“I’ll think about it. If you show up at the dance.’
“We’ll see.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.”
Ryan put the ring in his pocket and closed the locker.
“See you tomorrow, old man.”
“See you the, punk.”
Ryan laughed and headed out to his car. He drove over to Lucy’s and parked, already smelling whatever she was cooking before he got to the front door. He let himself in with his key and dropped his keys on the table by the door. Why he even kept his own place anymore was beyond him. He enjoyed it here more and spent most of his time here. He smiled as he considered that it could all change soon enough.
“What are you cooking?” he asked.
“Something simple. Roast chicken, rice and steamed carrots.”
“Sounds . . . healthy.”
“Is that a complaint?’
“No. I would never complain about a free meal, especially one of yours,” he said, kissing her on the forehead.
“Just thought I could stand to eat a little healthier after the way I’ve been feeling lately.”
“I guess it can’t hurt.”
“How was your day?”
“Not too bad. Trying to get Tate to come to the Valentine’s dance. Think I almost have him talked into it.”
‘Is he going to bring a date?’
“I doubt it, but wouldn’t that be something if he did?”
Lucy laughed and pulled the chicken from the oven, taking it over to the table. Ryan picked up the rice and carrots and walked them over.
“You want a glass of wine with dinner?”
“Um, no, but you have one if you like.”
“You sure?”
“Yep. I’m just going to have some water.”
‘Okay. I’ll get you a bottle and a glass,” he told her.
She seemed a bit nervous or something. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he let it go. She’d been a bit jittery off and on since the incident and he’d tried to give her some space to work it out unless she felt up to talking.
“You ready for the dance?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I am. I don’t think the guys know what to make of me going from having no date to being head over heels. They keep trying to take credit for my happiness.”
“And here I thought I was the one that got credit for your happiness.”
Ryan reached for his wine and took a sip. The words rang hollow. There was definitely something wrong. She wasn’t even making eye contact, instead focused on pushing the food around on her plate, eating small bites here and there.
“What’s up, Lucy?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can tell when there is something on your mind. Spill it, woman,” he told her, smiling.
She sat down her fork and looked across the table at him.
“I’m pregnant.”
Now, it was time for Ryan to put down his fork.
“What?’
“I’m pregnant.”
“What? How? When?”
“Well, I think pregnant is self-explanatory. I suspect you know how and I’m guessing during our little escapades in the safe house. I wasn’t taking the pill during my abduction and we didn’t use protection, which, in hindsight, was a mistake. I wasn’t feeling well a lot, so I went to the doctor and he ran tests. They came back good, except I’m pregnant.”
She was babbling. He could tell that she was overwhelmed and frightened and perhaps he was a little himself, but he there was something else too. He stood up and walked down to her end of the table, where she had begun to cry.
“Lucy, why are you crying?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m feeling anymore. I don’t have any control over my emotions. I just cry for no reason.”
“Lucy, I love you. If we are going to have a baby, then we’ll have it together.”
“You don’t want a baby.”
“Come here, come over to the sofa with me and let’s talk.”
He helped her up and walked her over to the sofa to sit down, then sat beside her, his body turned toward hers.
“When I met you, I didn’t want a baby. I also didn’t want a girlfriend. I wanted to focus on my job and not have to worry about how that might affect a family.”
“I know.”
“You fucked every bit of that up, Lucy.”
She jerked her head up toward him and he smiled at her.
“And I love you for doing that to me. So, now, we’re going to have a baby and I’ll love that too.”
“What if we have more than one. What if we have five or six?”
“Then I’ll love all of them, when I’m not at my second and third job to support them.”
Lucy looked own again, but he reached out and pulled her chin up toward him.
“We’ll be fine. I’m scared shitless and I know you are too, but we aren’t the first wolves to have babies. We’ll be okay.”
“Okay,” she said meekly.
“Bad news though, you’re going to have to go meet my parents Mom will kill me if we have a baby without telling her first and she’ll kill me twice if I don’t bring you to meet her before we do.”