Page 88 of Fighting Fate
“No! We haven’t even really talked about it to each other.” Dorian gestures between her and Susan.
“So how the hell does this prat know?” Willow flashes her glare to her brother with an annoyed whack to his chest.
“Have you looked in the mirror?” he asks pointedly. “You’re not exactly the usual skinny Minnie…I know what a pregnant woman looks like, even if you’re trying to hide it.”
“Just stop talking about my shit, all right?”
“What shit are we talking about?” James asks, walking in from the garden with Daniel and standing next to Jamie. He glances between the three of us waiting. “What have I missed now?”
“James…” Susan groans with a roll of her eyes that rivals Willow’s.
“For God’s sake,” Willow huffs, pulling her blouse taut over her bump. “Surprise! You’re going to be a grandad again.”
This is really fucking awkward. Her entire family is in this room, staring at us while we tell her dad that she’s pregnant. I’m telling a man that I’ve knocked up his daughter…in front of their entire family.
Fuck. My. Life.
The dinner-at-home option I put on the table was definitely a better idea than this.
Fuck.
James looks at her belly. He’s quiet and pensive for a beat. “So when’s the wedding? I assume that you’re going to marry her too?” He levels me with an expectant cock of his brow.
“When she’s ready.” The corner of his mouth twitches. “If I ask her now, she’ll say no, and I’m not good with rejection. So I’ll bide my time.”
“Good man,” he announces, slapping my shoulder. “But don’t take too long…and remember, I don’t do returns.”
“I’m glad you got your sick kick,” Willow scoffs, “but now you have to tell him that you’re pulling his leg.”
“Who says I am?”
“Dad!”
“Doesn’t matter if your dad is joking or not, what I said still stands,” I let her know as everyone goes back to their conversations. Except for Jamie—he’s still giving me the stink eye even as Dorian tries to hand him the stack of plates she’s got in her hands.
“What happened to keeping it cool?” Willow asks me with her face all screwed up. Her voice is low, and her eyes are wide, searching my face. “He really was joking.”
“And I really meant what I said.”
Willow nods, her breath hitching as she opens her mouth to speak, but instead, she smiles. That soft, warm smile I adore. It lights up her face and beams in her eyes.
“I told you, sweetheart, I got nothing but time.”
“You’re relentless.”
“I’m a champion.” I wink at her, pulling her into me as I flick the end of her nose. I don’t care how many times she threatens to knock me out when I do it, because her giggle is more than worth it. I’d do anything for it, including risking my life.
Willow’s about to show me around the house when her sister stops us.
“Congratulations,” she tells me. “I guess this means we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. Jake will be thrilled with that, as will Daniel. They might still be worshipping the plate you ate from…”
“If that isn’t a welcome to the family, I don’t know what is,” Willow laughs.
“Have you heard anything else from the detectives?” she asks as we head back out to the hallway. “I don’t mean to nag, Chooch. But if you don’t keep at them, they’re so bogged down that they’ll keep pushing you to the bottom of the pile.”
“We’re keeping them up to date and giving them the letters they asked for. What else can we do?”
Her worried eyes flash to mine. “Until they have something to go on, there’s not much, but you could get your own private investigator. I have some contacts I can pass on—”