Chapter Eighteen #2
Charlotte thought she couldn’t have kids, but then last year she ended up pregnant.
Unfortunately, she miscarried very early on, and while I know she wasn’t ready for kids, she was still devastated.
She’s had baby fever ever since, though I thought for sure they’d wait until she graduates before trying again. Turns out I was wrong.
“Does Lyric know?”
“Beats me. I assumed everyone knew. Though the fact that she hasn’t told you makes me believe she hasn’t told her either. Turns out I may have just muffed this up.”
“You think?” I give him a sideways glance.
“Do me a favor and don’t tell anyone I told you. I don’t want to be the asshole who ruined the big reveal.”
“Little late for that. I can’t pretend I don’t know now that I do.”
“Well, at least don’t say you heard it from me.”
“Of course not, brother.” I shake my head as I take off in the direction of my two best friends.
I slide up next to them at the bar as soon as I reach it, crossing my arms over my chest as I narrow my gaze at Char.
“What?” She gives me a funny look.
“Here I thought we told each other everything.” I give her a knowing look, the corner of my mouth tugging up in a smile.
I’m so happy for her I could burst, but I need to hear the words from her mouth first.
“What are you on about?” Her defenses instantly go up, which tells me everything I need to know.
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“I... Shit.” She looks between me and Lyric.
“What is going on right now?” Lyric asks, clearly completely out of the loop.
“Char’s been keeping a secret.”
“Who told you?” she hisses.
“So it’s true?”
“What’s true?” Lyric injects.
“Char... Perhaps you’d like to tell her before my brother opens his big mouth again,” I say, throwing Jackson right under that bus. Serves him right for being a gossip.
“River.” She looks over at her man, who’s managed to break free of the streamers he’s trying to twist, his gaze immediately finding hers. “You told Jackson?”
“I... Well, yes.”
“I thought we agreed.” She lowers her voice as he approaches.
“I had to tell someone. Though I didn’t tell Jackson. I told Kai.”
“Told Kai what?” Lyric looks up at her brother, confusion drawing her eyebrows together.
“Maisie already knows. We might as well just tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Lyric’s never-ending patience begins to show signs of strain.
“Lyric...” Char turns fully to Lyric, taking both of her hands in her own. “You’re going to be an aunt again.”
I watch Lyric’s confusion deepen, and then realization dawns as her gaze darts to Char’s belly and then back up to her face, tears filling her eyes.
“You’re pregnant?”
“I am.” Char blinks back her own tears. “I wanted to tell you the moment I found out, but I worried it was too soon. I wanted to wait until I was further along to make sure... Well, you know why.”
“You’re pregnant,” Lyric says again as if trying to convince herself this is really happening.
“I am.”
Without warning, Lyric throws her arms around Char’s neck, hugging her so tightly it’s a wonder she can manage to pull in a breath.
I give them a few moments, knowing this affects Lyric more than it does me, before I join the fray, throwing my arms around both of them. While I may not be this baby’s aunt by blood, make no mistake, I will still be Auntie Maisie.
“But what about school? What about New York?” Lyric pulls back, breaking our hug.
“I’m not due until July, so I’ll be able to finish the rest of the semester. After the baby is born, I’m going to take online classes in order to finish my degree. And New York... Well, some dreams are just more important.” She touches her belly with a smile.
It’s clear that she’s so in love with this baby already she can barely contain it, and really, who could blame her after spending most of her life believing she could never have kids, and then of course, the events of last year.
“New York is still on the table.” It’s not until River speaks that I even remember he’s standing there. “It’ll just look a little different now.”
“Riv...” Tears break past Lyric’s lashes, streaking down her cheeks. “You’re going to be a dad.” She throws her arms around her brother’s middle, burying her face in his chest.
“I am.” He hugs his sister back affectionately, meeting Char’s gaze behind her. “I love you,” he mouths, clearly meant only for her.
“I love you,” she mouths back, and suddenly I feel like I’m imposing on an intimate moment between them.
“You can’t tell anyone.” Char waits until Lyric releases River before stepping into his side. His arm instantly goes around her, as if she can’t be this close and he not touch her, a feeling I understand well, as it’s how I feel every time Macallan steps into a room.
