In with the New Baby

Right?

Right.

Except that I’ve been wishing I still had him in my life. I miss his broad shoulders, his big, strong, comforting arms, his charming smile that is so rare because he’s always so adorably grumpy, and, not to mention of course, his huge cock and the way he knows what to do with it, to make me feel so good.

I know I should be mad at him – and I am – but I also just miss him. I smile at my mom as she passes me some wine, declining it, and she looks at me a bit funny.

“It’s good that you’re watching your calories, dear,” my dad says. “Jane, get her some water with some lemon in it. It’s more filling that way. And the more water you drink while you eat, the fuller you’ll get, without taking in unnecessary extra calories.”

Gee, thanks, Dad, for the nutrition lesson I didn’t need, since I’m just going to get bigger instead of smaller, for the next nine months, anyway, I think, but obviously I don’t say that. I’m used to my dad’s lectures about my weight. And I haven’t told them I’m pregnant yet. I haven’t told anyone, except for Catharine.

We make it through the meal and are having dessert when there’s a knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” my mom asks. “I didn’t invite anyone except for Viola, and of course she was taking that cruise to the Caribbean so she shouldn’t come.”

My parents’ lives were so different, here in Texas, than my own in New York City. I had willingly left the lavish lifestyle for one with more freedoms and less judgement. I think that’s what I admired about Lincoln so much. He has a lot of money, but he doesn’t act like it. He knows what it’s like to not have money, and he doesn’t forget where he came from.

And speaking of Lincoln, he’s the one who was knocking on my parents’ door. My dad lets him in, scratching his head in confusion.

“Hello, I’m Lincoln,” Lincoln said, shaking my dad’s hand, and then my mom’s. “I’m Amanda’s boyfriend. I mean, I was. Hopefully I still am. I don’t know.”

He looks at me and mouths, “Can we talk?”

I kind of feel like I want to hit him but I also want to kiss him. I’ve never felt so damned confused in my life.

“You have a boyfriend?” my mother is saying, and then she’s adding something about the fact that I never told her this, and why can’t we be besties like Viola and her daughter Karina, who are happily enjoying a Caribbean cruise together right now…

But I’m not listening to her because I’m completely focused on Lincoln. I’m so mad at him for ignoring me for all this time, but I’m also so glad he’s here.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell my mom and dad.

“Okay, honey, let us know if you need anything,” Dad says. “I hope everything works out for you and your boyfriend or not-boyfriend.”

I can’t help but chuckle a little bit. My parents are pretentious and overbearing to the point of being obnoxious sometimes, but I know they love me. I just hope they’ll still love me when they find out I’m knocked up!

“Lincoln, what are you doing here?” I ask him, as I take him to the outside deck.

It’s colder than normal, being the end of December, and I had forgotten to grab my jacket from the hook in the front foyer before coming out here. I wrap the sweater I’m wearing over my black dress more tightly around me.

“Don’t kill Catharine, but she told me your parents’ address. I begged her to.”

Catharine did? I would normally expect 100% loyalty from her. So that means Lincoln must have really convinced her, with whatever he said to make her divulge the information. If Catharine believes in Lincoln now, I guess I should give him a chance.

“Why?” I ask him. “Why are you here now, when you haven’t been talking to me for over a month, since before Thanksgiving? Ever since you disappeared after following me to that hotel upstate, remember?”

He has definitely been confusing me with his back and forth.

“Of course I remember, and I’m really sorry,” he says.

He explains to me how he got the message from his mom and it made him so mad. He had so much rage building up inside him that he worked it out by having that fight and knocking Ramirez out.

“But now I’m done, for good,” he says. “I’ve officially retired. My agent wasn’t happy but fuck it. I needed to do it. I’ve also been going to treatment for PTSD with Damien’s therapist, Dr. Mack. He says I had it from childhood trauma and then it was exacerbated during the war. I’ve been figuring out so many things about myself, really working on myself, so that I can be with you. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to fly here on my jet to tell you what happened and beg your forgiveness.”