Beat of the Heart (Runaway Train #2)(69)

“I’m sorry. You know I wouldn’t have called you unless it was a matter of life and death.”

Dee swept his hand to his chest. “Wait, something hasn’t happened to Duke, has it?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” I chewed my bottom lip, uncertain of how I was going to break the news to him.

He growled in frustration. “Well, for f*ck’s sake, Mimi. Spit it out!”

Unable to speak, I thrust the dreaded white stick I was still clutching in his face. His nose wrinkled momentarily in confusion before he realized what it read. His deep brown eyes widened to the size of the salad plates at Mama Sofia’s. “Holy shit, you’re pregnant?”

I’d been holding the waterworks back as long as I could with him. Just hearing Dee say the word ‘pregnant’ caused the dam to burst, and I began sobbing hysterically.

“Hey now, don’t cry. Dee’s here.” He stepped into the foyer and wrapped his arms around me. Although I felt comforted by his gesture, it just made me cry even harder. Dee closed the front door behind us and steered me over to the couch. “Shh, it’s okay, Mimi,” he crooned, rubbing wide circles across my back.

When I’d finally stop sobbing and my breath had started coming in hiccupping little pants, I pulled away to look at Dee. “I’m sorry for calling you away from the hot marine and then going psycho on you.”

He kissed my cheek. “Don’t you dare apologize for either of those things. You’re my best friend in the whole, wide world, Mimi. When you need me, I’m here, no matter what condition you’re in.”

My chin trembled at his words. “Thank you,” I murmured.

“You’re welcome, luvie.” Taking my hand in his, he squeezed it tight. “So you know I gotta ask this next question. Is it…?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course it’s AJ’s.”

Dee held his hands up defensively. “Well, excuse me that I don’t keep a GPS device on your vagina.”

His comment made the corners of my lips quirk up in spite of how awful I felt. “After all these years, you should know that if there’s any action going on in my vagina, you usually know about it.”

With a smirk, he replied, “Normally I would agree with you, but you just f*cking blindsided me considering being pregnant is the biggest thing to hit your lady parts ever!”

A snort escaped my lips. “Only you could make jokes at a time like this.”

He grinned. “That’s why you need me.”

“No, that’s why I love you,” I replied, my voice choking off with emotion.

Dee gave me a quick peck on the lips. “I love you more, baby girl.” We sat in silence for a few minutes with the just the sound of Jack Sparrow’s purring and my sniffling echoing through the room. “So….you’re really pregnant?” He exhaled noisily. “What are you going to do about it?”

“You mean am I going to keep it, give it up, or…?”

“Or have an abortion.” He cupped my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You know that you can do that, right?”

“I know I can, but…”

“But what?”

Unconsciously my hand went to rest against my abdomen. “I want this baby.”

“Da f*ck did you just say?” Dee asked incredulously.

Overwhelmed by my emotions, I merely bobbed my head. In a way, I was as stunned as Dee was by my admission. When I was younger, I always saw myself married with children. I knew that someday I would want a baby—I just never imagined it would be now.

Dee continued staring open-mouthed at me. “Mimi, you don’t know the first thing about raising a kid.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I snapped, realizing just how quickly pregnancy hormones could have you expressing psycho emotions.

Dee sighed. “Seriously, besides being around your cousins, you’ve never even acted like you cared for children that much.”

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t be a good mother.” At his skeptical expression, I countered, “Have I ever once said I didn’t want to have kids someday?”

“No, but—”

“I’m in a good place in my life to have a baby.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he countered, “Unmarried and alone?”

I huffed out a frustrated breath. “I meant, I’m twenty-eight, not eighteen. I’ve been to college—I have my masters. I make good money. I can support this kid.”

“I’m not arguing with that, Mimi.”

“Then what?” I knew if I was going to do this baby thing, I wanted and needed Dee’s support.

Dee shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just hard for me to think of you with a kid.”

Staring down at my hands, I thought of the one person who believed I would be a good mother. “Mama Sofia saw me with children.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me a few months before she died that one day I’d be a family matriarch just like she was. That she prayed to the saints to bless me with a family.” My throat burned with the sobs I tried desperately to choke down. The agony of grief once again wrapped me in its death-like vise as the hard realization that the one person I needed more than anything right now was gone.