The Partner Dilemma

Chapter Fifteen

Skye

Four months later

Holding my ever-expanding stomach, I look out the window, lost in thought. Today is the day I will go back to the place I once called home, a place that brought me more happiness and heartbreak than any other. I have to see Blaine, Kamden, and Deklan. They deserve to know that one of them is going to be a father.

My mind wanders back to the day I left.

I roamed the streets aimlessly. Not knowing where to go or who to turn to, I ended up sitting on a swing in a park not too far from their house. It may be pitiful, but I spent an hour crying. When I looked up, my eyes met those of an older man, perhaps older than my father.

He didn’t speak as he took a seat beside me on the swing, just sat with me in silence for a long time. When I finished crying, I stood and picked up my bag, but his large hand clasped around my wrist before I could walk away.

“Are you in trouble, girl?” he asked.

A laugh bubbled out of me. “Trouble isn’t the word I would use, sir,” I replied when I stopped laughing.

“My name is Mason. And I know this may be very forward, but I want to help you,” he said sincerely.

“Why?” I asked. “You don’t know me.”

“No, I don’t,” Mason replied. “But if someone was there to help my sister when she was in trouble, she might still be alive.”

My heart broke a little more that day. Not for myself but for Mason. The kind stranger who only wanted to help me and for the sister he lost. I took the hand he offered me and didn’t look back.

Mason clears his throat behind me and pulls me from my reverie. Turning, I smile at him even though my heart is lodged in my throat. Mason has done more for me in the past four months than I can ever explain. He holds my hair back when the morning sickness gets too much, lets me live in his house for no other reason than wanting to help me, and now he will take me to tell the men who broke my heart that they have fathered a child.

“It’s time to go, girlie,” Mason says.

“Okay,” I reply, walking past him and getting in the car.

The drive is shorter than I thought it would be. Neither of us speaks as we approach the house. Mason pulls into the drive and sits silently beside me.

“If you don’t want to do this, we can leave,” he says, squeezing my hand.

“No. I have to do this. They deserve to know,” I reply as I open the door and exit the car.

Mason doesn’t follow me. We have talked this all through. I told him everything from the beginning, and although he didn’t understand most of the reasoning, he understood I need to do this on my own. This is my mess, and I need to be the one that cleans it up. With my new cell phone in hand, I listen as Mason drives away. I will call him when I am ready to be picked up. This may take five minutes or five hours.

Standing in front of the heavy wooden door, I take a deep breath, gather my courage, and ring the doorbell.

Heavy footfalls immediately move toward the door, and I don’t know who I dread seeing more. But when the door opens, and I find myself face to face with Deklan, my heart shatters all over again. Taking him in, I can see all the changes that have happened in the past four months.

His hair and beard that are usually so neat and tidy have grown long, giving him a disheveled look. His eyes have dark circles underneath them, and I wonder if he is sleeping enough. He has also lost weight, but before I can allow myself to worry about him, I remind myself he isn’t mine to worry about anymore. Setting my shoulders back, I wait for him to say something.

“Skye,” he whispers brokenly.

“Deklan,” I reply, trying to sound calm and collected.

His gaze travels over my face before scanning my body. When he reaches my baby bump, his eyes widen almost comically before he pulls me into the house. Deklan slams the door behind me before bolting it closed. Guiding me to the lounge, he helps me sit down on the sofa.

“I need to get Blaine and Kamden,” he says as he crouches down in front of me. “Please tell me you’ll wait. They are just upstairs.” He implores me with his gaze.

“I need to talk to all three of you, Deklan. I will be here when you get back,” I reply.

He nods and moves to the stairs but turns to look at me twice like he thinks I might disappear again. I know I haven’t been here in four months, but I didn’t just leave. They lied to me and broke my heart, and I need to remember that.

Seconds later, more footsteps can be heard heading my way. Although with all my heart I want to turn and see them, I force myself to remain facing forward.

“See,” Deklan huffs. “I told you she was here.”

“Skye,” Blaine whispers my name.

“Hi, Blaine,” I reply.

“Hi?” Kamden asks. “That’s all you have to say after four months?”

“Kamden…” Blaine cautions.

“Don’t you dare lift your voice at me, Kamden Jones.” I glare at him. Gradually, I lift myself off the couch, supporting my stomach. “You lied. All three of you. You lied to me and made a fool of me, so don’t you dare think you can shout at me!” I finish on a yell.

But none of them are looking at me, instead, they are all staring at my large baby bump. My hormones are on a roller coaster on the best of days, but today is extra stressful.

“What?” I throw my hands in the air. “Have none of you seen a pregnant woman before?”

All three men lift their gazes to my face, staring at me, but none of them speak.

“Well, if none of you have anything to say, then this will go a lot easier.” I nod, taking a calming breath. “I am five months pregnant. I don’t want to disrupt your lives and I know the woman you really love has returned. I will get a paternity test after my baby is born. I will allow the father to be part of his or her life. I don’t need money, and I don’t need you to take care of me. I just wanted to tell you face to face. I need the father to know about his child should our government choose to take me away to the House of Fertility until I am matched with someone else.”

I move to walk past them when Kamden grabs my wrist and pulls me back. He watches me closely as he speaks.

“I’m sorry I shouted,” he says. “But I have been worried out of my mind. Please let us explain, and if you still want to leave, none of us will stop you.”

“I don’t need you to explain,” I say, but I don’t pull away.

“Sit, Skye,” Deklan says. Even though I don’t want to, I find myself listening to him like I always have. “Let Kamden talk.”

I nod before looking down at my hands as they rest on my belly.

“Lucy, that’s the woman you met, is nothing to us. About two years ago, we thought she was the woman we wanted to spend our lives with,” Deklan explains.

I feel a tear track down my cheek even though I swore I wouldn’t cry.

“But then her husband showed up here. Lucy had been cheating on him.”

My tear-filled gaze collides with his.

“When we found out the truth, we immediately ended it with her,” Blaine explains, drawing my gaze to him.

“But—” I start to speak.

“She told us exactly what she said to you. We know what happened. But what you don’t know is that Lucy has been locked up in The Pretorius Asylum for the criminally insane. She killed her husband,” Kamden continues. “She snapped and believed he was keeping her from us. She murdered him and then she came here.”

“You can’t be serious,” I reply. I would have seen or heard something. Then again, I closed myself off to the outside world.

“Very,” Deklan says.

“So, I left for nothing,” I sob loudly, my shoulders shaking violently. This is a lot to take in.

“No!” Deklan falls to his knees in front of where I am seated. “Not for nothing. She could have hurt you if she thought you were in her way. God, she could have killed you.”

I don’t think about my actions, I simply follow my gut. I wrap my arms around Deklan’s neck and fall into his lap. He encloses me and holds me tightly to his chest. He kisses me deeply before pulling back.

“Please don’t leave again,” he whispers. “I love you. I don’t want to live without you.”

Sobs wrack my entire body as I let all of my emotion just spill out of me. When I finally get myself back under control, I take Deklan’s face in my hands and kiss him again.

“I love you too. All three of you. And we are not going anywhere ever again,” I say, placing Deklan’s left hand on my stomach.