Page 96 of Sudden Summer

“Why don’t you let me take care of you tonight?” I asked. I knew I was pushing it. I saw it immediately in the way her eyes crinkled around the edges, but I couldn’t help myself.

“What has gotten into you? Go over and sit with Juniper. I’m sure she missed you today.”

I laughed as I kissed her cheek, turning to go tickle Juniper’s belly as she giggled away in her bouncer. I was going to need a hell of a plan to bring up what I’d found to her.

Beau

“Ineed to talk to you.”

Yeah, I was probably a dick for waiting until we were laying in bed—after she’d gone full blown Nurse Birdie on me in the shower, no less. My hair was now clean and my head did feel slightly better, but I was definitely going to have a wicked scar.

I had grabbed her favorite lotion off the counter while she was brushing her teeth, and I wasn’t above using a little massage to help ease into the conversation we were about to have.

Pumping a drop of it onto my hand, I warmed the lotion between my palms before reaching over and pulling her arm onto my lap. We had her follow up appointment next week to see if she could stop using her braces, and I knew she was ready to not be dealing with them anymore. Still, I was careful not to get lotion on the one supporting her wrist.

“Oh,” she gasped in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“I stressed you out today. It’s only fair that I help you relax.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “I can think of a better way to help me relax. Still involves your fingers…or it could involve your mouth.”

My head tipped back as I tried to push the image of Birdie falling apart on my tongue out of my mind.

I finished rubbing the lotion into her arm, and went for it before I could lose my courage. My fingers splayed over her stomach. Fuck. I was nervous as hell to have this conversation with her. Because from the moment I’d seen the test in the trash downstairs, I’d been on edge. And I knew she could tell.

“You’d tell me if you were pregnant, wouldn’t you?”

Birdie sucked in a breath, her body suddenly jerking in my arms with the force of her coughing. I sat up, frantically patting her back.

“Okay. Alright. Try to breathe normally,” I teased.

“Sorry,” she wheezed. “That question just threw me for a loop.”

My stomach felt like there was a boot in it as I tipped her face up to look in her eyes. “But you would tell me, right?”

“Of course, I would. I’m not, if you’re thinking I’m hiding something from you.”

I closed my eyes, trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to bring up what I’d found. It wasn’t like she’d left it out for me to see.

“That’s not why I asked. I mean, before dinner, I found the pregnancy test box in the downstairs bathroom. Did you think maybe…”

She shook her head. “I’m a few days late, is all. We haven’t been the most careful, and then Vi said something about it being weird that my boobs are really sore lately, so I was just covering our bases. I’d tell you the minute I found out, Cowboy.”

“Tell me before,” I whispered, finally recognizing the fear I’d been carrying.

“What?”

“Tell me if you even suspect it, okay? If you’re late again. I want…fuck, I want to drive into town with you to pick up the test. I want to sit on the tub as you pee on the damn stick. I want to hold your hand during the wait. And I fucking want to see your face when we get a positive result.”

“Okay.” That acknowledgment was all I needed for the ropes that had been constricting around my heart to loosen. She tucked her head down onto my shoulder, and I felt the tension finally bleed from my body.

“I know it’s different from what happened with Rosa. I didn’t know her at all. One night changed both of our lives forever. And even though I didn’t want more than that from her, I still would have been there.”

“I know you would have.” Birdie’s hand squeezed my forearm.

“I still would have wanted to celebrate each milestone. I would have wanted to be there for the birth. To hold our daughter in her first few minutes of life. To thank Rosa for the beautiful gift that Juniper is.”

She reached up, brushing away the tear that escaped from the corner of my eye.