Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
ATLAS
I help Nora into her coat, and then into my truck.
“Sit by me.” I pat the middle section of the bench seat.
“We’re not going far.”
She raises her brows in suspicion.
“How far is not far?”
Smirking, I shrug and crank the engine, driving us toward the tree line at the back of the property.
“The road’s the other way.”
“Oh, is it?” I ask, feigning confusion.
“I didn’t notice.”
“Smart aleck.” She knocks her knee into mine, smiling.
I bring my hand down onto her leg, curling my fingers around her thigh, squeezing softly.
“I was going to take you out somewhere fancy, dinner and a movie and all of that.”
A small, and I mean microscopic, part of me is still worried she’ll be disappointed by what I have planned.
“What made you change your mind?” There’s a softness in her voice though, and it tells me she doesn’t mind one bit.
“This is our first date— your first date. I don’t want to share this with anyone.” I come to a stop a few feet away from where I have everything all set up and shift my truck into park.
“Want you all to myself tonight, Pip.”
“Well.” She twists around to face me.
“You have me.”
“Damn straight.” I skim my knuckles along her jawline, just barely resisting the urge to kiss her.
“Now, wait here.”
I jump down from the truck and make quick work of a few last-minute details before returning to my truck for Nora.
“You ready?”
She bounces in her seat and then scooches toward me, allowing me to help her down.
“Yes.”
A small gasp slips past her lips as we round the back of the truck.
“Atlas!”
I glance her way, pleased to see her eyes are wide with wonder.
“You did all of this for me?” she asks, taking in the set-up.
Her pretty hazel eyes bounce around, not knowing where to look first.
There’s a fire going in the pit, with a pile of soft blankets a safe distance away.
All the fixings for s’mores are in a basket, and there’s a full-on picnic set up buffet style along my truck’s tailgate, complete with a few bottles of water to wash everything down.
Her voice is tinged with a mixture of awe and disbelief as she takes it all in.
She deserves all of this and more, and knowing that I’m the man who’s going to give it to her?
It makes me feel like I’m on top of the world.
It also makes me want to keep this up for eternity—to constantly find little ways to show her how much she means to me, so that she never forgets just what she means to me.
“Of course, I did.” I tug on her hand, pulling her into my chest. “I love you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers into my shirt before looking up at me from beneath her lashes.
“I love you, too.”
My heart freezes in my chest before kicking into overtime.
Holy fuck—my girl loves me.
“Sweetest words I’ve ever heard, Pip,” I murmur before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
I mean it, too, because with those three words, I know all the way to my damn soul that she’s mine every bit as much as I’m hers.
“What do we do first?” She steps out of my embrace, but not completely away from me.
“I honestly don’t know where to start.”
“Anywhere you want.” I reach down and interlace our fingers.
“Are you hungry?”
Her stomach rumbles before she can reply.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I guide her toward the tailgate.
“It’s not exactly gourmet, but we’ve got all the stuff to make sandwiches, fruit, chips, and a few bottles of water…”
“It’s perfect.” She pops up onto her toes and presses a kiss to my scruffy cheek.
“I mean it. I couldn’t think of anything better than this.”
I can’t help the grin that splits my cheeks.
For a second, as I was listing our choices, a thread of doubt tried to worm its way in, but here Nora is, effortlessly reassuring me and setting me at ease.
We’re far from conventional, but it’s times like these that I can’t help but think she was made just for me.
“This is just the start.” I pass her a paper plate and nudge her closer to the truck so that she can make her sandwich the way she likes.
“What does that even mean?” she asks, slathering a generous serving of mayo across both slices of bread.
I shrug and then set to work on my own sandwich.
“Atlas!” She huffs in annoyance as she adds ham and muenster cheese.
“That’s not fair. Friends don’t keep secrets.”
“Good thing you’re not my friend.” It’s a shit response, but I’m banking on her reaction.
“What?” Outwardly, she’s calm but I hear the slight crack in her voice.
“I’m not?”
“Hell no, Pip.” I set my plate on the tailgate, lean into her space, and cup her cheek.
“You’re so much more. You’re my everything. My entire reason for being.”
She nibbles her lower lip and I brush my thumb over the apple of her cheek.
With anyone else, this would be too much, too soon, but with Nora, it’s perfect.
She’s perfect.
“You’re mine, too.” She glances down at her belly.
“Well, you and the baby.”
“Can’t forget our jellybean,” I agree.
“But so help me God, if you ever scare me like that again, I’ll… I’ll…” She pauses and glares.
“Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but you won’t like it!”
I press a kiss to her temple, using my affection to hide my smile.
She’s about as scary as a field mouse, but honestly, it’s part of her charm.
“Let’s eat and then we can have s’mores.”
She sighs dreamily and then resumes loading up her plate.
I watch like a hawk, noting her every choice.
When she first came to stay with us, eating was hard for her after her meals being so scarce.
I know I don’t need to worry, because she seems to be doing really well—Scarlet even complimented her weight gain at her last prenatal appointment—but I can’t help it.
The thought of anything taking her or our baby from me is unbearable.
If Ellis realized the extent of my fixation with Nora, he’d undoubtedly call me an obsessive son-of-a-bitch, and that’s okay, because I am.
I am absolutely and entirely obsessed with Nora Leigh Morgan.
Once my plate is made, I join her in the center of the blankets.
Nora wastes no time in taking a huge bite of her sandwich.
“Oh my God. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“Didn’t know ham and cheese did it for you like that, Pip.”
Her eyes widen and her throat works as she swallows.
“Atlas!”
“I’m just saying.” I grin and raise my brows.
“Over there moaning like that for Black Forest ham.”
“I can’t help it,” she mumbles, her cheeks turning my favorite shade of pink.
“I was really hungry.”
