Page 76 of Allegiance

“I don’t know how or why. I just…”

They got it.

“What are you going to do?” Zayn asked, figuring they’d have to beat some sense into him to get the man to stop jacking this up.

He lifted his head, wiped his eyes, and was honest.

“I’m going to ask you guys to tell me what to do. Clearly, I have no clue.”

Zayn literally fell off his chair and landed on his ass in the courtyard, and not because he was being dramatic.

No one expected that.

Boone laughed.

“Uh, drama queen?”

Zayn pointed.

“He asked for advice and he’s going to take it. Someone write this day down. It’s the end of the world as we know it,” he said. “Dakota isn’t fighting us.”

Jagger laughed.

It was because of the look on Dakota’s face.

That said it all.

“Don’t be shocked, Dak. We’ve run face first into the wall that is your stubbornness too many times since Sarah died.”

Boy, was that ever the truth?

Only, he got it.

“How do I do this?” he asked. “How do I go to her and make this better?”

He was thinking about what she said in the dream. She’d mentioned a penitent man, and there was nothing he wanted redemption on more than this.

Boone was honest.

“You tell her you were an asshole, and that you made a huge mistake not telling her to stay. Then, you tell her you know that she’s pregnant with your child, and you want to help raise it. Hold your ground, even if you get the shit kicked out of you a thousand times over the next seven months. You prove to her that you’re not walking away.”

Rogue went next.

“On top of that, you show up with flowers, your best ‘I’m an idiot’ face, and hope that the lethal killer has mercy on you because she doesn’t have to let you help. While the baby is biologically yours, she can disappear tomorrow, and you’ll never know where it is.”

That made him sick to his stomach, and they all saw it.

Maybe Dakota could save this.

Jagger didn’t hold back.

“You’re also going to bring tools, and put some baby furniture together. The women dig when the baby daddy actually is useful. Then, you’re going to let her tell you what she wants, not you tell her what she needs. Because you lost that right when she asked you to tell her to stay, and you let the door hit her in the ass on the way out.”

He stared at them.

“Is this legit advice? Because you yelled at your wife because she wasn’t blown up, you drank for weeks because Cordelia died, and you,” he said, pointing at Zayn. “You’re a nightmare on a good day. You borderline lock Stella in the house and want to wrap her in bubble wrap.”

Zayn laughed.