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He didn’t even have to think about his answer. He wanted to be a part of his daughter’s life, and Wren’s too, if she allowed it. “I want to know her,” he whispered. He reached out a hand to touch her belly and when she took a step back from him, he let it fall to his side.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not ready to let you touch me again, Chris. You left me—you just left.” He got it. He fucked up and it was going to take some time to fix what he had done, but right now, he had the time if Wren was willing to stick it out in New York and give him a chance.
“Will you stay for a little bit? My mom has another spare room that you can sleep in,” he offered. She looked conflicted as she weighed her options. Wren finally nodded, and pulled open the trunk of her car, handing him her suitcase.
“I’ll stay for a little bit—just until we get things worked out. But then, I’m heading back to Alabama. I want to have the baby there, with a doctor that I know and trust.”
“That’s fair,” Yonkers agreed. “Thank you for agreeing to stay, Wren.” She breezed past him and walked back into his mother’s house. Yeah, none of this was going to be easy, but he already knew that Wren was worth every bit of trouble that she was about to give him.
Wren
Wren got settled into Yonker’s mother’s spare room and made an excuse of needing to take a nap. The trip had zapped her energy, but she was sure that the pregnancy wasn’t helping. She needed to lie down, but first, she needed to do something that she had been putting off. She wasn’t sure if calling Blade to let him know that she was in New York was a good idea or not, but she really had no choice. Her brother had tried to call her half a dozen times in the past day and a half that she had been on the road. There was no way that he wouldn’t let her go much longer without sending out the calvary, and that was the last thing she needed. Having her best friend as the built-in buffer between him and her brother worked out well for her. Trixie marrying her brother was like Wren getting the golden ticket. She had her best friend and sister now all wrapped up in one person and when it came to handling Blade, Trixie was a pro at it.
She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Trixie. It was time for her to come clean about her pregnancy, and deal with the fallout of her brother being pissed off at both her and Yonkers. She was showing now and keeping her belly hidden was getting harder and harder to do.
Trixie answered the phone on the first ring as if she had been waiting for her to call. “Where are you?” Trixie asked. “And don’t lie to me and tell me that you are at your apartment. I’ve checked there for the past two days. Every time that I call you, I get sent to your voicemail—so, what’s up?” Her best friend was always a worrier and she usually worried best about Wren.
“I’m in New York,” Wren admitted.
“Why the hell are you in New York?” Trixie shouted. “And why wouldn’t you tell me or your brother that you were heading out of town?”
“Because I’m afraid that what I’m about to tell you is going to piss off Blade and I was trying to avoid that for as long as possible,” Wren admitted.
“Shit,” Trixie spat, “and, you called me to help calm your brother down after you tell him the news.”
“Actually, I was hoping that you’d tell Blade for me,” Wren said.
Trixie sighed and for a second, Wren worried that her best friend was going to tell her that she was on her own. “You know, you make it really hard to be your friend sometimes,” she insisted.
“I know—I’m a handful,” Wren teased. “My brother loves to tell me that any chance he gets.”
“So, what’s the news that you’ve been hiding from us and scared to tell your brother?” Trixie asked.
Wren took a deep breath and let it out, knowing that it was now or never, but thinking that never might be easier. “Wren,” her friend shouted into the other end of the call.
“Fine, I’m pregnant and Yonkers is the father. That’s why I’ve come to New York—to tell him about the baby. I thought that he had a right to know before anyone else, so I drove up here to tell him.”
“You and Yonkers?” Trixie asked. “When did it happen?”
“On Christmas,” she breathed. Wren didn’t want to rehash everything that happened five months ago, but she knew that Trixie would ask a ton of questions. “Promise that you’ll tell Blade for me,” she said.
“I think that you should tell him yourself,” Trixie said. “But I’ll tell him if you can’t. I won’t keep this from my husband.” It was strange hearing Trixie call Blade her husband.
“Thank you,” she said. “I knew that I could count on you.”
“Why did Yonkers go to New York after Christmas? You said that he didn’t know about the baby, so why take off?” Trixie asked. That was a very good question and one that Wren hoped to get to the bottom of with Yonkers, as soon as she could find the nerve to talk to him.
“I have no clue. At first, I thought that he took off to get away from me. We had spent one night together, everything ended with your stalker, and I was free to go home. That’s when I found out that he had left town and got Blade to find out where he went. I was shocked that my brother didn’t ask more questions about why I wanted to know where Yonkers was.” Blade just gave her the information as though he didn’t wonder why she had him looking into where Yonkers went.
“I guess he thought that you had your reasons for asking,” Trixie said. “Listen, I’m going to tell Blade for you, but you have to promise to answer the phone when he calls you to ask you a million questions—because you know that he will. Deal?” she asked. Trixie drove a hard bargain, but Wren really didn’t want to have to deal with her brother right now.
“Can you give me a few hours before you tell Blade?” Wren asked. “I’m exhausted and really could use some shuteye. Then, I’ll find a way to deal with both my brother and Yonkers.”
“Sure, babe,” Trixie agreed. “But don’t sleep forever. You can only hide from them both for so long.” Wren promised to take a short nap and to talk to Trixie soon. Her best friend was right, she was only going to have time for a brief nap before both of the men in her life came looking for her, and she wanted to be fresh and ready.
Wren woke to Yonkers standing over her with his arms crossed, and she knew that her time for hiding was up. “How long have I been asleep?” she asked, clearing her throat.
“About four hours,” Yonkers grumbled. “We need to talk.”
