The only problem was whether Ben would be willing to deal with it.
What if he left me?
That thought had the highest priority in my mind. We never defined what our relationship was, we just met up and had sex, and occasionally talked about ourselves, but never delved too deep. I didn’t know if we were in a relationship that could last, or if we were just fuck buddies and he wouldn’t mind breaking it off. Even with the text he’d sent, that he knew about my dad and it was still okay between us, I didn’t know if he’d be willing to get into this for the long haul. With a baby on the way, I was going to need him too, but if he decided differently, as the older one in the relationship, I’d have to act mature and take responsibility for myself and my child so he could have whatever life he wanted.
It fucking hurt, though, just thinking about it.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I murmured, looking down and rubbing my still flat stomach. “I’m sure your daddy will still want you even if he can't stay with us. We’ll see how things go, okay? But no matter what, you have me.”
I was acting like a crazy person, talking to myself and my eyes even blurred with tears. Casey had given me some advice about the pregnancy, especially about how I’d have to deal with the hormonal changes making me more emotional than usual. I was lucky not to have morning sickness yet, but then next would come the increased appetite and food cravings.
She’d also told me it would be better if I talked to Ben about the baby, soon, and I completely agreed. I would have done so without her telling me because I planned to keep this baby, with or without Ben’s support. I’d always wanted to have a baby, and now that the chance had presented itself, I was going to grab it instead of wasting time worrying about inconsequential things.
The first thing I had to do was check out of the hotel. I’d already packed my things, and I grabbed my suitcase, pulling it behind me as I left the room, with my purse slung over my other shoulder. I made my way to the lobby and walked toward the reception desk to hand over the key and finalize the payments for my stay.
With that done, I headed out to the front of the hotel, where I’d parked my car. I’d driven all the way down here, so I wouldn’t have the expense of a plane ticket. I’d made a road trip of it, and it took me three days to arrive in LA. If I wanted to be back in time for the wedding, though, I’d have to be a bit faster than that.
“Angela?”
I froze in the middle of the parking lot. Not so much at the call of my name, but at that familiar voice that I’d so been looking forward to hearing again, even as I feared it. With total disbelief, I turned around, and sure enough, he was standing right there. Even though we’d only been together for a short time and I hadn't heard his voice in weeks, it was like it was stuck in my memory, and hearing it again after so long was enough to make me feel weak.
Ben looked relieved, then elated, as he hurried over to me. He didn’t seem to care that we were in the middle of a public area with people around us as he caught me in a hug, lifting my feet off the ground for a moment. It was enough of a surprise to make me gasp and drop my hold on my bags, both of them tumbling to the ground. Still, the surprise quickly died away as I hugged him back, tightly.
Since I’d already made up my mind, I wasn’t going to think about pointless things, like how or why he was there. I buried my face in his shoulder as my body melted against his.
“What are you doing here?” I murmured, my voice coming out muffled.
Ben chuckled. “What else could I possibly be doing here, Angela? I came looking for you! I got tired of waiting on you to come home.”
Then, he set me down and pushed me back a bit by the shoulders, looking over my face before glancing at my bags.
“Were you going somewhere?”
I blinked, following his gaze to where my purse and suitcase lay on the ground, remembering they were there.
“Uh, I just checked out. I was on my way back. You surprised me by showing up…”
“Good thing I made it just in time, then. It would have been bad if I’d missed you because then I wouldn’t know where to start looking since someone wouldn’t even answer my calls.”