Chapter 12 #2
Vivian watches her friend, and it feels as if they’re having some silent conversation. After a few drawn-out seconds, Vivian nods. She bends down to grab Cora before turning to leave, pausing briefly at the door and looking back at us.
“I’ll be just down the hall if you need me.” She closes the bathroom door behind her. Something in her tone makes the nerves in my stomach spark to life.
“Do you need me to get your mom or Landon?” I whisper even though I already know the answer. If she did want one of them here, she would have sent Vivian to get them.
Ari shakes her head while sitting down and I reluctantly let go of her. She’s still facing the toilet as if she expects to get sick again at any second.
I’m still crouching beside her, staring at the side of her face. All the color and vibrancy are gone, leaving her looking pale and…drained.
“Ari, something is clearly wrong.” I keep my voice low and soft, even though every inch of my body is thrumming with the need to do something. I just don’t know what.
She bobs her head, the movement slow and calculated. Her eyes drift shut as she answers me.
“I promise I’m fine. I talked to my…doctor. She said this is normal and that I’ll be okay to wait until next week when—”
“Bullshit,” I snap, pushing to my feet and pacing the small length of the vanity. “Puking for almost two weeks straight isn’t normal. And they want you to wait another week? Hell no. What doctor told you that?”
My phone is in my hands before I finish my question. “No. That’s not okay for a doctor to make you wait or to tell you it’s fine to be sick for this long. I can find you someone better. Someone who can get you in tonight or tomorrow morning. Let me just—”
“Dean.” The way Ari says my name, her voice cracking with the breathless plea, makes me stop immediately. My heart cracks at the sight of the tears streaming down her face.
I sink to my knees in front of her, carefully reaching out to cup her face in my palm as I wipe her tears away. Her eyes close, a weak attempt at hiding the pain she’s clearly in from me.
“It’s okay. We can find someone else. Someone who—”
Once again, she shakes her head.
“The doctor is right about this.” She levels me with a weak glare when I open my mouth to interrupt. She sucks in a ragged breath as a fresh wave of tears streams down her cheeks, but she opens her eyes and holds my stare. Something in her shining emerald eyes makes the air leech from my lungs.
“It’s normal to get sick when pregnant.”
Pregnant.
“What?” I hear the word come from my mouth but don’t remember deciding to say it.
Pregnant.
“It’s still early. Like very freaking early,” she tells me, but all I can do is stare at her.
Pregnant.
Arianna is pregnant with…
“It’s mine?” The words come out in a hopeful whisper. My heart kicks off as if I’d just chugged four energy drinks.
Her head moves up and down as she watches me.
“Yes,” she whispers. “I’ve only been with you for the past two years, so…”
Her statement makes me smirk and momentary pride swells through my veins. Ari coughs, lurching forward to the toilet and reminding me there are more pressing matters to focus on. After a few seconds with nothing but coughs, Ari sits back once more.
Arianna is pregnant with my baby.
“Holy shit,” I whisper. Watching her closely, I search for any clue as to how she’s feeling about this. “Are you okay? I mean, aside from…” I motion between her and the toilet.
She shrugs and I finally let my hands fall from her face, but I don’t stop touching her. I grab her hand in mine and rub soothing circles with my thumb.
“Honestly, I don’t know. It feels like I wake up and go through every emotion before lunch, then I nap and cycle through them all again.” Her gaze drops from mine, and she stares at our joined hands. “I’m tired of being sick all the damn time. But I’m also nervous and scared.”
She pauses and I wait for her, letting her think over what she wants to share with me.
“I think I’m happy. We’ve never even talked about what’s going on between us or anything, but I know for a fact I want this baby.
I promise that I wasn’t trying to keep this from you.
My plan was to wait until I had it confirmed with an ultrasound or bloodwork and let you decide what you want to do from there.
I won’t force you to be involved if you don’t want to be. Or if—”
“Arianna.” I cut her off, refusing to let her spiral any further.
I open my mouth to say something, but all I can do is smile at her.
Hearing that she’s happy, that this is something she wants, is all it took to break the floodgates.
As I stare at the woman in front of me, it feels like my heart launches from my chest from the level of happiness that’s building. A level I’ve never felt before.
“Goddamn, woman. You truly have no idea just how deep you’ve got your hooks in me.
I’ve been enamored by you since the day I met you.
” Leaning forward, careful not to jostle Arianna, I press my lips to her forehead before resting mine against hers.
“You’re right, we’ve never talked about us.
I had plans to. The night you left the game early, I was going to. ”
Her breath hitches and I pull away in case she’s not reacting to my words and she actually needs space to get to the toilet. I keep her hand in mine, though.
“You’re not…I don’t know, angry? Scared? Want absolutely nothing to do with me now?”
“Fuck no, Freckles.” I wait until she meets my gaze again before continuing.
“Sure, I’m scared. Isn’t that normal for first-time parents, though?
I mean, I don’t even think I’ve ever held a baby.
So I’m definitely gonna need to learn that.
But angry? Furthest thing from it. Want nothing to do with you?
” I scoff at the thought. “Baby, I don’t think that will ever be possible. ”
Arianna’s shoulders shake and this time, she’s the one who moves.
She flings herself at me and I barely react in time to catch her.
I wrap my arms around her, falling to my butt while holding her to me.
She buries her face in the crook of my neck and in this moment, everything feels perfect. Like we are exactly where we belong.
“When’s the appointment?” I start rubbing a hand up and down her back.
“Next week, the second of January. With the holidays, they couldn’t get me in any sooner.”
“Can I come?” I ask and hold my breath as I wait for her answer.
She pushes back, and my hands fall to her hips as she sits straight up in my lap and peers down at me through watery lashes.
“You want to go?”
I stare at her, noting the disbelief and fear lining her features. Smiling softly, I brush a stray curl from her face.
“I want to be there for everything, Freckles.”
No truer words have ever left my lips, and I know I mean them in every single possible way. I want to be there for everything with the baby, yes. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.
More than that, though, I want to be there for everything…for her. Not just this surprise chapter, but for every single one that comes next.