ve never left you in the first place.”
“We found our way back to each other.” She gives me a bright smile, and my chest aches again, but just because I love her so fucking much .
Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with all the emotions I’m feeling. I don’t exactly wear my heart on my sleeve, but I’m not emotionally stunted, either. Yet, when it comes to Meredith, I’ve pushed all those awful feelings down for so long that it feels like now, I might burst.
She stretches, and I clear my throat, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a small box.
I hide it behind my back as she keeps stretching, and when she’s finally done, she looks at me curiously.
“What do you have behind your back?”
“Nothing.” I can’t stop grinning.
“Logan...” She narrows her eyes at me. “Did you get me a present?”
“Something like that.”
“My birthday is weeks away.”
“It’s not exactly for your birthday.” I clear my throat and drop down on one knee, extending the ring box to her after flipping it open.
She gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.
It’s a small ring, only a fourth of a carat, very dainty because it just seemed to suit her.
“I can afford a bigger one now, but?—”
“But? What do you mean, but?”
My cheeks burn slightly. “Uh, well, this is the one I bought right before your nineteenth birthday.” I pause. “But then everything happened, and…”
“Logan… You bought this all that time ago?”
“I’ve kept it, and some days, I wasn’t sure why. But I guess in the end, I always knew we’d find each other again. I always knew you were the only one I’d ever love.”
Tears stream down her cheeks, and I take the ring out of the box.
“Please tell me you’ll let me put this on your finger.”
“Yes! Yes, of course,” she manages through sobs, and it’s a perfect fit.
She throws her arms around me, sobbing into my chest, and I rub her back, chuckling.
“You’re not usually such a crybaby.”
She pulls away, smacking me playfully.
She sniffles. “It’s the hormones.”
“Let’s get some food in you.”
She dresses in a pair of high-waisted shorts and a flouncy blouse, looking cute with her belly showing just the barest hint of a little baby bump sticking out.
She groans. “I can’t even button these all the way.”
I walk up to her and tuck the waistband under itself, making a makeshift alteration and pulling down her blouse to cover it. “There.”
“You’re a genius!” She smiles brightly at me and takes my hand. “Let’s go get some breakfast. The chef will have made it already.”
I blink. “As rich as I get, I don’t think I’ll ever hire a chef.”
“That’s because you’re a good cook. You know I can barely boil water.”
I laugh out loud.
She takes my hand and leads me out into the hall.
Grayson stands at the bottom of the stairs, and my shoulders stiffen.
He looks up at me. “So, Meredith tells me you need to see a doctor.”
I glance at her, and she blushes.
“I texted him and told him he has to pay for it.”
“I can pay for it myself.”
Grayson sighs and shakes his head.
“It’s my fault. I feel only a little bad about it because you deserved it, but I called and got an appointment with my general practitioner. He owed me a favor.”
I raise an eyebrow but don’t ask questions.
Grayson’s always been generous, and it was probably a loan.
Being rich means that you can really do anything you want. It’s a lesson I’ve yet to learn since my wealth is fairly recently earned.
Meredith kisses me. “I’ll go eat. You go get fixed up.”
I kiss her back listlessly, hoping that Grayson isn’t secretly still angry.
He pulls out of the gate after we get into his car, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Grayson? You’re not planning to take me to the woods and shoot me, are you?”
He laughs. “Nothing like that. I really do feel bad. How do you feel?”
“Well, I can’t breathe through my nose or take a deep breath, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
Grayson groans. “Don't make me feel worse.” He pauses. “Really, I think I was just angry because I thought you knew me better than that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you knew you were family. That you dating Meredith wouldn’t have pissed me off. You’re like a brother to me, man.”
I smile at him. “You’re like a brother to me, too. I guess I just didn’t want to disappoint you. I know I’ve never been good enough for her?—”
“Of course, you’re good enough for her. She’s crazy about you, and you’re a hard worker. I know you’ll take care of her. And the baby.”
I nod. “I will. I promise.”
Something tells me that Meredith will want to take care of herself. She’s stubborn and independent, and now that things are better, I expect she’ll want to go back to college or at least advance in her career.
But until she does, I will make sure she and the baby have everything they can ever need or want.
I’m glad that Grayson knows that.
We arrive at the doctor and a couple of hours later, my ribs are wrapped, my nose is set, and I have a prescription for some pretty strong painkillers.
Grayson insists on paying for everything and when we return to his mother’s place, Meredith sits on the couch, and her mother is embracing her, and they’re both crying.
“Who died?” Grayson asks, his face going pale.
Mallory hiccups and laughs, pulling away from Meredith. “Your sister is getting married!”
Grayson glares at me. “You didn’t think to tell me this while we were out and about?”
I grin sheepishly. “Blame it on the pain of my broken bones.”
He laughs, and Mallory stands up, embracing me in a big hug. “I can’t believe you’re finally going to be a real part of the family.” She beams at me. “It’s about damn time.”
