“Umm…” I look at her like she’s got worms crawling out of her ears. “Did you miss the part about how he’s halfway around the world and we agreed on a no-strings attached arrangement?”
“Nope,” Cass says. “And I didn’t miss the part where you said you love him, either. It’s gonna work out, Nora—you just have to trust in that.”
“Yeah, okay,” I say, rolling my eyes.
Brooklyn pops up to her feet and holds her hands out to me. “In the meantime, we really gotta find out if you’re knocked up or not. Come on.”
I laugh and let her haul me out of the beanbag. We all clock out on our lunch breaks, and Brooklyn drags me down the street to a nearby drugstore. We buy a pregnancy test and she won’t even let me leave the store without taking it. We got straight to the store restroom and Cass and Brooks stand outside while I do my thing inside.
A couple minutes later, my heart is racing and I feel a little bit like I might pass out when I open the door.
“Well?” Brooklyn demands.
I hold out the pregnancy test for them both to see—two lines, clear as day.
I’m pregnant.
“Oh my God!” Cassidy shouts, so loud we get alarmed looks from a couple other shoppers. “Congratulations, sis!” She pulls me into a hug, then asks, “How are you feeling?”
“Nauseous,” I say, but I’m grinning. “Terrified. Excited… Hungry.”
Brooklyn laughs and puts her arm around me. “Come on, let’s get lunch and celebrate.”
I walk out of that drugstore clutching my positive pregnancy test like a trophy, equal parts ecstatic and anxious. I’m going to have to tell Nash tonight after work, and I just don’t know how he’ll take the news.
12
Nash
I’m exhausted after an all-night flight, surviving purely on airline coffee and adrenaline, but I’m waiting on Nora’s doorstep when she gets home from work.
And when she catches sight of me, for a second I think I might have to catch her if she faints.
“Nash,” she says, putting a hand out to steady herself on the porch rail. “What are you… are you really here?”
“Yes,” I say, standing and going to her. I put my hands on her hips, subconsciously trying to recall exactly how they felt last time, whether they’re any plumper now, whether her belly has grown… even though I know from Quinn’s pregnancy that even if Nora is carrying my child, it’s far too soon for visible changes.
“How?” she asks.
“I told my commander I had a family emergency,” I say. “I said I needed to come home and I wouldn’t negotiate. I wanted to be here with you today, no matter what the test says. I know you’ve got your family here in town, and I know they’re supportive, but I had a feeling you might try to deal with all of this on your own, and I just couldn’t let you do that. I had to be here for you, if only for you to tell me you don’t need me either and send me away.”
Nora furrows her brows, taking in my words. I know it’s only been a month that we’ve been apart, but looking into those gorgeous eyes, putting my arms around her, it feels like a homecoming that’s been a long time in the making.
“Family emergency, huh?” she says. “You lied to the military for me?”
I shake my head. “I don’t see it that way. I know I said we’d do this entirely on your terms, and if you really do want to raise the baby on your own I’ll respect your wishes and I’ll leave you alone. But Nora…”
God, why am I doing this on her front stoop, in front of the whole damn neighborhood? This isn’t how I saw this going in my head, but the minute I saw her again, everything I’ve been thinking for the past month just started pouring out of me.
To hell with it. Life isn’t perfect, it doesn’t always go to plan, and I have to say this right now or I’ll regret it forever.
“Nora, I want to be there for you, no matter what the test says,” I say. “I want us to be a family. I want to marry you and see the world with you and make babies with you because I love you.”
A couple of tears spill down her cheeks and I curse myself. Damn it, I’ve done it again—made this beautiful, perfect, sexy woman cry. She bats her lashes, and they get wet with her tears as she looks up at me. “You do?”
I shrug and give her a smile. “What can I say? I just can’t help my shelf.”
It’s exactly what this moment needs. Nora gives me a strange look, then bursts into laughter. Way better than tears, at least in my book.
“Did you really just say that?” she asks, shaking her head.