Only One Mistake (Only One 6)

“You put it in there.” I use his words, and he brings his hands to his mouth as he warms them up with his breath. Then he rubs them together. “You know it’s just skin, right?” I tease as he brings his hand to my stomach and then stops, looking at me. “You aren’t going to hurt the baby or me.”

“Oh, I know. I just…” He hesitates. “I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything as much as I do the baby,” he finally says as he places his hands on my stomach. “Hey.” He leans down to talk to my stomach. “It’s me. Your dad,” he says, and I can see the tears coming out of his eyes. “I love you, and I’m sorry for not being here before.” He looks up at me and stands up. I’m expecting him to take a step back, but instead, his hands come up to my face. “I’m here,” he assures me, and his lips lower to mine. He kisses me softly, and my whole body tingles from his touch. “You were beautiful before,” he shares, putting his forehead to mine. “But there are no words that I can come up with to do you justice. You’re exquisite,” he whispers as he kisses me again, and I’m waiting for him to slip his tongue into my mouth but a knock on the door interrupts us.

“That’s the food. Go get a top on,” he says, and I nod, walking back into the bedroom. My hands go to my lips as they still tingle from his kisses. I close my eyes waiting for my body to calm down. I swear I almost climbed him like a monkey in heat. I put my hand to my chest and change.

“Where is she?” I hear Julia’s voice, and I slip on my shorts when I walk out. “I’ve been calling you all day long.”

“Sorry,” I say softly, looking at her and then the bag of food on the counter. “I was meeting Michael’s family.”

“I’m going to head out,” Michael says to me, and I want to tell him not to go. “Make sure my parents are okay.” I don’t say anything to him. He walks to me. “Call me later,” he whispers softly, and I nod at him, and I can tell that he’s uncomfortable with Julia here. He bends to kiss my cheek, I smile at him, ignoring the stinging of my eyes. “Julia.” He turns to her and nods. “There are two burgers in the bag.”

“Thank you.” She doesn’t even make eye contact with him. He walks to the door, and I smile at him, trying to stay strong, and only when he closes the door do I turn on my sister.

“You have got to stop,” I demand, wiping the tear from my face. She turns and looks at me. “You can’t hold a grudge forever.”

“It wasn’t going to be forever,” she says softly. “It was just for today, and I was going to forgive him tomorrow.”

“Well, you better be nice to him,” I warn, walking to her. “He left here because you were here.”

“I only came over because I was worried about you,” she says to me. “You went to meet his parents without any backup. What happened?”

“They were so nice,” I share, and then I swallow. “His name is Michael Horton,” I say and she just looks at me, and her eyebrows come together. “He plays hockey for the Dallas Oilers.” Her mouth hangs open.

“Shut the front door.” She reaches into her purse and takes out her phone. “I’m going to google him.” I walk over to the counter and take out the burgers, waiting for her to find him. “Oh my God,” she says, looking at me. “He’s not kidding.”

“His father is Max Horton,” I finally say softly.

“No, he’s not, you’re lying,” she says, the tears coming down, and she wipes them away. “No.” She shakes her head, and I nod. “Oh my God,” she sighs, putting her hand to her mouth. “It’s a sign.”

“I don’t know what it is,” I say, sitting down. “All I know is that this baby is going to have more love than it knows what to do with,” I confirm, taking a bite of my cheeseburger. “And for that I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“I’ll apologize to him.” She sits down beside me. “You have to invite him to Mom’s tomorrow.”

“What?” I shriek out. “Why?”

“Because she needs to meet the father of her grandchild,” she says. “And it gives me a chance to talk to him one-on-one.”

“I don’t know,” I say, looking down at my food. “What if Mom is mean to him?”

“When has Mom been mean to anyone?” Julia asks, and I shrug.

“When has someone left one of her daughters pregnant?” I counter.

“Ohh, good point,” she agrees, opening the other burger. “Only one way to find out.” She takes a bite and looks at me. “Might as well kill two birds with one stone.”