38. Cecelia
Emotions overwhelmed me, and I cried. I was so happy and I was crying. I should have been laughing and dancing. Instead, I was a snotty mess. My skin had to have been splotchy, and I desperately needed a tissue.
I held onto Georgie and leaned into Sterling. These two were my everything. I was going to have a real family.
“Come on, let’s get out of here. Let’s go home,” Sterling said.
I pulled the towel I had wrapped around my hair off and wiped my face. “I still need to quit my job.”
“Call them from the road,” Sterling said. It was a logical choice.
“I should give them back the keys.”
“Keys?”
I nodded. “To that apartment. If you and Georgie want?—”
“No, we’re staying with you.”
“But I need to drive my car back. There’s no reason to wait for me,” I said.
“Do you think I’m letting you out of my sight now that I have you back?” He stroked his knuckle down the side of my face. “We can go get breakfast. I’ll drive you in to the office. I’ll wait for you if you don’t want me by your side when you hand the keys over, and I will reluctantly drive you back to your car so that I can follow you back to Dallas.”
I sighed. Yeah, back to Dallas. “And what happens then?”
Sterling’s brow crinkled up and he gave a quick shake. “We go home. My home, our home.”
“Do you think I could swing by my apartment to pick up some other clothes? I’m getting so sick of the same outfits day after day.” And these clothes were starting to get uncomfortable. Not tight or snug, but I had this building fullness in my lower stomach and it made certain clothes not feel very good.
I needed to tell Sterling.
“That all sounds good.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
It didn’t take very long to gather our items and check out of the hotel once I was finished getting ready. I didn’t bother to dry my hair. I just braided it and let it air dry. And since I wasn’t going to stay at work once I got to the office, I changed out of the skirt and top and put on leggings and a tunic. I was much more comfortable.
We stopped for breakfast at a diner. Georgie was a happy baby, and I was going to be her mother, or her guardian, or… My heart could hardly contain the emotions that stirred up in me. I may not have had the words to define what we were going to be, but family was the word that felt the most right.
My phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID. I shrugged and returned to eating my omelet. It rang again.
“Do you need to get that?” Sterling asked.
I shook my head. “It’s work. They are probably wondering where I am. If I answer it, they’ll pretend to be concerned, but when I get in, they’ll threaten me with—” I started laughing. “They’ll threaten to fire me. It’s such a stupid threat. I mean, it’s just a job, and not a very good one at that. No wonder someone sabotaged their servers before I started working there. They treat everyone like crap.”
Sterling shrugged. “Yeah, I can see that.”
He paid the bill and tipped handsomely to make up for the mess that Georgie made. More of her food seemed to be on the floor than I think made it into her mouth.
My nerves were on edge the entire drive to the office park where work was located. The flips in my stomach were either breakfast not sitting well, or anxiety, or… “Pull over!” I yelled.
“What?”
“Pull over, now.” I convulsed with the need to throw up. Sterling stopped the car, and I vaulted out my door and doubled over. I lost my breakfast completely.
“Cecelia?” Sterling came around the side of the car and put his hand on my back. He handed me some napkins.
“Do you have any water in there?” I asked, waving at the car.
He nodded and pulled a water bottle from the back. “I started keeping a full diaper bag’s worth of all the extras in the car.”
I cracked the lid open and swished my mouth out with the first sip, spitting on the ground. I then took slow, careful swallows.
“This job has you all wired up. I never realized how upset it made you. I should have paid better attention, should have offered to help you out so you could quit earlier.” He looked concerned as he ran his hand up and down my arm.
I loved that he wanted to help me out, loved it so much. “This isn’t the job. And I should probably tell you before I get there and go marching in there and quit.”
“Sounds serious. Let’s get you back in the car.” He helped me climb in, and he pulled the belt over me, leaning in to buckle me in.
I grazed my hand through his hair and held onto his arm, not letting him move away. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m pregnant, Sterling. You’re going to be a father.”
He didn’t move, didn’t say anything. He stared at me for a moment. Just as I expected him to get angry with me, a slow smile spread across his lips. He started laughing. “Are you serious?”
I bit my lip and nodded.
“I thought you were on birth control?” A dozen emotions crossed his face in the flicker of seconds. His brows scrunched together, then they separated and lifted. His eyes narrowed before opening wide and then narrowing again. And he couldn’t stop smiling.
“I was. Clearly, it’s not perfect. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away, but I…”
“You’re pregnant? I’m going to be a father?” He stepped back from the car and ran his hand through his hair. “Georgie’s gonna be a big sister?”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I was still getting used to the idea that I was going to help raise her. “Of course, we’ll raise them as sisters.”
Sterling rushed back to me and tried to wrap his arms around me. The stupid seat belt was in the way.
I managed to get unbuckled, and he pulled me out of the car and into his arms. His hands kept running over my hair and my face.
“You’re going to have my baby?”
I nodded.
He dropped to his knees and put his hands on my hips, carefully pressing his face into my stomach. He looked up at me, and tears were in his eyes.
I reached out to brush his cheek, but he captured my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles.
My heart was so full of love for him. This reaction was so much better than I could have imagined.
“This is amazing. We’ll have to up the timeline on the wedding,” he said.
“Wedding?” My mouth went dry. “Wedding? Sterling, what wedding?”
“Ours. You, me, we’re getting married. What did you think I meant when I said Georgie needs a mother?”
“I… I…” I shrugged.
Sterling was on his feet, cupping my face. “I love you, Cecelia. I want you to be my wife, and we’re going to have a family.”
“I… I… Yes, Sterling, yes.” I started to laugh, and then he was kissing me.
“I love you,” I said. I finally was able to tell him, and I felt like I could fly. It was such an amazing feeling. “I love you.” I didn’t want to stop saying it.
“I love you,” he said. The sound of his voice rumbling over those words made my toes curl.
We stood there laughing and holding each other for I don’t know how long before Georgie started howling.
We broke apart, and Sterling stepped over and opened the back door. She didn’t stop crying until he pulled her out of her car seat. He bounced as he walked and carried her over to me. “Mama’s gonna have a baby. You’re going to be a big sister.”
He handed her to me, and she settled.
“She was mad that she was stuck in the car,” he said.
“She’s gonna be madder to be stuck in the car all day,” I pointed out.
Sterling nodded. “She did pretty good on the drive up here. She’ll fall asleep soon enough. Come on, let”s get those keys back, and we can get on with the rest of our lives.”
He smiled. It made my heart flip. I couldn’t wait to start my life with him.
* * *
“Oh, Cecelia, where have you been? Marcy is all kinds of bitchy that you’re late,” Brittany, the receptionist, said as I walked in.
“Well, she can be as cranky and pissed off as she wants. I don’t care.” I put the keys to the apartment on the counter in front of her desk. “She’s not a threat to me.”
Brittany snorted. “She’s going to get you fired for this.”
I shook my head. “She can”t fire me. I don’t work here anymore. Can I borrow that pen?”
She slapped the pen on the tall counter that surrounded her desk. I grabbed one of the cheap pads of paper that were sitting there as a free gift to visitors. I scribbled down Sterling’s address, my address. And then I wrote, I Quit across the bottom and handed her the entire pad.
“Have HR send my last paycheck to this address.” I turned and walked out.