I gravitate toward him like a magnet. I always have.
“We want to wait until she’s further along before sharing it publicly.”
“I won’t say a word,” Lyric promises.
“Nor will I,” I inject, reaching for Char’s hand. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you.” She smiles, and I’m taken by just how happy she seems. No, not seems... How happy she is. How happy we all are.
My mind drifts back to Macallan.
So much has happened over the past few months, and a lot of it wasn’t good. But I’d do it all over again if I knew this is where I’d end up when the dust finally settled. Though if I’m being honest, it all feels like a lifetime ago.
Sometimes when Macallan falls asleep before me, I lie in bed for hours just staring at him. He remains the most beautiful man in existence, and I remain completely smitten by him.
After the whole Lana fiasco, I worried about what the future might look like for us, but with how quickly they reached a plea deal, it was almost as if it never happened.
I was grateful that she opted to plead guilty in exchange for her time to be served in a mental facility rather than a prison.
Macallan never said so, but I get the feeling he was relieved knowing she was going to get the help she needed.
It wasn’t until after her arrest that I realized just how much he had been holding back. How much fear and guilt weighed on him. And seeing him finally shed that... words can’t describe what that felt like. What it still feels like.
“Now, if you two don’t mind, I have a bone to pick with my fiancé.” Lyric scours the room, finding Kai next to the small stage.
“Go easy on him.” River chuckles. “I swore him to secrecy,” he calls after his sister as she takes off in the direction of Kai.
“I can’t believe you told them.” Char waits until Lyric is out of earshot before saying. “We agreed.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But I meant what I said. If I didn’t tell someone, I was going to burst.”
“How do you think I felt?” She gently smacks his stomach, not an ounce of anger in her voice.
“On that note, I’m going to give you two some privacy.” I grin, slowly backing away. “Congrats, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Char meets my gaze. “Love you.”
“Love you.” I smile wider, spinning on my heel to walk away.
“Maisie Rose, my God, you look like a million dollars.” Lyric holds my arms out, making me twirl so she can get a good look at the silver dress I’m wearing.
“Me? Look at you.” I wait until I’m facing her to gesture to her own dress, the soft pink accentuating her brown curls and tanned skin perfectly.
“Where’s Mac?” she asks, looking past me toward the door.
“Not here yet, but he should be soon. Everyone’s here?”
“For the most part.” She nods. “I’m sure we’ll have a few last-minute stragglers, but as you can see”—she gestures to the large crowd behind her—“most are already in attendance.”
“And the pizza?”
“Already here and set up.”
“And the bartenders...”
“They’re here. Already serving drinks.” Lyric takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You did good, Mais. Everything is going as planned.”
“I think you mean you did good,” I tell her, knowing she did just as much, if not more work, than I did. Including arriving early for me to make sure everything went off without a hitch, while I rushed home to get ready.
“We did good,” she amends.
“Are Char and River here yet?”
“No, they will be among the stragglers. Char was dealing with a bit of nausea earlier.”
“That’s to be expected, I suppose.”
“It is. Though it does make me wonder, if you hadn’t forced her hand today, what excuse she would have made for her tardiness.”
“Knowing Char, she would have blamed River and the fact that he can’t keep his hands off her.” I laugh.
“Very true.” She smiles, her gaze sliding to Kai as he steps up beside her, looking rather handsome in his blue button-down and black slacks.
“Well, lookie there. He does know how to clean up.”
“Maisie.” He tips his chin, not taking the bait of my backhanded compliment. “I think you outdid yourself.” He gestures around the room.
“Do you think it’s too much?” I immediately start to second-guess myself.
“I think it’s perfect.” Lyric stops me from spiraling with a soft touch of her hand against my forearm. “Macallan is going to love it.”
“I hope you’re right,” I say, glancing down at my phone in my hand when I feel it vibrate. As soon as I see Mac’s name on the screen, my stomach twists nervously. “He’s here.”
“I’ll get the DJ ready. Kai, get the lights,” Lyric instructs.
“Thank you,” I mouth, quickly exiting the room.
I step outside mere seconds before Macallan rounds the corner, looking so delicious in his dark jeans and black collared shirt that my knees wobble slightly at the sight of him.
