“No way in hell would I want a kid at this point in my life.”
“And now?”
I turned in my seat and looked into my mother’s eyes. “It’s Sloane, Mom. Can you imagine what an amazing mother she’ll be, not to mention how awesome the kid will be?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Just as awesome as you are, Landry. It’s exactly how your father and I felt when I found out I was pregnant.”
“I couldn’t imagine wanting to have a baby with anyone else.”
“And yet, you aren’t certain if you love her.”
21
Sloane
I paced the kitchen, changing my mind as often as I changed direction. Maybe I’d been wrong to call him, assuming he’d go to my parents. As he said, he’d never do that. I knew he wouldn’t.
Instead of wearing a hole in the kitchen floor, I decided to clean up the mess I’d made earlier. I should’ve finished making the cookies. At least then I’d have something to binge on besides sappy rom-coms that only made me cry.
I opened the lower cupboard to put my chipped bowl away when someone pounded on my front door. For the second time, I dropped the damn thing. “What?” I shouted out.
“Sloane, it’s me, Tackle.”
“Argh,” I grumbled, walking over to the door that I flung open. “What?” I repeated, only slightly less angrily.
“I want a do-over.”
I leaned against the door and sighed. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s do the whole thing over. Everything that happened earlier tonight.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“Sure, it is.” He cleared his throat. “Uh, Sloane, I haven’t seen you in weeks. Can I please come in?”
I took a step back and waved him in, knowing damn well I couldn’t deny him and his puppy-dog eyes.
He walked over and picked up the magazine. “I wish I could come up with something different to say about this.” He set it back down. “I’ll skip ahead a little.”
When he held his hand out, I took it. He pulled me over to the sofa, and when I sat down, he knelt in front of me.
“May I?”
“What?”
He reached under my sweatshirt, rested his hand on my belly, and looked up at me. “Wow.”
That alone was almost enough for me to forgive him anything and everything. I put my hand on top of his. “Do you feel that?”
He shook his head, but otherwise, we both remained perfectly still.
“What about that?”
“No.” His eyes opened wide. “Wait. Was that something?”
I shrugged. “It just started happening, so I’m not sure. Could be a muscle twitch.”
Tackle reached up with his free hand and grasped my neck, pulling me closer until our lips met. When he kissed me, I put both my arms around him, and he did the same.