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Ian finally cracked a smile.
“You’re doing better than me, then,” he remarked, shaking his head. “I don’t think I can boil an egg without setting the house on fire.”
“Yeah, and that’s why I spent college living on ramen noodles,” Chelsea cut in. He laughed.
“Hey, at a certain point, you’ve got to take responsibility,” he teased her, and they began bantering back and forth, bouncing off each other with the lived-in comfort of a parent and child who truly adored each other. I hoped I would be the same way with my son, one day. I could almost picture him, joining us at this table, the four of us together. Not the family I had expected—but, maybe, the family I needed.
And, more than anything, the family I wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Chelsea
“I think this is meant to go in that slot,” I told my dad as I peered down at the instruction manual in front of me, my brow furrowed.
“And I think you’re holding that upside-down,” he pointed out, taking it from me and flipping it over. I groaned.
“Oh, God,” I muttered as I cast my eye over the bookcase I had been trying to put together. “Have I done this all backwards...?”
“That’s why I told you, you should let Zane and I deal with all of this,” he reminded me gently, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I swear, this pregnancy brain-fog is killing me.” I sank down into the chair at the corner of our soon-to-be nursery and rubbed my neck. “And the sore feet. And the back pain...”
“Not much longer now,” Dad pointed out, and I grinned.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get this little guy out into the world,” I agreed, planting my hands on my swollen belly. I could hardly believe how soon it was all going to be happening. In just two weeks, I was due, and our son was going to be born. The nursery was pretty much finished, with just a handful of pieces to be put up before we were done—the crib, baby-blue with yellow covers, was just below the window, where warm sunlight filtered down on it. It would be the most peaceful, most beautiful place for our baby to rest, and I had picked out this adorable little teddy bear with blue overalls as his first soft toy.
“Thanks for helping with all of this,” I murmured as my dad got down on his haunches to see what a mess I had managed to make of this bookcase. He shook his head.
“It’s fine,” he replied. “I wished someone had been around to help me when you were due.”
“Mom didn’t do much to help with it?” I knew my mother had never wanted to be involved with me, but the thought of her not even helping out with setting up my nursery made my chest pang slightly. He snorted, shaking his head.
“It was all on me. I know how overwhelming it can be. Even if there’s two of you. I wanted to give Zane a hand.”
I smiled, biting my lip. I would truly never get used to hearing him talk about Zane as fondly as he did. Over the course of the pregnancy, the two of them had formed a real friendship. Zane had put in some hard work as one of the Dogs helping get the women and children who had been harmed by Lombardi the safety and security they deserved.
In some ways, I was pretty sure it was healing to him, too, to be involved in getting these kids to safety after everything he had been through when he was growing up. I wasn’t sure even he saw it yet, but in the way he gushed about the children he had helped, it was obvious to me.
Which was exactly why I had started laying out my business plan for the year after the baby was born. It had started off as just an idle idea I had been considering to pass the time on those late nights of insomnia, but the more I thought about it, the clearer it had become. I wanted to start a business that would support the needs of children who had survived abuse and other traumatic situations in their past, provide them clothing, housing, toys, education, everything they needed to stand a fighting chance of getting back on their feet. As enthusiastic as I was about it, Zane had insisted that I wait at least a year after the baby was born to get back on my feet again, and I had agreed. It would give me more time to work out the details of this plan, at least, so when it came time to put it into practice, I would know just what I was doing.
Zane was out grabbing a couple of screws from a nearby DIY store. I had managed to lose a few from the set we were putting together. He and my dad had been working overtime to make sure the nursery was ready for when the baby came along. In fact, Zane had been intent on handling every single detail—painting the walls, picking out the toys, filling the bookcase with books. It was like he was trying to give our little one the childhood he’d never had, and I adored how seriously he took his new role as a father.
It was hard to believe that the man who had stolen me away all those months ago was the same one who I was looking forward to starting a family with, but he had proved himself to me at every turn. Every day, he showed me how much he cared about me and how much he wanted this life with me. He was still getting used to being tapped into that side of himself, that part of him that was warm and loving and caring and committed to this family, but there wasn’t a moment that went by that I couldn’t see he was working toward it. That’s all I needed, the assurance that he was committed to this, no matter what.
As I watched my dad work, I idly rubbed my hands over my stomach. I couldn’t believe that, in just a couple of weeks, I was going to be holding my precious baby in my arms. It almost felt surreal, but I couldn’t wait. I chatted to him in the evenings, our little one, even though I knew he couldn’t understand any of it, told him how much I loved him, how well I was going to take care of him, and how lucky he was to have such an amazing father.
All at once, I felt a twinge. I winced, and my father glanced up at once.
“Are you okay?” he demanded, getting to his feet. I nodded, but another twinge of pain shuddered through me again.
“I— I think so,” I muttered. I rose to my feet, figuring it must have just been a cramp, but then, I felt a flood of wetness between my legs. My eyes widened, and my father’s face paled.
“Did your...?”
“I think my water just broke,” I gasped. “Holy shit! I think...”
“You’re going into labor,” he exclaimed, and he rushed to the door. “Wait here, I’m going to call an ambulance...”
My head was spinning as I realized what was happening. Oh, God, it was a little earlier than I had expected, but... but it was time. It was really, truly time. Our child was about to come into the world.
