Chapter 4
HOLLY
Wow.
Control freak Dexter Thorne just agreed to something he’ll have zero control over.
A pregnancy. A child.
Who would have thought?
God, the look on his face when I first brought it up: priceless.
Dexter’s not a man you catch off guard often. But when I asked him to have a baby with me? I thought his eyebrows were going to disappear into his hairline.
Not that I blame him. No one expects their strictly platonic best friend to show up asking for a one-night stand, with baby-making as the goal.
Between that little bombshell and him walking in on me while I was trying to shimmy into shapewear I’d stupidly bought on impulse, I wasn’t exactly counting on a quick yes before he got back from his trip.
But here we are.
“Okay… well, talk soon, I guess,” I say. “And thank you again. I mean it.”
“Wait until we have sex,” he teases, voice low. “You’ll be thanking me plenty then.”
I roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle I can still see. “Look, if you’re going to be this insufferable, I’m officially taking my request back.”
He laughs. “No, you’re not.”
Ugh. “Maybe I am.”
“You’re not.”
“Damn it. Fine. Just call all my bluffs, why don’t you?”
“I know you too well, Holly. When are you going to realize you can never trick me?”
“Never say never.”
“Says the woman who thinks we’re going to have sex without kissing.”
Before I can think of a comeback, I hear voices in the background on his end.
I wonder who he’s with.
“All right, I gotta run,” he says. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After a quick goodbye, he ends the call.
There’s more I want—no, need—to say to him, but there isn’t enough time.
When, I wonder. I’ve been loosely tracking my cycle, but now I need to be exact. Tonight, I’ll update the app and double-check the dates.
Sliding my phone into my back pocket, I stand still for a second, letting it all sink in. Eventually, I head into the kitchen, grab the toast that had popped up in my vintage red toaster while we were on the phone, smear some cream cheese on it, and take a bite.
This is real. It’s happening. My dream is actually coming true.
I’ve always wanted a family. That part has never changed. Even as life threw curveball after curveball at me, that dream remained. But I learned early on that getting there wasn’t going to be easy. Some lessons hurt more than others. My marriage, for one.
Three years. That’s how long it lasted. Long enough for me to believe it would be forever. Long enough to be blindsided when it all unraveled. He left, and with him went a part of me I didn’t even realize I’d handed over.
After that, I stopped believing in love.
Love—the scariest thing.
I stopped trusting that forever was in my stars.
And I promised myself that if I ever got my feet under me again, my life would be on my terms, not anyone else’s. So I poured everything into what made me happy and felt real. My career. My home. My peace. I’m not rich by any means, but I’m comfortable. And more than anything, I’m ready.
Ready to have a baby.
I know, in a perfect world, I’d fall in love again, get married. Do it “right.” But that kind of trust… it takes time. And time isn’t something I’m willing to gamble anymore, not when it comes to this.
My sister suggested a sperm bank. And I did think about it. But deep down, I wanted to know the person who would help me create this life. I wanted it to be someone I trusted.
And there was only one person who fit that description.
Dexter.
Asking him was, hands down, the most out-on-a-limb I’ve ever gone with him. I was so nervous.
That’s why I decided to distract myself by testing out a new brand of slimwear I’d bought that claimed it would make men fall at your feet.
Right. Never in a million years did I think Dexter would be anything but punctual.
I simply forgot the time, and there he was, standing in my bedroom.
And instead of falling at my feet, he nearly tripped over my discarded sweater on his way out.
Typical for my luck. Typical for his timing.
Anyway, I knew the worst he could say was no, but knowing that didn’t make it any easier.
I wash a handful of cherry tomatoes and pop them into my mouth one after the other, finishing the rest of the toast without even realizing it.
Thankfully, he didn’t say no. He said yes.
Gaaah. It is really happening. I’m going to be a mom!