“I’m just teasing, Nora. It’s cute.”
“Cute?” She frowns, tipping my grin into a full-blown smile.
I don’t know what it is about her, but somehow, she manages to be the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen and the sexiest. Which is why I keep on goading her.
“Yeah, that’s right. Cute.”
“Babies are cute.” She shifts her plate to rest on the blanket and then crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at me.
She looks about as fierce as a kitten.
A cute kitten.
“They are,” I agree, “and ours is going to be the cutest.”
Her hazel eyes flare.
“You mean that?”
“Wholeheartedly. How could our boy be anything but perfect?”
She nods before narrowing her eyes at me.
“I know you’re trying to change the subject, and I’ll allow it this time .”
“Will you now?” I roll my lips inward to keep from smiling.
“How kind.”
“I will, but only because you went to all this trouble to plan such a perfect first date.”
“Speaking of, I have something for you.”
“Really?” I don’t miss the spark of excitement in her tone.
Nora’s not used to receiving gifts, and it’s something I damn sure plan to rectify.
“What? Why?”
“Because I wanted to. Because I love you. Because it’s Friday. Do I need a reason, Pip?”
“I guess not.” The uncertainty in her voice is like a poison tipped arrow to my heart.
“What… what is it?”
“Eat up and then I’ll give it to you.”
Nora sighs, and I swear it comes all the way from the bottom of her gut it’s so longsuffering.
“Fine.”
Three bites later, she primly wipes her mouth and then sets her plate down near the edge of the blanket.
“I’m ready.”
I stack my plate on top of hers and then gesture for her to come closer.
She doesn’t hesitate, crawling right onto my lap.
“In one of your diary entries you mentioned your dad used to bring you a new book every week, and while I’m most certainly not your daddy, I thought you might like this…”
I reach behind me, feeling blindly for the slim package I tucked under the edge of the outermost blanket.
My fingers finally make purchase and I bring my arm back around Nora with her prize in my hand.
“What is it?” Her voice is feather-soft as she rubs her index finger over the seam in the wrapping paper.
“It’s so pretty…” I’m a shit wrapper, but Ellis is like Martha-Stewart-level good at it and took care of it for me.
“Open it, Pip.”
Her fingers tremble as she pulls the paper apart at the seam.
“What is it?” she asks again, glancing from the orange box up to me.
I wrap my arm around her middle, resting my palm on the swell of her belly.
“A Kindle—part eReader and part tablet. So, you can go online and?—”
“An eReader? Like for… books?”
Fuck, she’s perfect.
“Yeah, Pip. Books. Any book you want, as long as it’s available in an eBook format.” I rest my chin on the top of her head.
“Hell, who am I kidding, if it’s not, we’ll hunt down the paperback.”
“Atlas…” She rasps my name, twisting her head to look up at me.
Her eyes are glassy with unspoken emotion.
“This is… you are… I?—”
“I know, pretty girl.” I lean forward and kiss her temple.
“Sometimes I rob myself of the ability to speak, too.”
Just like that, she giggles, and the tension is lifted.
“Will you show me how to use it?”
“Yup.” I bring my other arm around and slide the box out of her grasp.
“I kind of took some liberties and linked it to my account,” I say, powering the device on.
“You can buy books, clothes, anything you need. Tap the Kindle icon for books and the little globe to browse online.”
I tap the globe—thank God for hotspots—and just as planned, a popular online baby store loads onto the screen.
“Atlas…” She sighs, but it’s the happy kind, not the sad.
“What are you up to?”
“Definitely something.” I smirk, guiding her attention to the upper right corner.
“I was thinking we could register. You know, for the baby.”
I’m not sure what kind of response I expected, but never at any point did I anticipate crying.
But that’s what I get—big, sobbing, fat tears rolling down her pink cheeks.
“Hey, whoa, Nora,” I call helplessly as she scrambles off my lap.
“What’s wrong?”
“You are so kind and so thoughtful.” She sniffles and the tears keep falling.
“But, Atlas, there’s no point in registering for anything. I don’t have anyone to throw me a shower or any of that. I don’t even have health insurance, and I have no idea how I’m going to pay for my medical stuff, much less all of the things our baby will need…” She trails off, wiping her tears on the sleeve of my borrowed sweater.
Damn, I’m an idiot. In my head, this was all sorted—I’m footing the bill, no questions asked, but it never once occurred to me to talk to Nora about all of it.
Not in depth, anyway.
“Pip, hey, shh.” I set the Kindle down next to me and drag her back onto my lap.
“You don’t understand,” she argues, while simultaneously melting into me.
“Let me ask you a question.” I wait, and she nods.
“Whose baby did you say it was?”
“I don’t… what?”
“Whose baby?” I spread my fingers wide and palm her belly.
She blinks up at me, looking as sad and confused as ever.
“Ours…”
I lean in and press a soft kiss to her tear-soaked lips.
“That’s right. Our baby. Say it again.”
“It’s our baby.” She twists around so that she’s straddling me, looping her arms around my neck.
“Ours.”
“Which means I’m going to—willingly and happily—take care of you and our jellybean. I’m going to provide for y’all, and before you even try to argue, it’s not you taking advantage of me and you don’t owe me. We’re in this together . This baby is ours, and, Nora, you’re mine. I take care of what’s mine, and that means taking care of you, too.”
“I just feel so useless.” She slumps against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“I’ll say this as many times as it takes—you’re a fighter, a survivor. You’ve lived through things no one should have to, and on top of that, you’re not dwelling—not that anyone would blame you if you were—but nope. You’re actively working toward securing your future, and if that means letting me hold you up while you’re getting back on your feet, then so be it. I love you, Nora, and taking care of you is always an honor, never a chore. Okay?”
I wait with bated breath for her to reply, but finally she nods and whispers, “Okay.”