She bit her lip, then took in a deep breath, then met my gaze. “Howard, I’m pregnant.”
I blinked, tilting my head to the side. “What?”
“I said I’m pregnant,” she snapped nervously, clasping her hands together. “Sorry, I wanted to tell you after I knew for sure, I was just planning on when, but then I got the job offer and I just got a little confused, so I left to get my shit together. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“Zoe,” I breathed out.
“You’re not... mad or anything, are you?”
That surprised me enough that I broke out laughing. “Zoe, how could I be mad? You’re pregnant! We’re going to have a baby!”
She looked surprised that I was so excited. Laughing, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. Even I was surprised by how excited I was about this. I’d never thought about having kids before, but it suddenly seemed like the best thing in the world.
Even better, was that it was with Zoe. With this, there was no way I could still hold back.
“There’s just one thing we need to do,” I said, pulling away, mood falling a little.
If it could wait, I wouldn’t mind putting this off. I wasn’t looking forward to it, except I kind of was, because I didn’t have to hide my relationship with Zoe anymore, and we had a relationship now.
My mood lifted a little.
“What is it?” she asked, looking a little dazed.
My expression was serious as I took her hands in mine. “We need to face your dad.”
Chapter Eighteen
Zoe
I was nervous. I had every right to be.
“Are you sure you’re okay now?” I asked. “Maybe we should go to the doctor after all.”
Howard just chuckled and pulled me into his arms. His body was hot against mine, but his fever had definitely gone down since last night, and he could keep food down. I didn’t think he was well enough to be facing my dad, though, but Howard
disagreed.
“Come on. I already called Mom and told her we’d be on our way. She’s keeping it a secret from Ben for now. We can join them for dinner.”
I hadn’t seen Dad in weeks, but he hadn’t tried to call me in that time. When I got back, the first thing I did was go see how Howard was doing, only to find he was sick and he hadn’t even locked his door. I didn’t think a day was long enough for him to get better, but he seemed completely sure that the illness had run its course.
“Let me carry your stuff down to the car,” he offered.
I came with all my luggage to his doorstep, though I didn’t intend to spend the night. There was just no way I could have left him the way I found him.
“It’s fine. You were just sick, I can take them down.”
He pressed a quick kiss to my lips to cut off my complaint, then went to where my luggage was sitting behind the couch.
“I’m fine, Zoe. Now, come on. We still have plenty to talk about, but we need to tell our parents about us. I’m tired of hiding, and I want my mom to be the first to know I’m going to be a dad.”
I grumbled, but took his hand when he held it out for me. “Your mom won’t be the first, Kayla was. Well, if we’re being technical, I was first, she was second. You’re third, so that would make her fourth, wouldn’t it? With Dad there, they’d be tying.”
Howard squeezed my hand and gave me an indulgent look. “Then, I want her to be the first person I tell. Is that better?”
We walked out of the apartment, and he paused to lock the door behind him, then took my hand back in one hand, my luggage in the other, and led us to the building’s parking space, where he had his car. He put my luggage in the trunk, then we got inside the car and he pulled out to the street.
It was in the evening so it was dark out already. There was some light traffic as a bunch of people who just got off work flooded the streets. I played with my fingers in my lap while I looked outside, feeling restless. Then I felt Howard’s hand fall on top of mine, and I stopped fidgeting to turn and face him.
“You don’t have to be so nervous.”
I chuckled darkly. “Actually, Howard I think you need to be a bit more nervous about this. You know what my dad is like. If he could hold a contract over your head to force you to stay away from me, do you really think he’s going to take this so easily?”
“I never said I wasn’t nervous,” he pointed out. “Just not as much as you. Yeah, I’m worried he’ll still try to separate us, but Zoe, we’re both adults. Right now, you still live at home, but you can move at any time, and it’s not like he can stop you. Even without your dad’s blessings, I don’t plan to just let you go.”
My face grew hot, and I knew I was blushing. I turned my head to stare outside my window, trying to control the smile that wanted to break out on my face. I’d calmed down a little, because Howard’s words made me happy.
Why did I wait so long to come back?
Now that I thought about it, leaving had done a lot to calm me down. I’d loved living with Grandma for those few weeks, but I’d made Howard so worried over nothing. Grandma was right, instead of worrying by myself I should have just talked to him so we could make decisions together. I’d been worried about what Howard would think of me being pregnant, or the issue with me getting my dream job, but he’d said to table those discussions for a couple days. We’d talk everything over, but I knew he was genuinely happy that I was pregnant.
It was a surprise, a good one. Now, if only Dad would be as happy to hear the news.
“We’re here,” Howard said.
Even though I’d lived there most of my life, I hadn’t noticed we’d arrived because I was lost in my giddy thoughts.
“You’re really moving fast with this, aren’t you,” I murmured. “It’s like you think I plan to run away so you’re staking your claim early.”
He squeezed my hand and leaned across the seat to peck my cheek. “I’m hoping you won’t run away, and we’ve been apart for longer than I can stand, Zoe, so I really want to get this over with. No more hiding, no more avoiding. And stop trying to stall, they should be waiting for us inside.”