Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(59)

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. He shouldn't have heard the news like that. I was just so..."

"Mad," Holiday finished for her. "And you had a right to be. He completely jumped to conclusions. He has a really bad habit of doing that." Her voice shook.

Kylie saw the pregnancy test boxes in the garbage. "Did you take them?"

She nodded.

"And?"

She nodded again. "All three say yes. What's the chance of them being wrong?"

"Does Burnett know?" Kylie asked.

She shook her head. "He didn't even come into the office. Didn't say one word to me. He got in his car and left."

"Wait. He did say something." Kylie pulled Holiday's phone out of her pocket. "You got a text from him. That's why I came here. I thought it might be important."

Holiday took the phone and hit a few buttons almost in a panic. Tears filled her eyes and she put a hand over her trembling lips.

"Is that a good or bad reaction?" Kylie asked.

Holiday looked up, tears in her eyes but with a smile. "He writes: 'I'm at the florist, trying to figure out which flower says I'm an idiot and please forgive me.'" She inhaled. "He is an idiot!" She hiccuped.

"But I'm your idiot!" Burnett said from the doorway.

Kylie looked back and saw Burnett walk in carrying the biggest, and the oddest-looking, bouquet of flowers she'd ever seen. Holiday dropped into her desk chair. A few tears rolled down her cheeks.He moved past Kylie and set the flowers on Holiday's desk, pretty much taking up the entire desk, too.

"You didn't get back to me with the kind of flower, so I got one of everything they had."

Burnett's eyes cut to the garbage, where he obviously spotted the pregnancy test packages. He looked up at Holiday. "Are we pregnant?"

She nodded and wiped her cheeks.

"Forgive me," he said with pure emotion in his voice. "I'm just scared. I didn't have a father and most of my foster parents weren't what you would call good examples. But then I realized that you are going to be such a great mom, that it won't matter if I suck at parenthood a little bit."

"You're not going to suck at it." Holiday hiccuped.

"But if I do, you'll straighten me out, right?"

She nodded. "You bet your cold feet I will."

Kylie grinned and started to back out. She almost got to the door when Burnett turned. "I owe you an apology, too."

Kylie nodded. "And I owe you one."

Burnett smiled. "Accepted."

"But no more secrets," Kylie said. "Even between you and Hayden. If it involves me, I want to know."

He sighed. "Deal. Now that we got most everything cleared up, can you leave so I can kiss the mother of my child and not worry about offending virgin eyes?"

"Make it a good one." Kylie smiled and started out.

"Kylie?" Holiday said.

Kylie turned back. "The Brightens called while we were away. They're still planning on coming tomorrow. I just wanted to remind you."

Kylie nodded and walked out, trying to figure out how she was going to approach the Brightens.

She hadn't gotten one step on the porch when Della ran up to her and squealed. "Holiday's pregnant?"

Kylie covered the vamp's mouth with her palm and frowned. "You weren't supposed to be listening in."

"I didn't mean to," Della huffed out behind Kylie's fingers. "Burnett's voice just carries."

"Right." Kylie cut her eyes at Della in disbelief.

Della squealed again. "This is so cool."

Kylie, pushing aside her worry about the Brightens, suddenly felt like squealing, too. "What's cool?"

Miranda asked, walking up.

Della looked at Kylie. "We have to tell Miranda. Just Miranda."

"Yeah, you have to!" Miranda squealed. "I don't know what it is, but I want to know."

Kylie gasped. "Okay, but you can't tell anyone."

"Won't tell a soul," Miranda said. "What is it?" She rubbed her hands together, excited to know a secret.

Della moved them away from the office, and under a patch of trees beside the trail. "Guess who's pregnant?" Della whispered.

Miranda gawked at Kylie. "But you said you'd never done it."

"Not me!" Kylie said. "Holiday."

Miranda's mouth dropped open. "Oh my! We're gonna have a baby Burnett running around? That iscool." She grinned ear to ear.

"I know." Kylie suddenly couldn't stop smiling.

Or she couldn't until someone dropped a severed head from the tree above her and it landed on her foot. Kylie screamed and kicked the head, which rolled a good six feet away. She screamed again when she saw the eyes wobbling and looking up at her.

* * *

The next morning, Kylie got up and went and sat in front of the computer to check her e-mail before heading off to breakfast with Della and Miranda. She sat there and stared at the black computer screen in a daze. There hadn't been any dreams, no more severed heads falling from trees, and no visiting swords.

She still hadn't slept worth a damn. What kept her up were all her other issues. Most of them matters of the heart.