Well, when she put it like that…
I shrugged. “I’m a firm believer in live and let live. I also think that things happen for a reason. Did you know that I was supposed to leave Germany the day before?”
She swallowed, then shook her head.
“I had a meeting at the police department. I was set to leave the day before, but something happened to the plane. I fixed what I could, and they overnighted the parts. That was why there was even a plane sitting there waiting for you to get on,” I said.
She licked her lips, her eyes nervous.
“If that plane hadn’t broken, you’d have been on your regular flight with no other options, and I’d have left without seeing you,” I continued. “But instead, I got to ride with you the entire way and hold your hand.”
She looked down at her hands.
“And I got that ticket to the car auction from a buddy that fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg. I was on standby to get onto that flight. I knew that it was a possibility that it wouldn’t happen. But it did happen,” I pushed.
Her eyes went wide as she once again brought her gaze back up to me.
“So if there’s a baby because I was a dumbass and asked you to take it out, then it was meant to be.”
At least it was from my point of view.
From hers, I wasn’t so sure.
But then she smiled sweetly at me and flushed.
“What are you thinking?” I asked softly.
She licked her lips quickly before saying, “The idea of carrying your baby doesn’t scare me. It excites the hell out of me. The idea that I have to tell my parents that I’m carrying the child of a man I just met scares me.”
My lips twitched.
“Do you want to go see him at the hospital today? I have time before my shift,” I offered.
She shook her head. “I told them we’d stop by tomorrow. He’s getting out today and sees no reason for me to come all the way up there. Plus, my mom said he’s in a really bad mood.”
I grinned. “Men don’t like feeling helpless. Even worse, they’re not very good patients to begin with. I’m sure your father is doing the best that he can given the situation.”
She shrugged.
“I’m just glad that he’s getting to go home,” she murmured, bringing her hand up to rub her face.
My eyes caught on the healing tattoo on her finger and something possessive inside of me had me stiffening my spine in resolve.
If she wasn’t pregnant…she would be soon.
Because I was going to make it so.
Her eyes slid to the side, and her face lit up.
“There!” She pointed to the counter.
My eyes went where she was pointing and sure enough, under a stack of mail, sat the shining sparkle of my keys.
“Whoops,” I said as I walked toward them. “I remember doing that now.”
She snickered.
With them in my hand, I was about to say ‘let’s go’ when my phone rang.
I sighed when I saw my brother’s name on the screen.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“You need to come pick up your uniform at the house,” he said. “I was going to try to drop it by, but I didn’t get the chance. Plus, I need to talk to you about something.”
I looked over at Piper who was gathering her purse up into her arms.
“Okay,” I said softly. “We’ll be there in a little while. We’re running by the grocery store first, then we’ll stop by there on our way home.”
“Our?” Downy rumbled into my ear, catching on my slip.
“Yeah, our,” I confirmed.
Then I hung up.
“Who was that, and where are we going?” she asked softly.
I shoved the phone back into my pocket and pocketed my keys as well.
“That was my brother,” I said. “He has my new uniform for work.”
“New uniform?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Apparently I’m in some new department that they just opened up. And it requires a new uniform.”
She frowned.
“Well, okay then.”
***
Piper
I’d found a few things out about Jonah today that I didn’t like.
Like the fact that he wasn’t a junk food addict like I was.
He didn’t like anything sweet, and by anything, I mean nothing. No ice cream. No cookies. No snack cakes or bakery items. Every single item that I put into his cart he had something to say about.
Meaning, by the time we were done wandering through the aisles, I was fairly sure that our marriage wouldn’t last.
“This isn’t going to work,” I found myself saying. “We’re going to have to file for divorce.”
Jonah’s amused eyes met mine as he started to unload the stuff that we’d bought onto the conveyor belt behind an elderly man that looked like he was moving at the speed of a sloth.
“Why is that?” he asked.
I gestured to his pile of food, and then to mine. “Do you see the difference here?”