Page 129 of I Loved You First

“The entire time we lived together… The entire time I carried your child… You never once showed me even a modicum of the affection you always showered on her.”

He steamed out another breath because that was absolutely true. The way he loved Fi and this new little life were incomparable to his experience with Ally. “I tried to be supportive. I did the best I could.”

“You’re never going to love me.”

He blinked his surprise, totally caught off guard. Because it had never been his intention to start anything romantic with Ally. “No. Not the way I think you want me to. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work together as co-parents.”

She huffed out a laugh as she stared at the sidewalk. “It was supposed to be the three of us. You, me, and Brady.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Clearly.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Ally. I care about you. I respect you. You’re Brady’s mother. But there was never going to be a you and me. That ship sailed in high school.”

She scoffed. “You didn’t seem to mind fucking me that night at the cabin.”

He clenched his jaw, hating that she brought it up—that she forced him to remember his biggest mistake that had given him his amazing son and ruined his relationship with the woman he loved. “That never should’ve happened. That never would have happened if I hadn’t been drunk.”

She shook her head again. “You’re going to marry her?”

He nodded. “Eventually. Fiona’s pregnant.”

Her head whipped up. “Aren’t you full of surprises?”

“It wasn’t my intention to surprise you. I’m trying to communicate with you—to tell you what’s going on.”

“I was pregnant once, too. Where was my proposal?”

“The two of us getting married… That would’ve been bad for both of us. It definitely wouldn’t have been good for Brady. You and I have never been good at anything but friendship.”

More tears fell down her cheeks. “It’s always been her.”

He nodded again. “It will always be her.” There was no point in denying what they both knew was true.

She walked several steps away, then came back. “I want to withdraw the papers I dropped off with Darius. I want partial custody of my son.”

His heart kicked up to a wild beat as his worst fears started to materialize. “To punish me?”

She jerked her shoulders as she glared at him through the light tint of her lenses.

He clenched his jaw. “This isn’t going to happen. You aren’t going to use Brady as some pawn.”

She tossed up her chin as she crossed her arms. “He’s mine, too. I have rights.”

The slow burn of rage boiled his blood. “Don’t do this, Ally. Don’t make me come at you with everything I’ve got. Don’t make me bury you in family court.”

Her spine snapped straight again. “Are you threatening me?”

He shook his head. “I’m promising you. Take a couple of days to think this through. Meet Fi and me for the psychologist appointment next week. Let’s find a way to work together before there’s no coming back from this.”

“I’m no longer interested in playing by your rules, Cam. You’ll be hearing from my attorney,” she said as she walked off.

Fiona hummed the Miley Cyrus song still stuck in her head after Brady had requested that she play it on repeat while they tackled their chores and adventures throughout the morning. She grinned as she hung her favorite pair of black slacks in Cam’s closet, trying to decide if it was a good or bad thing that she had similar musical tastes to a five-year-old.

Chuckling as she rolled her eyes, she reached into the box for one of her go-to sundresses, hanging it on an empty hanger. “This should fit us for a while yet—probably for the rest of the season. Before you start growing a bunch, and I have to buy us new clothes,” she said to her belly, well aware that the baby couldn’t hear her yet. But it thrilled her nonetheless that there was a little person sleeping safely in her womb.

“And there we go. We’re finished,” she said as she grabbed the blouse at the bottom of the box, hanging it in its color-coordinated spot among the other shirts on her side of the walk-in space.