When we landed in Chicago Brielle and I were so caught up in our conversation as we deplaned that I didn’t notice there were two black cars waiting for us until she said something.

 

“Did you arrange for a separate car for us?”

 

I was confused for a minute as I answered her.  “No.  I don’t know why there are two cars here.”

 

The driver I recognized got out of the first car and as I greeted him, the back passenger window of the second car was lowered and I literally froze in place and couldn’t breathe.  Sarah looked at me, her cat like eyes smirking at me.

 

What the hell is she doing here?  It didn’t make any sense.  I had not talked to Sarah in months.  I looked at Brielle who looked suspicious that a woman was meeting me on the tarmac. 

 

“I need to go talk to her for a minute.  I’ll be right back.”

 

“Who is that?”  Her tone was not friendly.

 

“It’s Sarah.  I’ll be right back.”  I kissed her on the cheek to let her know there was nothing to worry about and also to make sure Sarah saw that I was with someone.

 

I walked over to the car and looked down at her.

 

“What are you doing here, Sarah?”

 

“Is that how you’re going to greet me after months of not seeing each other?  No kiss hello?” 

 

Her ‘trying to be sexy’ little smirk didn’t work on me anymore.  I let out a deep sigh because I didn’t have time for her games.

 

“Just tell me why you’re here, Sarah, I have to be somewhere.”

 

“Fine.  I need to talk to you about something.”

 

“What?  Why didn’t you just call?  Why this big scene at the airport?  By the way, how did you know I would be here?”

 

"I called your father because it is really important that I talk to you. I have been trying to get in touch with you for the past week and he told me that you were in Mexico but would be back today.  I want you to ride back to the city with me so that we can talk.”

 

"Absolutely not. Whatever it is call me on the phone." With that, I started to turn and walk away but her words stopped me in my tracks.

 

“I’m pregnant, Declan.”

 

I felt the blood drain from my face and I quickly turned to make sure that Brielle didn’t hear what she just said.  Thankfully, she was in a deep conversation with Sophie and Zach so it looked like she didn’t hear a thing. I turned back to look at Sarah.

 

“And what does that have to do with me?”  My eyes were cold as I stared at her.  I would not put it past Sarah to be lying to me.  I had really blown up in the past couple of months and she could smell money a mile away.

 

She looked at me in disbelief.  “It’s yours and I’m keeping it.  I am not going to have this conversation with you while I am sitting in a car and you are standing on a tarmac.  Please get in so we can discuss this.”

 

“What is there to discuss, Sarah?”

 

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I know you’re not that much of an asshole.”

 

I let out another deep sigh.  Fine, I would ride back to the city with her so I could get to the bottom of what was going on and then I would be rid of her.  She wasn’t going to trap me into anything.  I narrowed me eyes right back at her.

 

“I’ll be right back.”

 

My mind was racing as I walked back over to Brielle, Sophie and Zach.  I had to think of something to say that would make sense and not sound suspicious.

 

“Hey guys.”

 

Zach looked at me and gave me a knowing look.  “What is she doing here?”

 

Zach had never liked Sarah.  He said he had her number from the beginning, knew she was a gold digger and overall bad news.  His question was actually the perfect opening that I needed.

 

“She’s having a personal emergency and says I am the only one who can help her.  I am going to ride back to the city with her and let you guys take the other car.”

 

All three had the exact same look of confusion and I turned to Brielle and gently held her face in my hands.

 

“Please don’t look like that.  Everything is fine, I just have to take care of something really quick.  I will give you a call tonight, okay?”

 

Before she could say anything I looked at Zach and told him I would hit him up later.  I turned and went back to the car to avoid any questions and to deal with the bomb that had just been dropped on me.  I know it was a dick move to leave Brielle standing there like that but I couldn’t deal with what she might be thinking and the fact that Sarah had possibly just changed my life forever at the same time.  It was too much.  I needed to get things sorted out with Sarah so that I could get back to my life.

 

We rode in silence for 15 minutes and then I finally said something.

 

“Sarah, we haven’t been together in six months.  How do you know this is my baby?”

 

She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears.

 

“Because I haven’t been with anyone but you.”

 

“How far along are you?”

 

“Six months.”

 

My heart fell to my toes.  The last time we had sex was six months back when we hooked up that one night.  Fuck. My head dropped into my hands as I pictured the way my life was going to change.

 

“I’m scared, Declan.  I’m not ready for a kid.”

 

“Do you think I am?  We’re not even together!”

 

She was silent for a few seconds and then looked at me, her voice soft.

 

“We could be.”

 

I looked at her in disbelief.  “What?!  Two years Sarah, we were together two years and then you dumped me out of the blue.  What makes you think I would want to even give you the time of day?”

 

“Well, we have this little being that we created and I don’t want him or her growing up in a broken home.  Listen, I owe you an apology for the way I ended things, Declan.  I think I was just scared about how serious we were at such a young age and I didn’t know how to handle it.  You didn’t deserve that and I am really sorry.”

 

I looked at her and I just didn’t believe her.  “No, something more was going on that you are not telling me, Sarah.  Tell me the real reason you broke things off.”

 

She looked at me batting her lashes.  “I don’t know what you mean.  I just wasn’t ready.”

 

“Really.  And now just a little while later you all of a sudden are ready to commit to me because you’re pregnant?”

 

“That’s not the only reason.”  She tried to grab my hand but I pulled it away.  “Okay.  Look, I fucked up.  I know I did.  You were the best thing that has ever happened to me and I have been trying to figure out the best way to apologize to you.  Now that I am pregnant with our child I really want us to try again.  It will be different this time.  It will be even better.”

 

It was all just too much.  I raked my fingers through my hair and raised my eyes to hers.

 

“Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

 

“After what I did to you I had to get up the nerve to contact you.  I was terrified to tell you this because I didn’t know how you would react.”

 

This was horrible.  It would be different if we were together and she got pregnant.  I wanted kids someday so I would have been fine with it if it had happened while I was still with her.  But that scenario?  It was my biggest nightmare.

 

“I need some time to think, Sarah.  This is a lot to take in right now.  I have another big fight coming up and I need to focus on that.  I’ll call you in a few days.”

 

“Seriously, Declan?  A few days?  I have a doctor’s appointment in a couple of days and I was hoping you would come with me.”

 

“I can’t.”  My tone was harsh and when I saw the look of sadness on her face, I felt bad and softened my tone.  “Give me some time to process this, okay?  You’ve had six months, I’ve only had about an hour.”

 

“Okay.”

 

We pulled up to her place first and she turned to me before she got out of the car.

 

“I know that we can make this work, Declan.  There was a lot of love between us at one time.  Talk to you soon.”

 

I didn’t say anything as I watched her leave and when the car started moving, I stared out at the busy Chicago streets and thought about Brielle.  How was I going to tell her that my ex-girlfriend was carrying my baby?

 

I dropped my bag by the door as I walked into my condo and headed straight for my couch.  I couldn’t believe what Sarah had told me and I had no idea what to do.  Pregnant? With my kid?  I looked up at the ceiling and ran my fingers through my hair. This is not happening.  My thoughts went to Brielle and the amazing time that we just had in Mexico and I had no idea how I was going to tell her that Sarah was pregnant. I was afraid it was going to ruin everything between us before we even had a chance to really get started.