Change of Heart (Fostering Love 2)

“Sorry about last night,” I whispered, moving behind the bed to try and hide my lower half as my mom grabbed Arielle’s diaper bag from the floor.

“You need to sleep, son,” Mom scolded. “Get this stuff figured out before you make yourself sick.”

I nodded as she turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Then I climbed back into bed with Ani, wrapping my arms around her.

“I pretended I was asleep,” she mumbled against the bare skin of my chest, startling me. “So your mom would take Arielle.”

I chuckled.

“Mother of the Year,” Ani joked.

“You’re an awesome mom,” I replied, kissing her forehead.

“You lost your shit last night,” Ani said, tilting her face up to kiss my Adam’s apple.

“I’m going to blame that on a mixture of exhaustion and adrenaline from the argument I’d just gotten into with Alex,” I murmured back.

“So you didn’t mean it?” Ani asked.

“No, I meant it.” I leaned back so I could look into her eyes. “The delivery left a lot to be desired.”

“Well, you definitely made a statement. It was like the ultimate mike drop.” She lifted her hand above us and opened her fingers wide with a shrug, like she was dropping a microphone.

“You’re such an ass,” I laughed, shaking the bed.

“Well, it’s a good story to tell Arielle,” she mused, her lips tipping up. “When your daddy was fighting for us, he got so excited that he swooned like a Victorian maiden.”

“I didn’t swoon. I passed out from exhaustion.”

“Same thing.”

“Not at all the same thing.”

“Tomatoes, tomahtoes.”

“You’re going to tell Arielle that I’m her daddy?” I asked softly, my smile dropping as I searched her face. “That I fought for her?”

“Do you want me to?” she replied, her lips trembling.

“Yes.”

“Then, yeah. I will.”

I shuddered, closing my eyes against the emotion that swamped me. I wanted to both scream from the rooftops and pull the covers over our heads to block out the world. The relief was all encompassing.

“Tell me about your mom?” Ani asked after a few moments of silence, running a fingertip over my lips.

I sighed, wishing that I hadn’t even brought her up the night before. Using your parents as an excuse for anything was a massive pet peeve of mine. I hated when people tried to blame their parents for the decisions they made as adults.

“She was gorgeous,” I began.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. She looked like Alex—”

“So…like both of you,” Ani said with a small laugh.

“Not really,” I replied with a smile, rolling to my back so Ani was draped across my chest. “She had his wide smile—you know the one. The contagious one.”

“You have that smile too,” she argued loyally.

“Well, her face wasn’t covered in hair,” I joked, squeezing Ani as she pressed a kiss to my chin. “And she was really nice. She smiled at everyone. She was just perpetually cheerful.”

“Ah, one of those,” Ani grumbled.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She got pregnant when Alex and I were five. I have no idea who the dad was, because she never brought guys around. I don’t even remember her leaving us with a sitter so she could go out. We didn’t have any extended family. I never knew where her parents were.”

“I bet that was hard for her,” Ani said softly. “Not having any support.”

“She managed,” I said. “She was a good mom.”

“Her baby died?” Ani prodded when I grew quiet.

“Ah, yeah,” I said, reaching up to scratch at the side of my face. “We didn’t have insurance so she had the baby at home.”

“Holy shit!” Ani blurted, her eyes wide.

“I don’t know if that’s why the baby died, or if it was already dead when it came out.”

“You were so little,” Ani murmured sadly.

“Alex doesn’t remember it.”

“But you do.”

I nodded, clenching my jaw. “Probably because she accidently bit me.”

Ani’s eyes closed, and her forehead hit my sternum with a thud. “Well, I’m a dickhead,” she admitted, making me laugh as I remembered our first night together and her snide remark.

“It’s not a big deal,” I assured her, lifting her head from my chest. “I don’t like the biting sensation, but you do. It’s just a preference.”

“I was an ass about it.”

“You’re an ass about a lot of things.”

“Hey!”

I laughed, my chuckles shaking Ani’s slight body.

“I’m completely in love with you,” I said as she scowled.

“I love you too, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“You’re not very nice.”

“If we weren’t in my parents’ house, I’d be very, very nice.”

“You’re sure about all this?” Ani blurted out, making the smile drop off my face. “Really sure?”

“I’m selling my town house,” I announced, watching her jaw drop.

“Wait, what?”

“I’m moving in with you.”

“You weren’t invited,” she replied, her eyes wide.

“You don’t want to live with me?” I asked seriously, watching her face closely.

“Uh, I do.” She drew out the last word. “But…”

“Here’s the thing,” I said, pushing myself up so I was sitting and she was straddling my thighs. “You’re taking a huge chance on me. I know you’re freaked out—”