Page 13 of Accidentally in Love

Deep down, the prospect of being a father excited me. Part of the reason my marriage failed was that I wanted kids, and Kath didn’t. It took years to figure out we wanted different things. Avery and I might not have planned the baby, but we could have the family I always dreamed of together.

The toaster dinged, and I took out the bread before spreading a little butter on each slice. I made coffee, even though I wasn’t sure if Avery could drink it. Could pregnant people drink coffee? I was looking it up on my phone when she came into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her.

“Oh, you made coffee, thanks,” she said and poured herself a cup.

“Can you drink that?” I asked and raised an eyebrow.

“One cup a day, and I’m going to need it if I have to deal with eleventh graders today.”

I handed her the toast.

She squeezed my bicep. “Thanks. Sorry, I’m moody this morning.”

I placed a hand on her stomach. “Come on, Peanut, give your mama a break, huh?”

Her eyes got all shiny. “You want to call the baby ‘Peanut’?”

“Aw, Avs, don’t cry over that.”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered and shoved the toast in her mouth. “It’s the hormones.”

I rubbed her belly again. “We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet. I feel like ‘Peanut’ is good enough for now.”

She pulled away and set her half-eaten toast down on the counter. She ran her hand through her hair and grimaced while she stared down at the piece of bread.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She sighed. “Nothing, I just gotta get to work.”

“Okay…”

She stared at me expectantly.

“Oh. You want me to leave?”

“Yeah, sorry, I need to get ready for work.”

I frowned and noticed she looked a little pale. Maybe the toast was a bad idea.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “Can you please leave? I want to throw up again, and I don’t want you to see.”

I reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t mind holding back your hair.”

“Please, Nol?”

“Let me help you.”

She sighed. “Can you just go? We’ll talk about everything later.”

I nodded, but I didn’t like that she was dismissing me. I wanted to be there for her. Even if that meant holding back her hair while she hurled. I didn’t mind the hard stuff, but she had to let me help.

“Okay, call me later?” I asked, hopefully.

She nodded, and I reluctantly walked out of her apartment.

We still had a lot to talk about. Last night, she needed to be held and told everything was going to be okay. This morning, that wasn’t enough. I had to do right by her. I had to provide for her and the baby. I couldn’t do that if she was living in her tiny duplex apartment. I had to convince her to move in with me. Somehow. Her kicking me out so quickly this morning didn’t make it easy, though. Even if it was because she felt like she was going to throw up again. I would have held her hair and rubbed her back through that. I didn’t like that she was pushing me away.