“Go ahead and tell us,” Caleb said, his face creased with tension. “You’re dragging it out.”
“I went to visit Bella last night,” Heath said. “I haven’t seen her for a while now, not since we broke up five months ago. It turns out she’s pregnant with our child.”
A hushed stillness descended upon the group, the type of quiet that was extremely rare in Donahue family circles. Most times, the din was so loud no one could hear themselves think straight.
Heath looked around him. Everyone’s expression radiated shock and awe.
“I know it’s a big surprise,” he blurted out. “But I honestly can’t wait to be a father. It didn’t happen in the right way, but I’m determined to give this child a wonderful life. And so is Bella. I hope we’ll have all of your support.”
All of sudden there was a chorus of congratulations, led by Parker and Caleb. Caleb stood up and came toward him, wrapping him up in a bear hug. Parker followed right behind him. Suddenly, there was the typical Donahue chaos swirling all around him.
“You’re going to love being a father,” Parker said. “Being Logan’s father has changed my whole world.”
Caleb shook his head and laughed. “I can’t believe it. You’re going to be a dad.” His warm brown eyes radiated complete joy.
Heath shoved a hand through his hair. “Tell me about it. It’s just beginning to sink in. I think it’s going to take me a while to process the news. But I’m happy about it. She’s pretty far along,” he admitted, scratching his jaw. “Five and a half months.”
Parker let out a low whistle. “Not too much longer now.”
“Wow!” Jason exclaimed. “It doesn’t give you much time to get used to the idea, does it? But I know you’ll be a great father.”
“That’s for sure,” Nash added. “We had the best dad as an example so you can’t go wrong.”
“Congratulations, Heath,” Daniel said, slapping him on the back. “How’s Bella doing?”
Heath made a face. “She’s had a rough time of it. The first few months were a bit rocky. She had a pregnancy related illness that made her really sick.”
“Is that why she waited so long to tell you?” Shayla asked, her voice sounding sharp.
He nodded. “For the most part, yes.”
Shayla made a tutting sound. “This is so confusing. Didn’t you two break up?”
Heath turned in her direction. He could tell by the expression on her face she was upset. Automatically, he felt defensive. He didn’t know what was bothering Shayla, but he knew he’d detected censure in her tone. That didn’t sit well with him.
“We did. We’re not back together, although I am going to try to patch things up. I made a huge mistake five months ago. I thought she would be better off without me, but we’re better together as
a team. I’m still very much in love with her,” he explained. He didn’t take his eyes off Shayla while he spoke. She was making her skepticism apparent.
“Why would she have withheld the pregnancy from you though?” Tension crackled in the air between them. “Didn’t she think you had a right to know? You should be careful moving forward because she might try and keep the baby away from you.”
A shocked silence met her words. Although Shayla had a tendency to say impulsive things, she wasn’t usually hurtful. Tonight she was in rare form.
“Why are you acting like this? You clearly aren’t happy for me,” Heath said, hurt bubbling up inside of him. He needed support tonight, not the third degree from his sister or doomsday scenarios.
“Shayla, take it down a notch,” Micah urged, gently pulling her by the arm. She angrily shook him off.
“A baby is a blessed event, Heath. But I don’t like the way Bella treated you.” He could see she was blinking away tears. “It’s not right.”
“What about the way I treated her?” He spit out the question. “I broke up with her five months ago despite the fact that she was devastated by it. She begged me not to end things, but I had tunnel vision. I was trying to spare her from having to deal with my PTSD and all the things that happened overseas.”
Shayla let out a huff. “You weren’t yourself. You were struggling.”
“You’re right. I was. But I still hurt her. She waited for me while I was overseas. She thought we were going to walk off into the sunset, and instead she got a very different version of me when I came home. I was broken and depressed. I wasn’t functioning. Yet she still wanted to stand by me. Even on the days I struggled to get out of bed, Bella would show up at Caleb’s place with tea and scones and vitamins. She took care of me. But I couldn’t put that huge burden on her because things were continuing to spiral. Against her wishes I ended things. So please, Shayla, don’t blame Bella.”
Shayla began to cry in earnest. It was breaking Heath’s heart. He hated to see his baby sister in tears. “You’ve been through so much, Heath. I just don’t want you to get hurt again. I hated seeing you so down in the dumps. And I never want to see you so lost again.”
Heath reached out and wrapped Shayla up in his arms. He pressed a kiss against her temple. Shayla didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was simply being protective of him, which was a huge Donahue trait. They always had each other’s backs. She was lashing out at Bella because she was worried about him.