Page 119 of The October Arrangement

“Then it’s positive,” he said.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?” I washed my hands in the sink.

“Yes. Because you’re trying to make me predict how we’re going to feel about something that hasn’t happened yet.”

“I need you to be more helpful,” I said.

He wrapped his arms around me. “I can tell you what I do know.”

“What?” I stared into his eyes.

“That no matter the outcome, I’ll love you even more.”

“But will you be happy if I am?”

“Bella, listen to me. I love you. I married you because I want to share my life with you. If there’s already a baby becoming part of that life, then yeah, sweetheart, I’ll be fucking happy.”

My nerves calmed a tiny bit after he’d said that. His alarm went off, and we both froze.

“You ready?” He smiled.

“No. You look. I can’t.”

He reached over, picked up the stick, looked at it, and then looked back at me. For once, I couldn’t read his expression.

“Congratulations, mama.” He grinned.

My heart raced out of my chest. “Give me that.” I grabbed the stick and saw two pink lines staring back at me.

“We’re having a baby?” My eyes widened.

“We’re having a baby.” He smiled and pulled me into him.

Chapter Forty-Three

Simon

A baby. Now that was three things in my life that went unplanned. The first was falling in love. The second was getting married. Now I was going to be a father. Jesus Christ. I couldn’t believe it. The second I saw the two lines, there was no disappointment or sudden panic over everything I was about to lose. Because I wasn’t about to lose anything. I was going to have a son or daughter. A little person who was half me and half Bella. I could already picture her pregnant, which was insane since we’d just found out five minutes ago. Nothing would be quiet in the penthouse anymore once the baby arrived. The thought made me smile. My father was going to lose his fucking mind, and I couldn’t wait to tell him.

Then something hit me. Becoming a father meant being responsible for a child in a way I’d never been responsible for anyone before. I knew how to run a multi-billion-dollar company. I knew how to negotiate deals and manage thousands of people. I didn’t know the first thing about raising a child.

“What’s wrong?” Bella asked, sitting down on the couch.

“I just realized that I don’t know the first thing about raising a kid. We’re going to be responsible for an entire person.” I ran my hand through my hair.

“I know.”

“A person who will eventually have thoughts and opinions and problems because of the shit we did.”

She let out a laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Because you sound like you’ve just discovered what parenting is.”

“Now that the shock has somewhat worn off, I got to thinking.”

“Clearly,” she said.