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“Shit, Gavin!” Ian hissed. He straightened up and Sofia slid from his lap. “I’ll be right out,” he called, his voice strained.
The door opened. “Dad, I—” Gavin stopped dead, his mouth dropping open at the sight that greeted him.
Sofia shrieked and yanked the sheet up as much as she could, burrowing down under it at the same time, hoping Ian’s T-shirt had covered her enough for modesty.
“Gavin!” Ian roared. “The hell?”
“I—I thought you said come in,” Gavin stuttered. He was still staring. He hadn’t taken his eyes off them—Sofia didn’t think he’d blinked.
Ian glared at him. “How did you get home?” he demanded, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Sofia nearly laughed when Gavin glared back, his expression a copy of his father’s.
“Like that’s important right now,” Gavin scorned, waving a hand at Ian and Sofia. “I knew it. I was sure something was going on between you, not that you bothered to tell me. Did you think I was that dumb?”
Oh boy.Sofia caught Ian’s eye and the look they shared spoke volumes. It said, without either of them saying the words, we need to tell him. About everything. Sofia gave a tiny nod, and Ian slid his hand under the sheet and gave hers an answering squeeze.
“Son, go downstairs,” Ian eventually said. “We’ll get dressed and be down in a second…we need to talk.”
Gavin’s scoff said, ya think? and the long sigh he followed it up with spoke of his suffering. He turned on his heel and marched out.
“The ultrasound?” Ian asked.
“In my purse. In the dining room,” Sofia replied.
They pulled on their clothes as quickly as they could in silence. Sofia didn’t know what to say and she guessed Ian was mentally preparing himself too. They headed downstairs and separated, Ian joining Gavin in the den and Sofia going to the kitchen to drop off the breakfast plates before diverting to the dining room to retrieve her purse. When she entered the den, Gavin was sitting on the couch, presumably at his father’s direction, and Ian was pacing in front of him.
Ian took her hand. “I’ll overlook your rudeness, Gavin, but I have to correct you on one thing. This is not a fling. Sofia and I met over two months ago, quite by accident. I didn’t know she was your teacher then, and she didn’t know I was the father of one of her students.”
“Not a fling?” Gavin repeated. “So it’s an affair?”
“It’s a relationship,” Ian corrected. “And a serious one. I’m going to be in Sofia’s life for the foreseeable future.”
“What are you trying to say, Dad?” Gavin was on his feet.
“That Sofia’s pregnant.”
“We got a sonogram after the fire—just to make sure nothing was wrong. Here’s the picture,” Sofia added, holding up the printout of the scan in her hand.
Gavin whipped his gaze from his father to her, then back again. “So what, we’re a family now? Just like that?” He made a choking sound. “Gotta love the way you sneaked her in, Dad. Real slick. I fucking hate that you were both lying to my face.” His voice rose into a half-scream. “Do you know how that makes me feel?”
He spun around and ran from the room, and, a second later, the slam of the front door said he’d stormed from the house.
“Gavin!” Ian shouted. He spared her a quick look, one she couldn’t decipher, then ran after his son.
Damn.Sofia wished with all her heart the conversation had gone better, because of all the ways it could have gone down, this was one of the worst.
