My uncle doesn’t answer, which means I’m right.
I throw my head back and my arms ups. “I give up. I shouldn’t have come back here. I should have gone somewhere by myself. You are unbelievable. Trying to set me up while I'm pregnant with another man’s baby.”
I start storming off to my bedroom, intent on packing. But my uncle steps in the way.
“What are you doing? Get out of my way,” I huff.
He shakes his head. “You deserve a life, Kai. A life where you get to be happy. I didn’t set you up on that date because I thought Beckett was the right man for you or that you are anywhere near ready to move on. I’m just trying to show you there is a life outside these walls. That even though you are running, and can never be with the man you want, you can be with a man again. You can find a man who will make you happy, a man who can make you laugh, a man you call fall in love with.”
“I can’t fall in love. Not when I’m in love with Enzo. My heart belongs to him. I don’t want it back.”
My uncle stiffens. “Maybe—maybe you can only form a friendship. Maybe it will be love but not as intense as what you have with Enzo. But you need to move on. You need to be happy. You need to start planning for the future.”
“I can’t,” I sob.
My uncle wraps me in his arms, pulling me to him. I’m too tired to protest or stop him. And I need the hug.
“You can. You are the strongest person I know. And maybe that’s my fault, but I think you would have turned out this way despite my stupid intervention. You have to live. You have to fight. You have to find something worth living for. Otherwise, you will die in this house. I can’t bring you out of the fog, my daughter; you have to do that on your own.”
Daughter.
More tears.
My uncle loves me. And he still sees me as his daughter. No matter how badly he messed up before.
“Are you going to live or die? Because I can’t stand by and watch my daughter dissolve into nothing. I know Enzo is the love of your life. You deserve a lifetime of happiness with him. But you made your decision. You chose to save all three of you: Enzo, the baby, and yourself. You made the strong choice, but you have to keep making the strong choice every single day.
“Your love story is epic and unstoppable. Nothing will diminish your love for Enzo. But you have to find a way to live with the hurt. Find someone else you can love, even if that love isn’t as strong.”
I nod into my father’s chest—father. He may have fucked up a lot, but as he holds me, I know he loves me. I know he still sees himself as my father. I don’t forgive him for everything he’s done. But I do trust him now.
And then I feel it.
The fluttering in my stomach. Like tiny little butterflies.
I pull back and grip my stomach.
“Kai, what’s wrong?”
The fluttering gets harder, more like light thumps.
I grin as I bite my bottom lip. Then I grab my father’s hand and place it over my stomach.
And then our tears are falling hard. Beautiful, crocodile tears that run down our cheeks and over our large grins.
“The baby is kicking,” I say, with a light laugh.
“It’s incredible,” my father says.
I nod and close my eyes as I hold my father’s hand over my stomach, and the fluttering continues. My father saved the baby. And my baby reminded me I do have something to live for—or rather, someone.
Until this moment, the baby didn’t feel real. And I had my doubts about it being Enzo’s. But now, I know as the warmth spreads all over my body from the inside out. The same warm feeling I get when Enzo touches me. This baby is his. The warmth is his. And I don’t need to replace the love I feel for Enzo with something new. I just need to open my heart, widen my love to include our baby as well. And right now, I’ve never felt a greater love than that of the baby I created with the love of my life.
3
Enzo
“Langston?” I ask.