Page 13 of Dark Truth

I knew pills like antibiotics could make the birth control fail, but I hadn’t realized there were so many others that could do it. Now, I couldn’t sleep because I had to figure out how in the world I was going to tell Dylan.

Which was all the more reason to connect with the family, wasn’t it? I could get advice from my sisters-in-law about this. They’d all married my brothers, and that had taken some courage, in my opinion. Not a one of them were easy to get along with, and each one had their foibles. Obviously, in the case of Trent.

I thought it would take an awfully long time to forgive and forget in his case. The rest? Well, they’d driven me away without even realizing it. Maybe I’d been a little bit unfair to them. I breathed out completely, my head a mess and my heart hurting.

I put my hand over Dylan’s arm, flat across my stomach. I knew the man I’d met, so determined to make me get on my knees and submit to him, had become someone else since that night. He wasn’t so desperate for control now, he didn’t seem as … lost. He knew what he wanted, he always had, even back then.

I didn’t think he’d quite counted on what he wanted changing into something he’d never experienced before. I scoffed softly at that thought. It pleased me to know that I’d tamed my raging bull. A little bit, at least. I didn’t want him to be a different man, not at all. I’d been attracted to that wild, yet controlled, man he’d been when I'd first met him.

I loved him, and I thought I knew him well enough now to know that he would probably accept what had happened and deal with it, but then again, it might be what would tip him over the edge. It wasn’t that I feared being alone through this; I’d face raising my child alone if it came down to it.

It would be shattering the relationship that Dylan and I had that would break me. If he thought I’d done this on purpose and ended our relationship, he’d be ending his own chance at a life he was only starting to realize he'd wanted. Well, not all men wanted children, but I had a feeling Dylan would come around to the idea. After all, he hadn’t wanted our relationship, and look where we were now.

If he did end the relationship, though, I would mourn for what he’d lost more than what I’d lose. I might be able to give love another chance one day, maybe, but him? He’d hide in his rooftop penthouse and would never attempt it again. So this was far more than just ‘oops, I’m pregnant, baby’. This was ‘we might have fucked up in a huge way’.

I kept picturing that little boy he used to be, alone after the fire was put out, being driven away in a stranger’s car. That little boy deserved love back then, and the grown man deserved it now. In the end, it would be up to him to decide what he wanted more—a future where he was protected from life’s fuck ups, or one where we got to enjoy them together.

Dylan

I stared at the row of medicine on my desk and thought about the fact that I still hadn’t told Emily what was wrong with me. I’d meant to, but the right time just never seemed to crop up. It wasn’t something you could simply drop on purpose, was it?

Hi, Emily. I know we’ve just moved in together, and I know this is a huge step for both of us, but, well, I might soon become very ill. The kind that might require medical care and a lot of time in bed. Not in that way we are used too. The kind that might kill me.

My gut clenched on that last thought, and I grabbed the pills to pop them in my mouth. I swallowed them with a bottle of orange juice and swept the bottles into my desk. Emily never came in here, so I kept them in there, hidden away.

My phone chirped, as if she knew I was thinking about her, and I saw a text from her. She wanted to know if it was alright if she met with her brother’s wife. Of course, it was, these people were her family.

Although, I had told her time and time again that she should give the reunion a try. I wouldn’t trust Trent Thompson as far as I could throw him, but he was her brother. She was from a large family and knew how integral they were in her life. I had come from a tiny family; even after my adoption, there’d only been three of us. Emily’s family was huge in comparison, and with the children her brothers had spawned there were a lot more Thompsons to go around. She deserved to be a part of that. Even if I did think Trent was an asshole.

She’d told me she’d cut them out of her life because they’d come to take her for granted. I could understand her reasoning, but Trent had taken it too far. He’d disowned her when she’d started a relationship with me. That simply wasn’t fair, and I might be many things, but unfair wasn’t one of them. I tapped at icons until the phone began to call Emily.

“Hi, baby.” I heard her purr down the line and smile. She wasn’t too upset then.

“Hiya, Emily. Listen, why don’t you invite your sister-in-law to lunch, and I’ll fend for myself. It’s a baby step. She’s family through marriage alone, and she can help you test the waters.”

“I’m afraid, Dylan. I just don’t want to get sucked back into their bullshit, you know?”

“So stand your ground, darling. Tell them to back off when they overstep their bounds. Walk away if they can’t respect that. Show them that you aren’t to be trifled with.”

“That can be easier said than done.” I heard her sigh and frowned.

“Emily, you had me in a room, your toy for a good hour, as you let another man watch me fuck you. If you can manage that, you can manage your family. Just face them with that same resolve, my dear. You’ll have them eating out of your palm.”

The urge to tell her I loved her suddenly overwhelmed me, and I had to blink a few times. I wasn’t sure where that came from, but as she vacillated on the other end of the line, I knew I did. I knew I cared about her, thought I might love her, but it suddenly became profoundly clear that I did love this woman.

“You can rest easy knowing that if any of them break your heart, baby, I will break their face. Or ruin them, whichever comes first.”

“Oh, don’t be violent, Dylan,” she started, but I chuckled, and she knew I wasn’t too serious. Only a little. “I know you’ll be there for me. Otherwise, I’d burn the letter and get on with my life.”

“Good. Now make your plans; I have work to do,” she agreed and hung up. I sat at the desk, stunned at myself.

I was in love, for the very first time in my life. Completely in love. Not a little bit, a whole lot. I frowned. Was it fair to Emily, this love of mine? She’d obviously come to rely on me as a partner, a confidant, and respected my opinion when it came to her decisions. The problem I had was I’d failed to be upfront with her about my health. It wasn’t something she could catch from me, but it would impact our quality of life.

Perhaps I’d been a bit delusional asking her to move in with me. It would make it harder to keep from her, if I didn’t soon tell her. Fuck, so many things suddenly occurred to me that I kind of felt like an idiot. Things that should have been clear the moment I’d asked her for that second contract.

I should have walked away. I should have left her to her life. She would have found someone who could love her and give her the guarantee of a future. Instead, I’d been selfish. I’d wanted her with me. I’d wanted her.

Now I had her, for however long that might be. I didn’t think she’d abandon me once she found out what was wrong; Emily wasn’t that kind of person. She would stick by me and do whatever it took to help me. I didn’t want her to do that alone.