The Party (The Proposition 0.5)(10)

Shaking her head, Emma said, “Aren’t you listening to me? I want a baby. All my life has been loss and death.” She brought her hand to her abdomen. “I want life growing within me—a part of me and my parents.”

“Em—”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I have so much love to give a child. Please, Connor.”

He grabbed his wine glass and downed the remaining contents. He then rose off the couch to stumble back into the dining room. Emma watched as he snatched the last wine bottle and refilled his glass. When he came back to the doorway, he shook his head. “But why do you need me? Why can’t you just go to a sperm bank and pick out a sample from a Brad Pitt with a 170 IQ?”

“Because I don’t care about Brad Pitt looks and high IQ’s.”

Connor snorted. “Thanks a hell of a lot. You sure don’t know how to sweeten the pot, do you?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I was thinking way past superficial things, but while we’re on the subject, yes, you will bring the most excellent DNA to my baby, both in looks and in intelligence, okay?”

“Whatever,” he grumbled before taking another long gulp of wine. He flopped back down on the couch beside her.

“Connor, don’t you see the bigger picture here. If I can’t have a baby with someone I’m romantically in love with, I still want it to be with someone I love. I know you’re a good and decent person, and you would be such a good father.” When he didn’t say anything, Emma leaned closer to him. “And think about your parents. Besides Grammy and Granddaddy, my baby wouldn’t have grandparents, and I know that yours are amazing to your sister’s kids.”

“That’s true,” he murmured, still not meeting her expectant gaze.

Emma sighed. She knew she had just thrown him for a loop, and it was going to take him awhile to process everything. “Look, I’m sorry that I brought it up.” When she started to rise off the couch, Connor grabbed her arm.

“Okay.”

She furrowed her brows at him. “Okay what?”

He exhaled noisily. “Okay, I’ll be your baby daddy or sperm donor or whatever.”

Emma’s chest constricted, and she almost couldn’t breathe. “Really?”

Connor nodded. “Yeah, why not.”

“But are you sure? I mean, you don’t need more time to think about it?”

“Nope. Let’s have a baby.”

Emma squealed with pleasure before throwing her arms around Connor’s neck and squeezing him tight. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re really going to do it!” She pulled away to kiss both his cheeks. “I love you so very much.”

“I love you too, Emmie Lou.”

She nuzzled her head against his neck. “But what made you change your mind?”

“Travis.”

Emma jerked her gaze up to meet his. A grin curved on Connor’s lips. “It was like I could almost hear him telling me to do it—to make you happy since he couldn’t.”

A mixture of happy and sad tears pooled in her eyes. “I can never thank you enough for doing this. I can’t imagine being happier than I am at this moment.”

He rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “I think the day we find out you’re good and knocked up will beat this one.”

She smiled. “Or the day our baby is born?”

Connor nodded. “And if it’s a boy, I wanna name him Travis—Travis Connor Montgomery.”

“I would like nothing more, especially for the baby to have your last name.” She titled her head at him. “But what if it’s a girl?”

“Travisina?” Connor suggested.

Emma giggled. “No, I don’t think so.”

Connor laughed. “We’ve got time to work on a girl’s name.”

“As long as he or she is healthy, I don’t care what we have.”

He pushed away from her to grab up their wine glasses. “Let’s drink to our future child.”

“To our baby,” Emma said before toasting with Connor.

***

Chapter Three

Aidan swept through the front doors of the Commerce Country club. He nodded at a few of his fellow colleagues. His fingers went to adjust the tie on his tux. He had barely been in the damn thing for thirty minutes, and it already felt like it was choking him. Spotting his best work buddy, Blake, he weaved in and out of the couples to meet up with him.

“Well, hello, Fitzy, how goes it?” Blake asked.

Without a response, Aidan jerked the glass of Scotch from Blake’s hand and downed it in one fiery gulp. “Hmm, that bad huh?” Blake asked with a smirk.

“Sorry man. I’ve been in family hell all damn day.”

“The Baptism thing?”

Aidan nodded. “That was at noon, but then there was a party at my sister’s house.” Aidan shuddered as he thought of how he had gotten corned by each of his sisters throughout the afternoon. Although they hit him at different times, their message was a unified one. He was thirty-two years old, and it was time for him to settle down and carry on the family name. It had been a living hell. “I just escaped an hour ago.”

Blake furrowed his brown brows. “You mean, there wasn’t any good booze at the party to at least take the edge off?”