Three months we’ve been officially seeing each other, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this man is actually mine.
“Hey.” He smiles as he drinks me in, his eyes tracking from my feet, clad in silver heels, all the way to the top of my head, where my hair is pulled back in a loose updo with tendrils hanging loose, styled around my face.
“Hey,” I repeat, giving him the same perusal.
“Weird spot for dinner,” he says, jabbing his thumb toward the building.
“Says the man who once took me to the rooftop of an abandoned building for dinner.”
“Fair.” His smile widens, offering me a tiny glimpse of his dimple through his facial hair. “Come here.” He grabs my hand the second he reaches me, pulling me into his chest.
His hand slides up one side of my face, cupping it as he leans in to press a kiss to my mouth.
“You look incredible,” he murmurs against my mouth, deepening the kiss. “Please tell me you’ve got a picnic on the roof.” He pulls back much too soon for my liking. “Because as much as I love this dress, I think I’m going to like taking it off you even more.”
My breath hitches, my skin growing warm at his words.
“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to look at me in it for a while. But later...” I give him a wicked grin. “Later, you can do whatever you like with me.”
“Whatever I like?” His hold on me tightens. “You might regret making such a promise.”
“Somehow I doubt that.” I smile up at him.
“God, woman. Could you be any more perfect?”
“Guess we’re about to find out,” I say, stepping back, but not before taking his hand in mine. “Shall we?”
“By all means, Miss Rose. Lead the way.”
Tugging open the front door, Macallan quickly follows me inside.
As we approach the banquet room, my pulse quickens, nervous energy pinging around in my stomach like a ball in a pinball machine.
“Consider my curiosity piqued,” he says, looking around the empty corridor.
“Come on.” I push open the door, tugging him inside.
The room is pitch-black when we enter, but all that changes in a matter of seconds when the lights suddenly flip back on and everyone in attendance screams in unison. “Happy birthday!”
Mac startles, clearly caught off guard, but after a few seconds, he seems to recover, a smile sliding into place.
“What did you do?” He turns, putting his back to the crowd as he steps in front of me.
“Happy birthday, Macallan.” I take his face in my hands. “I love you.”
“I retract my earlier statement. You’re even more perfect than you were moments ago.” His lips touch mine, silencing the rest of the world as his kiss drowns out anyone and everything that is not Macallan Stewart.
“Everyone’s watching,” I mutter against his lips when someone interrupts the moment by clearing their throat.
“Let them watch.” Another deep swipe of his tongue along mine.
“I don’t mean to be a dick but...” My brother’s voice washes over me, and like being doused with ice water, I gasp, breaking away from Macallan to find Jackson standing next to us, looking highly uncomfortable and mildly disgusted all at the same time.
“Maybe save this shit for when you’re in private. ”
“Easier said than done.” Mac gives my brother a cheeky grin as his arm slides over my shoulder, pulling me firmly into his side.
“Happy birthday, brother.” Joey appears from the crowd, clasping Mac on his shoulder. “Let me be the first to buy you a birthday shot.”
Mac hesitates, looking down at me like the last thing he wants to do is leave my side, and trust me, I know the feeling.
“Go,” I tell him, pressing up to plant a kiss on his jaw, his facial hair tickling my nose as I do. “I’ll catch up.” I dip out from under his arm, giving him a light smack on the butt as he walks away.
“You two make me sick,” Jackson grumbles.
“Jealously doesn’t look good on you, Jack.” I nudge him with my elbow.
“I am not jealous. I just don’t like seeing my own sister manhandled like that.”
“Manhandled?” I bark out a laugh.
“He was practically swallowing your head in front of everyone.”
“And yet, the only one who seems to have a problem with it is you.”
“I wonder why.” He rolls his eyes.
“You need to find yourself a woman,” I tell him with a pat on his shoulder.
“I have a woman... Several of them actually.”
“Not exactly what I meant.” I shake my head at him.
“Unlike you lot, I have no desire to be tied down to just one person.”
“You only say that because you haven’t met the right one yet.” I laugh at the look he gives me. “Come on, let me buy you a drink.”
“After all the work I did today, you owe me a hell of a lot more than one,” he grumbles, following me through the crowd just as music fills the large room.