“Well, why would I do a silly thing like that?”
“Beats me.”
Taking his hand in hers, Toni said, “Come on, Z, let’s go home.”
Home. The word sounded so damn good.
And hopefully soon, Lindsey would feel the same.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
COPPER
Copper stared at the black and white image in his hand. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the tiny curled up bean in the center of the paper.
His baby.
His and Shell’s baby.
Christ, the thing was beyond tiny. So vulnerable and not even recognizable as a child yet. But it would be. That little ball would grow and change into a child. One Shell would protect and carry for the better part of the next year. Then their lives would change yet again as the baby joined their little family.
The weight of responsibility nearly crushed him. Copper considered his club family and had always thought he protected each man and woman as though they were his own. But now, he knew different. Shell, Beth, and the little bean actually were his. And the need to keep them safe and happy felt different. Vital. Imperative to his very survival. Should something happen to any of them, he wasn’t sure how he’d continue. Even though they hadn’t been together that long in the grand scheme of life, Copper had no doubt he’d self-destruct should any harm come to his girls. Or his baby.
“Well, she’s finally down,” Shell said as she padded into their bedroom wearing black sweatpants, a gray hoodie, and wooly socks. She looked fucking adorable. Like a cute little stuffed animal.
After being treated for mild hypothermia and having an ultrasound confirm the baby was thriving, they’d gone to pick up Beth. The little girl had chatted almost non-stop, blissfully unaware of the harrowing events of the day. The distraction had been welcome, but her incessant chatter left little time for him to talk to Shell.
For him to apologize.
And, Christ, did he need to apologize.
“She was wound up tonight.”
With a small chuckle, Shell nodded. “Happens every Christmas. Kids become crazed for a few days. It’s fun to see her so excited, though.”
It sure as hell was.
An awkward silence fell between them, making Copper’s gut clench. He’d done this to them with his disgusting reaction to Shell’s news. And now it was time to fix it.
“You still cold?”
She nodded, shuffling further into the room. “It’s like the chill went all the way to my bones. I can’t get warm enough. Even with all these layers. Is that the sonogram?”
Copper set the picture down on the bed beside him. “Yeah. Come sit with me.”
It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but Copper saw the hesitation in her gaze, and it fucking slayed him. That he’d brought her to the point where she faltered before getting close to him nearly killed him.
“Please.”
With a nod, she walked toward him. Instead of letting her sit on the foot of the bed next to him, as she’d tried to do, he scooped her up and deposited her right onto his lap, straddling him. The moment her weight settled on his thighs, Copper blew out a breath. He felt like a pressure cooker that had finally been set to release. All of a sudden, the tension and stress of the day began to fade. Though he still had a shit-ton to make up for, the closeness they shared now let him feel confident in their status once again. Shell wouldn’t be tossing his clothes out on the lawn and changing the locks.
He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. “I’m sorry,” he said against her skin.
Shell’s arms closed around his upper back. “I know. And I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have blurted it out to you that way. I blindsided you.”
“Fuck, baby, please don’t apologize to me for anything. This is all on me. I fucked up. I almost fucked us.” He lifted his head. “There was no excuse for the nasty shit I laid on you.”
There was no denying his claim, no telling him it was all okay. Shell didn’t let him get away with shit. She challenged him to be the man she deserved. And he loved her all the more for it. Even if it made him dig deeper into his feelings than he was always comfortable with.
“Why?” she asked. “You aren’t one to lose it like that. I know this isn’t exactly what you wanted—”
“Stop,” he said, placing a finger over her mouth. That was the first misassumption he needed to correct. “I want it. The idea of you growing our baby…Shit, Shell, there’s nothing I want more.”
A frown appeared on her pretty makeup-free face. “But…”
“But it scares the piss outta me.”
There. He’d said it, and no one came to confiscate his man card.
“Because of what happened today? Things like that?” Shell tilted her head and looked deep into his eyes.