carolina
The whole car ride there,I knew I had to tell him. Two hours in the car together was enough time to tell him that the babies were his and talk out whatever feelings he might have on the subject.
Instead, Owen went on about what he thought we’d need, what we could get today that wouldn’t step on anyone’s toes for the baby shower, and how much fun it would be to set up the nursery together. Everything was we, we, we.
I hadn’t many doubts left, but Owen certainly erased any about whether he was all-in or not. He was more than in. He was devoted.
And yet, the small voice in the back of my head warned that the longer I kept the truth from him, the more it was going to hurt. Why was it taking me so long to tell him? I’d told my sister already, and since then, Arizona had been blowing up my phone wanting to know if I’d told him yet, always demanding that I do so immediately when I told her I hadn’t.
Whatever it was holding me back, it always tripped up my tongue whenever I went to tell him. So, we got to the city, and I was still sitting on my mountain of lies.
The store Owen brought me to in the city was massive and completely dedicated to babies. Anything you could think or hope to have could be found within its walls. Frankly, it was a bit overwhelming.
“Wow.” Owen stopped in the automatic doors, staring out at the sea of strollers, car seats, breast pumps, and toys.
“Hi there. Welcome to Babytopia, where all your baby dreams come true.” Hah, if only it had been that easy. “How can I help you today?”
Owen snapped out of his haze to flash the store clerk a smile, wrapping his arm around my waist as he pulled me tight against him. “My girlfriend and I are here to register for a baby shower. We’re having twins.” His free hand crossed over to my belly, rubbing it adoringly before he gave the clerk another smile.
“Great! I can help you with that over here.” She led us to a desk and set us up with two scanners that would put whatever we scanned onto an online registry for my guests to buy from. The store offered free shipping over a certain amount, and returns up until my due date. By the time the clerk was finished explaining everything, my head was swimming.
“Ready, babe?” Owen turned to me, playfully zapping me with the scanner. “Hm, barcode not found. Probably because it’s one of a kind and all mine.” He grinned and leaned in, kissing me.
“You’re very excited about this, aren’t you?”
“Shopping isn’t usually my thing, but starting a family and providing for them? Absolutely. We should grab a cart too. I’ll meet you by the strollers.” He left me with another peck before heading to the cart corral.
I wandered toward the aisle lined with strollers on display. The clerk had mentioned we were free to take them down and roll around with them to get a feel. But as I passed the first lot, I found my options for a double stroller were limited.
Lifting an information card on one of them, I flipped it over and read through the specifications for the stroller as I waited for Owen to return. This one converted into a double even though it looked like a single, which could be handy for tight spots.
“Carolina?”
Someone must have turned the air conditioning on full blast because I was suddenly frozen with shock. Turning slowly, my eyes found the source of the voice as I found myself face-to-face with my ex and his new … fiancée.
My eyes homed in on the massive diamond on her ring finger, clearly displayed where she tenderly held the bump that protruded from her lithe, young form like a beach ball.
“Wyatt.” My eyes jumped to her face. “Jenna.”
“What are you doing here?” His eyes dropped to my own stomach, not nearly as inflated as hers, but getting there. Mine was also rounded out from curves of age and a few too many pastries from Elsie’s bakery. “Oh. Wow. It happened for you.”
His eyes came up to my face, smiling tightly. I wished I could tell what was going on in his head. Did he regret his choices? Or was he as happy with her as I was with Owen?
A deep, petty part of me hoped he wasn’t. I secretly wanted him to be miserable and regretful. I wanted Wyatt to see how loved-up I was with Owen. I hoped he had to live with regret for the rest of his life for the way he’d treated me.
“It did. Twins, actually.” I smiled, rubbing my belly just as Owen appeared in my peripheral vision, steering the cart right toward us.
“Okay, so on the way here, I saw—Oh, hey.” He stopped the cart behind me and released it in favor of wrapping his arm around me.
Wyatt’s eyes moved from its placement to Owen’s face and back to me. Once more, I found myself wishing I knew what he was thinking.
“Owen, this is my ex, Wyatt.” Owen released me long enough to shake Wyatt’s hand, but there was a change in his demeanor as he assessed my ex-husband. His arm encircled my waist once more, holding me possessively.
“Congrats on the babies, Carolina. I’m glad it finally took. I know how much you wanted to be a mom, and now you’ll get that. Always knew we’d get there eventually.” Wyatt wrapped his arm around Jenna as he spoke, mirroring Owen’s stance. “After all, we know the problem wasn’t with me, huh?” He laughed, patting Jenna’s stomach.
Anger raced through me as I watched him lean in to kiss her. It didn’t matter that I didn’t want him anymore. It didn’t matter that I never wanted to get back with him. All that mattered was he hurt me, and he knew he hurt me, but he still flaunted the reason for that pain so casually in front of me as if he didn’t care at all.
I just needed to hurt him back.
“They’re not yours, Wyatt. There wasn’t a chance in hell that you and I could ever create something this perfect and magical together. Only Owen could do that.”
Wyatt looked at me, blinking rapidly as he dumbly muttered, “What?”
Owen turned to look at me in confusion. Luckily, he recovered faster, obviously thinking I was trying to protect my emotions.
He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah, they’re mine.”