“I called Dad and told him, too.” Meredith wipes her eyes. “He said he was happy for me, but he seemed a little upset.”
“I’m sure he’s just a little sad his little girl is growing up. You always were a daddy’s girl, after all,” Mallory points out. “This calls for a celebration! The family dinner will now be a dinner party and it is back on. It’ll be tonight, and that way, Lillian and the kids can come, too, if that is okay with you, Grayson?”
Her eyes lower as Grayson frowns.
“Look, I miss you, and I want a chance to get to see all my grandchildren grow up. I missed so much already because I was stupid.” She sighs. “I’ve learned my lesson, and if that is okay with you and Lillian, I’d like to apologize and start over, please.”
“I’ll have to talk to Lillian. Besides, Kylie had a cough, so we’ll see.”
Meredith nods. “Thank you. It means a lot that you are at least talking to her about it. I really am sorry for all I’ve done.”
She turns to Meredith, and they start talking about how to decorate and what to server, and I look over at Grayson.
“What do you say we lounge a bit in the pool? Might be good for my ribs. You can even do a few laps.”
“Take one of your painkillers first, and you’re on.”
I nod and do as he says before kissing Meredith’s temple.
She waves at me, and I laugh.
For someone who claims to hate the high society lifestyle, she certainly gets excited about certain parts of it.
The painkillers have kicked in and I’m treading in the water. “What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?”
“Being a father.” I’m starting to become more and more afraid that I don’t know what I’m doing, that I’ll mess up our kid somehow or even be like my dad and be absent.
One thing I know is I’ll never be as mean as he was. But is that enough?
“Oh.” Grayson lies on his back, floating around. “It’s not easy. I won’t lie to you about that. But it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. When I realized Max was mine… It was like everything fell into place. Like it was always meant to happen.”
“So, you just took to it like a duck to water?”
“Something like that.” He swims to the shallow end to sit on the steps, and I follow him, sitting next to him in a pair of his borrowed trunks.
“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy for me. You know what it was like for me growing up. It wasn’t exactly all sunshine and rainbows.”
Grayson nods. “I understand. I didn’t know if I’d be a good dad. It’s not like my dad was around all the time either, always too busy with work to spend time with us.”
“Yeah.” Worry rushes through me. “What if I’m not good enough?”
He groans. “What is your deal with that? You’ve always been good enough, Logan. I’m sorry that you had people in your life who made you feel like you weren’t.”
We go silent for a moment and then Grayson pats my shoulder. “Let’s go see what the girls are up to. Lillian decided to try it one last time with my mother, so she and the kids are on their way. If my mother so much as looks at Lillian wrong, we’re out of here for good.”
By the time we make it back to the main house, Meredith and Mallory are decorating, and her father has just arrived. He looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.
Meredith and I no longer have to steal kisses while we help plan, but we do, anyway.
Grayson catches us once, out on the balcony.
“You don’t have to hide it anymore, you know?”
We both dissolve into laughter.
When Lillian and the kids arrive, Max makes a beeline to Meredith.
“Aunt Meredith, guess what? My game updated, and now you can use even more magic!”
I blink, having no idea what the kid is talking about, but then Kylie shyly grabs my hand.
“Uncle Logan? Can you take me to the pool? Mama says it’s okay as long as you’re with me.”
I nearly melt. “What about your swimsuit?”
She grins and pulls up her shirt, showing the swimsuit underneath.
I laugh. “You were ready, huh?”
“She loves to swim,” Lillian pipes up. “Meredith, why don’t you go with them? I’ll handle things here.”
Meredith looks a little frazzled and agrees immediately. We take Kylie out to the pool and before we even get there properly, she’s stripping down to her swimsuit and running.
Meredith sprints to catch her. “Floaties first, missy!”
Kylie giggles but allows Meredith to put the inflatable pillows around her arms. Then she breaks loose and jumps into the pool, yelling, “Cannonball!”
I laugh as Meredith and I are both sprayed with water.
“Just think. We’re going to have one of these in a couple of years.”
“Do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?”
She leans against me as we sit at the edge of the pool, watching Kylie splash around.
I hum. “I haven’t thought about that yet.” I place my hand on her belly. “What do you think?”
“Right now, she feels like a girl. But sometimes, he feels like a boy.”
I stare at her. “What?"
She laughs. “It's weird, having something growing inside you. I just get a feeling now and again, but maybe it’s just because we’re hanging out with Kylie.”
Max and Grayson make their way to the pool next and soon enough Grayson is throwing Kylie into the deep end from the shallow end and Meredith is freaking out.
“I’m her dad, I won’t let her get hurt,” Grayson argues.
“What if she hits her head?”
“These pregnancy hormones are making you crazy,” he mutters, and Meredith promptly pushes him into the pool.
I laugh so hard my ribs hurt too much and I have to take another painkiller.
Despite the pain, this might be the best day of my life.