“Right. Okay. Do you really think you’ll stay in Tennessee, though?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, Ryan. My life is there, and with my history, I can’t start planning a move. It’s too early to know.” There’s security and stability in Tennessee, and the thought of giving that up with so many unknowns is unnerving. And with this pregnancy I want to be a little selfish.
I can see the worry in his eyes. “I know this is something you always wanted, to have another baby. I really hope this time you get to do that.”
“Me, too.” I want to believe he’s okay with this, but it feels like I’ve opened Pandora’s box, and we’ve just scratched the surface of what’s inside.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
More Questions Than Answers
Jake
QUEENIE STARES AT the closed door for a few seconds before she slips her arm through mine and guides me to her car. I glance back at the house more than once. I’m not sure what I expect. King to come bursting out of the door like the Hulk?
“They’ll be fine,” she tells me as she unlocks the door and gets into the car.
“Yeah.” I just don’t want any big decisions being made without me. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard King swear before.”
“Oh, he swears. Not often, but he does.” Queenie smirks for a second before she schools her expression. “They need time to talk. Their relationship is more complicated than most, and King can’t handle being lied to. So even though that wasn’t what you were doing intentionally, he perceives it differently and is more sensitive to it than would be reasonable for anyone else.”
I know this about King, and until today I thought I understood it and him. “I get that he’s not happy about the situation, but I hope he’s a lot more subdued with Hanna than he was with me.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll calm down. He needs to talk to Hanna without an audience.” She gives my arm a squeeze, and a wide grin spreads across her face as she turns the engine over and shifts the car into gear. “How are you feeling about all of this? Are you excited?”
I run a hand through my hair. “I don’t know. There’s a lot that we need to figure out. And she hasn’t even seen the doctor yet. A lot could happen in the next few months.”
“Are you two going to be a couple now?” She’s practically vibrating with excitement, which I wish I could share more of. “I mean, eventually Hanna will move out here, right?”
“I don’t know about that.”
Queenie’s face falls, like it did back at the house. “But how will you raise the baby together if one of you doesn’t move?”
“Neither of us expected this to happen, so it’s one step at a time. The risks are a lot higher at her age.” Even if everything goes smoothly, there’s the whole figuring out a co-parenting plan.
The possibility that Hanna will want to stay in Tennessee and do it all on her own doesn’t sit well with me. Not because I don’t think she’s capable, but I’ve been there before. Even with help, it’s not easy. I don’t want to force her into moving, but in an ideal world, she’d relocate here and we’d be able to raise this kid together.
And maybe it won’t have to be a co-parenting only scenario if that happens. Having an actual partner, someone to lean on, to trade off with in the middle of the night, being a family in the true sense is something I wanted for Queenie but could never give her. If I can do better this time, that would be great.
Queenie makes a right, and I have to assume we’re heading to the local diner for a greasy brunch. “Well, I think the two of you would make a great couple.”
“You do?”
“Seriously?” She gives me a look that matches the word. “I called it from the first time you met.”
“You did?” I feel a tad clueless at the moment. It’s almost like Queenie could see this coming. Although maybe not the baby part of the equation.
“Well, yeah. You two were smitten from the start.”
“I wouldn’t say I was smitten.” I remember very vividly the first time I met Hanna. King’s entire family had come down to see him play, and they had brought along his ex-girlfriend as a surprise. I’d been sure I’d have to trade King at the end of the season. But that only lasted a couple of hours. Until he showed up at the house, looking for Queenie.
The next morning, I found his phone sitting on the front seat of his car—the window was rolled down—and I’d decided to bring it to the main house rather than knock on the door to the pool house, where Queenie was living. I wanted to respect her privacy and not see things I couldn’t unsee. Like the strawberry milkshake rash.