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I nodded slowly. “Even I didn’t know. How do you feel about not getting married?”
“Honestly?” He handed me back the ginger ale and straightened up to pull his hair back into a bun. “I like the idea of doing the whole big thing like you guys, but it’s not a deal breaker for me. If she doesn’t want it, it’s cool, as long as she isn’t going anywhere.”
I squinted at Dum as his front half disappeared into a bush. He wagged his tail and whined, trying to get to something. Probably a lizard. “Are you sure she doesn’t want it?”
“No.” He shrugged. “She’s fucked up over her dad leaving her mom. She’s scared. She even talked about having an abortion.”
I lost my breath a little. It wasn’t all that surprising—she’d always valued her independence. And even though it was painful to think she might decide not to have a baby when I didn’t have that choice, I had no right to judge her. The day Manning had left New York, Val had gotten me to Planned Parenthood for a morning-after pill when I’d rather have cried myself to sleep. Maybe that’d been my only chance to have Manning’s child. Or maybe I’d always been broken. My gut smarted.
“Sorry,” Corbin said. “That was probably insensitive considering what you’re going through.”
I tried to push my own feelings aside because Val was my family. I knew from our conversations that she was in it for the long haul with Corbin. “She’s just scared.”
“I know.”
“Please tell me you talked her out of it.”
“Can’t talk that girl out of anything,” he said. “I had to let her get there on her own, but I knew she would. We’re having this baby.”
“Wow.” I blew out a breath and with it, a tiny bit of my resentment. “I can’t believe it.”
“See what I’m dealing with? Heavy stuff.” He shook his head with a laugh. “The deeper it is, the funnier she seems to get.”
“Ah. The defense mechanism.” I elbowed his arm, purposely avoiding the ribs this time. “You’re right. Maybe a few less jokes would do her good.”
“I think so,” he agreed, hopping off the wall to stretch above his head. “Anyway, ain’t nothing funny about unplanned pregnancy.”
I shielded my eyes from the sun to look up at him, and we both broke into laughter. Maybe it was a tiny bit funny.
I finished off my drink and called for the dogs. When Corbin opened the back door, they sprinted inside. Manning wasn’t in the kitchen or study, so I returned to the den. While Val and Tiffany compared notes on morning sickness, my dad read the Sunday paper in a recliner next to Tiffany’s.
He lowered the paper. “Lake,” he said when Lady sat by the chair, “this one won’t leave me alone.”
I picked her up to put her on his lap. She immediately climbed over the paper, crinkling it as she turned in a circle and settled down. “She likes you,” I said.
He hummed. “It would seem so.”
Two arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and Manning pulled me against his front. He rubbed my tummy with his thumb, and I could practically hear his thoughts. “Val’s pregnant?” he asked in my ear.
“It’s not confirmed yet,” I said. “But probably.”
He swayed us side to side. “There are puppies and babies everywhere.”
As if I hadn’t noticed. I clenched my teeth to keep a response inside that would only sound bitter or defensive.
“What’d you say her name was?” Dad asked, his hands open and hovering as if he wasn’t sure what to do with her.
“She doesn’t have one.”
He inspected her. “You know, Lake wasn’t the name I would’ve chosen for you. Since I picked Tiffany, I let Cathy decide yours. But I always liked the name Rebecca for some reason.”
Lady wagged her tail as she lifted her head to look at him.
“So call her Rebecca,” Manning said. “I think she likes it.”
My dad finally rested his hand on her back to pet the length of her. “Silly name for a dog.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I like it. It’s original.”
“Rebecca.” Dad sighed. “Fine then. She can be Rebecca.”
Manning tightened his arms around my middle. “Picking out names is fun, eh? You ever think about that?”
I couldn’t breathe, but if I didn’t play along, Manning would know something was wrong. Even though the truth bore down on us, I wasn’t about to reveal my shortcomings to him here in front of all our friends and family. “Sure,” I said.
He lowered his voice. “Got any frontrunners for our baby cub?”
Goosebumps were my natural response to the excitement in his voice. Just talking about babies did all kinds of things to Manning. It turned him into Papa Bear. Protective, primal—and horny.
“No favorites yet,” I said, hiding the emotion in my voice. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Let’s wait, okay?”
