Bellamy

 

There. I said it. Out loud. In the flesh.

“Pregnant,” he repeated, and I nodded, nervous.

My goodness, I was nervous. This was probably the worst timing ever. The love between us was there, so there, but we were still trying to figure out everything else.

His eyes fell to my midsection, which was still flat. I’d actually lost a few pounds because all I did was throw up.

Suddenly, Liam’s hand shot out, almost startling me because up until that point, he’d been so still. Hovering his giant palm over me, not touching, he whispered, “There’s a baby in there?”

“Your baby.”

Silver eyes flashed up to mine, going wide and bright. Possession unlike anything I’d seen before stole his features. I shivered slightly because it was quite intimidating.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he partly growled, standing up quickly and lifting me with him. Despite the heat in his eyes and tension in his tone, he sat me down quite gingerly, taking a moment to make sure I was firmly on my feet before pacing away.

“We’ve barely had a moment alone,” I said. “This hardly seemed like a thing to blurt out while your father was dying or at his funeral.”

“How long have you known?”

“I was waiting for the blood test results when I was attacked. Then your father… and we haven’t really been speaking.”

Liam spun. “So you never got the results?”

“Not for the blood test,” I said, “But I don’t need it.”

“Bellamy!” he bellowed. “Explain!”

“Don’t you yell at me!” I snapped, then turned away. I tried to hold on to that indignant feeling. That stubborn feeling I got when he tried to boss me.

It was pretty fleeting.

Instead, I was filled with emotion, the kind I was getting pretty freaking tired of. My God, would I ever stop crying?

From behind, Liam made a choked sound. The brush of his hands was like a caress when he laid them on my arms to pull me around. “I didn’t mean to yell, sweetheart, but please. Are you pregnant or not?”

Blinking back the tears, I sucked in a breath and tried to get ahold of myself. “I’m most definitely pregnant,” I said. Pulling away, I went to the kitchen where my bag was sitting where I’d dropped it after we arrived from the reception. I reached in, closing my hand around what I wanted, and then walked back to Liam.

His eyes practically burned through me, his stare so intense. He had always been intense, but this… It scorched me.

Stepping in front of him, I held out the small black-and-white picture, one of the corners curled up a little from being carried around in my bag for several days.

Liam glanced between me and the image, then took it and held it up to study.

He glanced over the edge of it for a brief moment before staring back. “This is a sonogram?”

I nodded and pointed to the little blob that didn’t really look like anything. “That’s the baby right there.”

A soft sound ripped from his lips. He stared in awe for long moments, then lowered the picture to glare. “You had an ultrasound without me!”

“Not on purpose,” I replied. “It was that night at the hospital. You were getting stitches. The nurse came at me with some kind of drug, and I exclaimed I was pregnant.”

“They tried to drug you!” he roared and started away.

I grabbed his wrist. “They did not try to drug me. Geez.”

He glared.

“It was probably something for the shock they said I was in.”

His eyes softened. “You’ve been through too much.”

“Anyway, they did the ultrasound because they wanted to verify what I said. They, ah, wanted to make sure that after everything that happened, I was still pregnant.”

“You could have lost the baby.” His voice was husky.

My throat constricted at the emotion in his tone. At the emotion his words conjured up in me. I knew this baby was a surprise, but the thought of losing him was crippling. “He was okay. They gave me that picture. I heard his heartbeat, too.”

“His?” Liam questioned.

I shrugged lightly. “It’s too soon to tell, but when I think of the baby, it’s a boy I see.”

“All that equipment in your room…” He recalled, glancing at me.

I nodded, guilty. “It was for me.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you have someone come get me?”

“I didn’t even know for sure until they did it. You were already dealing with enough. You were shot, for God’s sake. We thought your dad was in surgery. Your mom… It wasn’t the time for you to worry about anyone else.”

“That’s my kid!” he exclaimed, glancing back at the sonogram he was still clutching. “It’s my job to worry about him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I was sorry. For so many things.

I moved away, offering him some space. Not telling him right away might not have been the best decision, but it was the only one I could make at the time. It still felt too soon to drop something like this on him, but I couldn’t wait anymore.

I couldn’t demand full truth from him if I wasn’t willing to give it.

“I know this is a shock… Believe me. When I realized how late I was and the reason I’d been throwing up like crazy—”

“You’ve been sick?” he asked, instantly concerned.

I nodded. “At first I thought it was stress. But then it kinda became obvious it wasn’t. I thought women only had morning sickness, so I was confused because mine is mostly at night. ‘Course, now I seem to throw up all the time.” I grimaced. “This baby doesn’t like food.”

Liam stalked across the room, pulling me to him. “I should have been here. You’ve been doing this alone.”

“It’s only been three days,” I murmured against him.

He made a sound, and I felt his lips in my hair. “That’s three days too long.”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled against his chest. I’d missed him. Him and his overbearing ways.

He pulled back, still holding on to me, and searched my face. “How far along are you?” He lifted the picture and squinted at it like he was going to be able to tell by staring.

Suppressing a smile, I replied, “About eight weeks. Well, maybe closer to nine now.”

His eyes flared. “You’ve seen a doctor?”

“Not yet. I got the name of one and a prescription for some vitamins, but I just haven’t had the chance to pick them up or make an appointment.”

“Unacceptable,” he announced, pushing the picture of the baby into his pocket.

I lifted my eyebrow. “What are you doing with that?”

“I’m keeping it.”

“That’s the only picture I have!” I gasped.

“You can look at it whenever you want.”

Oh my God! He was a thief!

The incredulous look on my face seemed to amuse him. He strolled over to me. “Now, sweetheart.” He cajoled. “You get to carry that baby around twenty-four-seven. The least you can do is let me have this picture.”

“This baby makes me puke my guts up!” I accused.

Liam wrapped his arms around me. Jerk face or not, being in his arms felt incredibly good. “I’ll have a talk with him,” he said as though that would fix everything.

I scoffed. He was ridiculous.

After soaking up a little bit of love, I pulled back, nerves coiling in my stomach. “You’re not upset?”

“I’m pretty spicy,” he said, eyes narrowing.

My body tightened, and I stepped back. “I know,” I heard myself say. “It’s a lot to take in. And the timing couldn’t be worse. Here I am running from the mob, and the reason you lost your father… and now—”

“You are not the reason I lost my father,” Liam rebuked harshly. “That bastard Crone is.”

Rationally, I knew Liam was right. I mean, I hadn’t wanted Ren to die. But irrationally? It was going to take a while for me to let myself believe it.

Glancing down at the floor, I took a breath. “I’m sorry, Liam. I know this is a shock, and I know it’s not what you need right now… I want you to know I didn’t do this on purpose. It was an accident.”

Liam’s nose flared and his eyes widened. “No, Bells,” he declared. “This baby was no accident.”