I put my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry about Ty, just don’t do anything crazy, ok?”
He smiles wickedly. “I never do anything crazy.”
“Well you do things that are dangerous.”
“I do things that I have to do to keep people safe. If they’re dangerous, then so be it.”
Not much more is said beyond Ada gushing over Jett and the occasional sigh. After dinner we head back to the hospital to pick up my car. As I walk up to it, I notice a piece of notebook paper tucked into the wipers. I'm shaking as I reach for it. I open it and begin to read as Jett walks up.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, noticing the fact that I'm shaking.
“Ty.”
Cami-
If you think I'm going to give up on us so easily, you are wrong. You are MINE. Ella is mine even if HE created her. I won't stop until I prove that we belong together and you are by my side.
-Ty
“What does he mean by that?” Jett hisses, concern and distrust lighting his eyes.
“Ella isn’t his biological daughter. I guess he finally figured that out. I was pregnant when I left home the first time, I just didn’t know it.”
“When you left home?” His eyes widen. “You mean after I enlisted?”
“I… uhhh…” I stutter, unsure of what to say. This isn’t how I planned this, not that I really had a plan. Shit. “When you came home on leave, I was leaving town the next day.”
I turn away from him for a moment to collect my thoughts.
“Wait, that night, after the cherry pie. You got pregnant?”
I sigh, closing my eyes. “Yes.”
“So you were pregnant? With my baby, and you didn’t think to tell me?”
“It wasn’t like that!” I exclaim, turning back around, exasperated. Ty once again ruined something for me. “I thought you would die in that war, just like your brother. And then you came back, and I saw you and I didn’t know what to do. I tried at the hospital and then things got complicated and I didn’t know how. I’m so sorry, Jett.”
“He won’t touch you, or Ella,” Jett hisses, his jaw clenched and darkness in his eyes. I nod, unable to speak through the tears. Jett pulls me into him and holds me tightly as I sob against his chest. “We’ll figure this out.”
“So you’ll forgive me?”
“For thinking I was going to die? Or for keeping Ella from me?”
“Both.”
I feel the rise and fall of his chest. “Yes for both. You do make me crazy girl. But I guess I get it, you needed him to believe it. To keep you safe.”
I don’t speak, knowing that I should trust him, believe him somehow. But I nearly don’t. Just because Ty has made it clear he’s not going away.
“Hold on to that note and call Suzanne and tell her to not let Ella out of her sight,” he says.
I grab the necessities out of my car and jump back onto the bike, all the while looking around the parking lot. I lay my head against his leather clad back and close my eyes, trying to stop the sobs ripping through my chest as we drive to his house. Jett comes around and picks me up, carrying me inside when we get there. I just can't seem to move. He sits down on the couch and holds me tightly, letting me just cry. I finally fall asleep, cradled in his arms. Waking up uncomfortably later, I roll over and find him smiling at me.
“What?” I ask.
“Time to get up, sleepyhead, breakfast is waiting.” He kisses my forehead.
I smile and climb out of the bed, pulling on my shirt. My eyes and cheeks sting from all the tears, and I cringe when I walk past the hallway mirror. “Oh my God, I look horrendous,” I say, trying to straighten the tangled mess of hair. Yesterday's make-up is smeared and my eyes are red and swollen from crying.