“If I know my brother, he’s going to be ecstatic. I think that’s him pulling in now. That car is a ninja. You see it before you hear it.”
I sat up quickly and then lay back down again when the room spun.
“I’ll get out of your hair,” Ethan told me and tiptoed out of the room.
Edison put the key in the lock, even though the door was unlocked. It was a strange perspective to be lying on his couch, watching him come into his own home.
He looked around, and when he spotted me, he rushed to my side. On bended knee, Edison caressed my face.
“Cherry, I shouldn’t have left you. I didn’t know you were sick. What can I do to help you feel better?”
“You should rest, Eddie. You’ve driven to Springfield and back twice in one day. Besides, it’s a special kind of sickness, the one I’ve got.”
“Food poisoning?”
I reached out and grabbed the test off the table. My heart thudded so hard in my chest, I was afraid it would punch its way out of my rib cage.
“Morning sickness, but for me it’s lasting all day.”
The look on his face was one of extreme shock. He stared at the test strip and then looked at me for confirmation. I nodded. His eyes darted back to the strip and then to me again in rapid succession.
“Is it a girl?” He stood suddenly and swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
“What? No. We can’t tell yet. Because it’s pink?” I smiled through the tears that were slowly pricking my eyes.
“Is it two or one?” he asked me with bright eyes. How could a giant, muscle-bound man seem so innocent in this moment?
“The test is a positive or negative. The two stripes means you’re pregnant. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“You mean we’re pregnant, Cherry.” He smiled, despite his glassy eyes.
“You want the baby?” I asked him. I didn’t know how he felt about kids. We never got that far.
“Of course I want our baby. Don’t you?” He swept me into a hug.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed. “I want this baby,” I whispered into his ear.
Edison lifted me up like a child from the couch and carried me up the stairs. “I know you’re listening, Ethel. Quit gloating and get out. And take your stupid pizza box with you.”
Ethan came out from the kitchen with a smile that looked like his brother’s. “That’s Uncle Ethel, loser. Congratulations to the both of you.”
Once again, I awoke to an empty bed, but the smell of coffee and bacon from downstairs comfort equally as much as they make me want to throw up again. Edison made gentle love to me in his own bed. No game playing, no theatrics, just sweet love from an extremely sweet man. My phone was on the nightstand, which is covered with a lace cloth. In fact, the whole bedroom said Granny and not young, powerful CEO. Either Eddie wasn’t into decorating or he was too busy to care. There are a dozen missed texts from my mother.
He spoke to your father!
Has he asked you?
Laney Addison Mills, you call me right back!
Why would Eddie call my dad? To tell him I was pregnant? Then I smacked my forehead with the heel of my palm. Holy shit, the man moved fast.
Frantically, I typed a message to my mother.
Mom, I just woke up. Stop ruining my life!
Laney Addison, you’d better not be pregnant. This is a scandal that will make the nightly news!
Mom, it’s my life. It’s not a scandal.
What are you going to do about the garage?
Arrrggg! I tossed the phone away from me, and it landed somewhere on the carpeted floor.
A light knock sounded on the door, and Eddie entered with a tray. “I looked it up online. So today, we’re serving bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Hope some of it works.”
I took the tray from him graciously and placed it on my lap. “I’m not super fragile or anything. It’s just morning sickness.”
“I know.”
“Did you go out and buy all this stuff?”
“Uncle Ethel is good for a few things.”
“I like him. He’s sweet!”
“He’s my best friend, although he’s also a royal pain in my ass.”
Eddie touched my hairline, soothed his thumb over my cheek. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“Yesterday was perfect. How long have you lived in this museum, Mr. Roads? None of this house is you, except for possibly the furniture in the living room.”
He laughed at my observation as we both looked up at the frosted-glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
“I bought the house after my grandmother passed, because I couldn’t bear to let it go. I always had plans for renovations, but then work got in the way. Laney, I want you to know that I bought a condo in Springfield. I also canceled plans on the new Roads repair shop. I’m committed to you and our baby and don’t want work to come between us.”