Chapter 12: Jocelyn
The last week had flown by. Work was a little better. At least Jonathan was leaving me alone. He still stared and threw me pissed looks, but he hadn’t touched me or said anything inappropriate. Besides the work I did for them, Bull had asked if I would look into what was the best contract to use for establishing a partnership with Madisen. She accepted the offer for twenty-five percent. I was happy to use my knowledge and skills to help him draft something. Of course, he’d have Lloyd look it over before he completed the deal. I insisted he do that even though he said he trusted me to do it right.
Things were still tense at home. Devyn hadn’t spoken to Ace. He came by every day and I knew he was texting and calling. He left her gifts every day on the porch. Flowers, her favorite chocolates, the pair of shoes she’d been eyeing, and so forth. She left them there, but I took them inside. He was looking more and more dejected. I could tell he had lost weight. She was worse. I could hardly get her to eat, and she was beyond pale. She was so upset that this morning before I went to work, I heard her throwing up in her room. I asked if she was okay, and she said she was fine, but enough was enough. Tonight, I planned to sit down and have a serious talk with her. I’d tried to stay out of it as much as possible, but it was making her ill.
I pulled my car into the garage. Bull’s bike was there, but I didn’t know if he had walked to the clubhouse or not. I went inside. I’d left a roast with vegetables in the slow cooker this morning, so dinner was taken care of. I changed into my comfy clothes and headed to Devyn’s room. It looked like Bull was at the clubhouse. It was time for me and my daughter to talk. I found her lying on her bed asleep. She had been doing a lot of that this past week. Usually, she was a very active person who only needed six hours of sleep. I knew depression could do that to a person. I sat down beside her. She opened her eyes sleepily. “Hey, Mom. what’s up?”
“You and I need to talk. Devyn, you can’t go on like this. You’re killing yourself. You barely eat, you sleep all the time, you’re losing weight and now you’re throwing up. You need to talk to Ace. The two of you need to clear the air. He loves you, baby girl. He didn’t cheat on you or even kiss that girl. You need to forgive him.” Tears glazed her eyes, then she sat up.
“I know he didn’t. After I calmed down, I thought about it and I knew he wouldn’t do that. Not all guys are like Dad. But he’s going to hate me. I don’t know what to do. Maybe it would be best if I just leave this place. I don’t want to cause trouble for you or Nick.” I looked at her in confusion. What in the hell was she talking about?
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Dev. Why would Ace hate you? And leaving is not an option. What’s wrong?” She broke down sobbing. I held her until she calmed down. I wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Tell me.”
She looked at me with fear in her eyes. “You’re going to be so disappointed in me, Mom.” I waited. “After all you told me, I still did it. I’m pregnant,” she whispered. I sat frozen, thinking I hadn’t heard her correctly. She was pregnant? I’d always told her to be careful when she became sexually active, but I knew she didn’t need to hear a lecture right now.
“How do you know you’re pregnant? You and Ace haven’t been together long. Maybe you’re wrong.” She shook her head. “I went to town yesterday and bought a pregnancy test. I missed my period and then I was feeling sick. It came back positive. I did two of them. God, we were being so careful. I’m on the pill and I never missed a dose. He was clean, so we didn’t use condoms. There is no way he wants to have a baby, or at least not right now. I’m still in school. I’ll have to take care of a baby and go to school like you did. Jesus, this is so fucked up. He’s going to hate me for trapping him, but I’m not, Mom. I don’t expect him to help with this baby. I won’t do that to him. You figured it out, so can I.”
I stopped her rambling. “Dev, you don’t even know what he’ll think about a baby. Yeah, it wasn’t planned, but he might be happy about it. You’re automatically excluding him from the baby’s life. You have to talk to him and see what he says. If he ends up not wanting you and the baby, then we’ll figure it out, but you will not struggle like I did. You have me and I won’t allow it. I’m going to be a hands-on grandma. God, grandma, I thought I had a few more years until I heard that. Now, the first thing we need to do is make an appointment with the doctor to confirm it with a blood test. The ones in the store can give a false positive, though rarely. And you could have missed your period due to the stress. Once we have it confirmed, then you have to sit down and talk to Ace. I’m not going to hide this from him, Dev. He deserves to know he’s going to be a father.” She looked at me for several minutes before nodding her head. I got her settled down in bed and went back downstairs. Bull was in the kitchen. I walked into his arms. He hugged and kissed me, then asked what was wrong.
