Ethan

She was still looking at me and acting a little too standoffish for my liking.

It was my own fault because all I could think about was Sandy getting pregnant with someone else and my mind instantly went to Denise doing it as well. I should have known better, but I was too busy worrying about everything else to see what was really going on.

“You’re pregnant and you’re keeping it and it’s mine?”

Another nod, but the glare was just the same. I had to get it through my head. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I’d seen it ending with her in my arms and back underneath me in bed. It had been far too damn long and I was still finding it hard to fight back the physical attraction. This wasn’t the time.

I moved to hug her and she still wasn’t too receptive of the action. She was mad at me and I’m sure it was because I hadn’t reacted the way I was supposed to. It was a lot to take in though. She had to at least get that. It was a lot to take in.

“I’m sorry for not reacting the way I should have Denise, but that wasn’t what I expected when I came here. I didn’t know.”

“You never told me about Sandy.”

“Why would I? We’d broken up and I didn’t want to be the guy, whining about how my ex cheated on me and broke my heart. I wanted a fresh start with you.”

“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again. I was going to tell you when I found you. But there was so much that I didn’t know about you. I figured that you’d be married and not want anything to do with me or our son.”

“Son?”

She nodded and had the barest of a smile on her face. She was warming up to me.

I pulled her to me and there was very little resistance from her, which was good to feel. I didn’t want to argue or fight. I wanted her back in my arms. It was all a misunderstanding and I wasn’t going to let that ruin things for us. She was all I had thought about since I’d waken up and nothing else mattered now that she was in my arms.

“I’ve missed you so much Denise. You changed your number.”

“I was getting threats for a while there after the bombing and I just changed it to cut down on those.”

A lot had happened since I’d been gone and I regretted that I hadn’t been able to be there and help keep her safe. I still wasn’t sure that Nome was where I wanted to hang my hat, but I knew that if this is where Denise wanted to be, I wasn’t going to argue with her. I would go wherever she was, no matter if it was Nome or not.

“You’re all I have thought about Denise and I can’t believe you are here. I can’t believe we are going to have a baby together. This is all surreal.”

It was and I was still trying to wrap my head around it all. It wasn’t that I didn’t want kids, I did and with her it would be better than I could have imagined, she’d be a good mother. But there was still a part of me that didn’t see it happening this way. I’d thought a few years of marriage would be due before all of this. We were skipping some steps that were rather important.

“I can’t believe you are really here Ethan. I really can’t.”

“What are you doing out here with no coat on?”

She must have been freezing, but when I held her to me she felt like she was on fire.

“I don’t know. I needed a few minutes before the rush, which is most likely going full swing. I really need to get in there.”

“You s shouldn’t be working in your condition.”

“In my condition?”

“Yeah, you’re pregnant and I don’t think that you should be working. Do you?”

“It wasn’t what I had in mind and it’s not ideal, but how else was I going to pay for things Ethan? You forget that you weren’t around, so what was I supposed to do. I didn’t think you’d be around again, but someone had to take care of our son.”

I knew that she was being real about it, but it was hard to think of it that way. How had I not known? I should have been here.

“I’m here now and there will never be anything that you have to worry about. I will take care of you both.”

She smiled and held me. “I still have to go in and give Molly some notice.”

“I don’t think she is going to mind that much.”

“How do you know?”

“She is a hopeless romantic and sees it for what it is between us. She told me a long time ago that I should go after you and she was right. I would be still kicking myself if I hadn’t because what a mistake it would have been. I don’t know what I would have done if I had never went after you.”

“If you don’t stop, I’m going to cry. My hormones are all over the place and you are here, being so sweet. I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. This isn’t the place to have the conversation anyways. Why don’t we go back to your place and catch up?”

“I know that look. You don’t want to catch up. Or if you do there won’t be a whole lot of talking.”

She knew me too well and I didn’t try to deny it. It had been a very long time since we’d been together and it was time to change that.

“Do you really want to talk?”

Damn I can’t say how much I wanted her to say no.

“Not really.”

Thank God because I didn’t know how much was actually going to be said.