Page 148 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

If she’s pregnant… that means I’m going to be a father?

I don’t know how to process it. Sure, maybe it’s like fucking Leo or Uncle Alejandro, but they were way fucking older; Leo was like twenty-eight and Uncle Alejandro like thirty-four. But forget me, what about Sienna? She’s only nineteen.

“Are you alright?” Carter asks. I force myself to focus on what’s being said around me as my brothers observe me intently.

“Why the fuck do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Ares asks, cocking a brow.

I look across at Sienna, who is laughing at something as her mom hugs her.

“I haven’t.” That’s all I’m able to come up with.

I will have to break the news to Sienna, won’t I? Has she had any symptoms? Does she have any clue she might be? What the fuck have I done? Why did I just somehow assume she was on something?

They exchange looks. “Right… For a moment we thought maybe you saw Theo,” Carter remarks, observing me intently.

“He should have been here,” I reply. We’ve had occasional birthdays where someone has been on a mission, but for the most part, we do spend some of the day together. It’s going to be fucking weird without Theo.

My eyes drift back to Sienna, who is now talking to her grandmother and Aunty Kiara. Aunty Kiara was eighteen when she got pregnant, but that was years ago.

I rake my hand through my hair; in under six months, we’ll have a pup… In a world where the future is dark. A sudden surge of protectiveness washes over me; what if she doesn’t want a pup right now? Despite how fucking confused I feel, the thought of that makes my stomach sink. Ultimately, that is her decision, though – not mine. She’s the one who is going to carry it and bring it into this world.

Fuck.

I glance at the sky, thinking about Mom. What would she say in this situation? She’d smile and reassure me and be excited. She’d tell me not to worry and that she’ll be there to help look after the child, that she’ll be there for Sienna and for me.

But you’re not here, Mom…

Sadness washes over me, and I brush past Renji, needing a minute.

“You ok, man?” Ares asks, and I nod, my face emotionless as I head towards the house. I just need space to gather my thoughts. I’m almost at the door when someone calls me.

“Jayce?”

I turn to see Skyla walking towards me, a small frown on her face.

“Yeah?” I ask as I step inside, taking a silent, steadying breath.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, her cat-like eyes peering at me sharply.

Skyla knows me well. Back when she was at the Academy, we were close.

“Nothing,” I lie.

She cocks a brow before she shuts the door behind herself.

“I know you better than that, Jayce. What is it?”

I shake my head, turning my back on her. “I was missing Mom, that’s all.”

She walks towards me before resting her elbow on my shoulder. “Was there a reason?” she asks softly.

I shake my head, looking down at my hand – trying to distract myself from looking her in the eye and lying.

“Tell me,” she says, now moving to stand in front of me and planting her hands on her hips, kinda like Mom did, but with far more aggression. I can’t help but smile faintly at that. “I know if she was here, she’d be the happiest to know you and Sienna have kissed and made up.”

I nod. “Yeah, she would have been,” I murmur.

“But that’s not it, is it?”