“Can we talk after dinner? It may take a while.” He agreed but had a concerned look on his face. I couldn’t help but wonder what he would think of his girlfriend’s pregnant daughter being in the house. He had raised his daughter. I couldn’t see him wanting a baby in the house. If he didn’t, I’d figure something out. I wouldn’t abandon my daughter like my parents did. After dinner, I took him upstairs to our room. Devyn had stayed in her room, but I’d taken her a tray. I sat down on the bed and Bull pulled me into his arms. He sat back against the headboard.
“Now, tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me, Jocelyn.”
“I don’t know how to say it other than to just tell you. There is more going on with Ace and Devyn. She told me she knows he didn’t want that bunny.”
“Then why won’t she talk to him?” he asked, puzzled.
“Because of something else. I heard her throwing up this morning. She told me earlier when I came home that she’s pregnant, Nick. She took two of those drugstore pregnancy tests and they were positive. She thinks Ace won’t want the baby, and she doesn’t want to trap him. She’s ready to raise it on her own like I did with her. She’s afraid she’s disappointed me. She’s even thinking she needs to move somewhere else. Everything is messed up right now. I promised her, I’ll make sure she’s somewhere safe and I’ll help her with a place for her and the baby. I won’t desert her like my parents deserted me.”
He pulled back and looked at me. “Wait a minute. Slow down. Dev is pregnant and doesn’t want to tell Ace because she’s sure he won’t want a baby?” I nodded. “And the two of you think she needs to find somewhere else to live?” I nodded again. “Why in the hell would you think that? I mean, it’s possible he might not want a baby, but if he doesn’t that changes nothing. She and the baby will stay with us. They’re Warriors now. He’ll just have to fucking deal. Why would you think she would need to move?” He looked pissed.
“Nick, she’s my daughter. I don’t expect you to give up your peaceful house to a crying baby. You’ve raised your daughter. There is no way you want to have another around all day and night.” He stood up and paced the room. He ran his hand through his hair. I waited. He was really upset. I didn’t know why. Finally, he turned to me.
“Why don’t you ask me what I want? You’re doing the same thing Devyn is, assuming Ace doesn’t want the baby. She’s your daughter. I’d never make her go somewhere else to raise her baby. Hell, I guess we need to talk. We haven’t discussed it, but let me ask you something. Do you want to have any more kids?”
I gave him a startled look. “I-I don’t know. I mean, in the past I’d thought about having another one if I met the right guy, but Nick, I know you’ve raised your daughter and I would never expect you to start over at fifty-two.”
“Why? Do you think I can’t handle it? That I’m too old?”
“No! But why would you want to?”
He crawled on the bed and leaned over top of me. “Because I’d fucking love to have a baby with the woman I love. A baby who is part of both of us. Hell, I’d do more than one if you wanted more. And I sure as hell won’t kick out a girl I already think of as my daughter. That baby will be my grandchild as much as Hunter and Emerson are. God, baby, how could you doubt that?” I was shocked.
I reached up and cupped his face. “Nick, I’m sorry I assumed. I had no idea you’d feel like this. Honestly, I’d love to have a baby with you. A little boy who looks like his daddy. But not unless you’re one hundred percent sure. Thank you for what you said about Devyn. I love that you feel like that about her already. You’re one helluva good man. Maybe that’s why I love you so much.” I kissed him. He instantly made the kiss more aggressive. His mouth devoured mine. When we broke apart, he smiled and rolled over, pulling me onto his chest.
“Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s talk about Devyn and Ace. She needs to tell him. I won’t lie to a brother. What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to take her to the doctor to get it confirmed by a blood test. Then I told her she has to sit down with him and talk through everything—the incident with the bunny and the baby. Hopefully, I can get her in at the doctor’s this week.”
He pulled out his phone and typed. “Who are you texting?” I asked him.
“Bill, the doctor who came out and took care of you. He can do a pregnancy blood test just like he did on you. That way we should know by tomorrow.”
I hadn’t thought of him. “Surely, he won’t come out tonight. It’s eight o’clock, Nick.”
He shrugged. “He won’t mind.” His phone dinged with a message. “He said he’d be here in a half hour. Why don’t you go tell Devyn? Then after he leaves, we can talk some more.” He had a contemplative look on his face. I wondered what else he wanted to talk about.
Bill showed up a half hour later like he promised. He took the blood and told Devyn he’d have it tested first thing in the morning. Apparently, he had the equipment in his office to test it, so we didn’t need to wait to have it sent out to a lab. He wished us a good evening and left. He’d barely left when there was a knock at the front door. Devyn was upstairs in her room. Bull went to answer it. It was Ace.