Baby Be Mine(Spinsters & Casanovas Series Book 1)(114)

“Max, did you hear?” Clarice’s face immediately lit up upon seeing her cousin. “I’m pregnant.”

“Congratulations, Clarice,” Max forced a smile and hugged his cousin. “You’ve got what you wanted. Now I’m just going to put these groceries in the fridge.” Then Max was off to the kitchen.

“That was strange. I thought he would jump for joy or something,” Clarice muttered to herself.

“Maybe he’s starting to feel the jealousy since you won’t be able to give him your full attention,” Elise said, watching Max’s retreating back.

“Mmm.” Whitney eyed his strange behavior. Something wasn’t right and she needed to get to the bottom of this.

Max, on the other hand, reached the kitchen, dropped the grocery bags, and sank all the way to the floor, cradling himself in a fetal position.

“Forgive me, cuz. I’ve interfered in your life again.”





* * *





“Why did you buy so many fruits and vegetables? You want to turn me into a herbivore?” Clarice asked her cousin when she started helping unpack the groceries Max bought for her. And then her eyes grew even larger when she unloaded three bags of red gala apples. “I don’t remember ever telling you I like apples that much,” Clarice remarked.

Max didn’t want to tell Clarice that it had been Hunter who’d forced him to go grocery shopping with him. When Hunter realized he was the father of Clarice’s baby, he just got up from his seat and announced they were going shopping, without showing any kind of emotion. And that’s how he ended up with all these fruits and vegetables. Before he parted ways with Hunter, he’d even drummed into his ears that he must tell Clarice to eat all those fruits and vegetables, especially the apples, and had given him a note regarding the research on apples too.

“Well?” Clarice asked, disrupting his thoughts.

“I thought you might like to eat some fruits and vegetables since you’re pregnant now,” Max uttered, looking away, knowing he was lying again.

“How did you know I was pregnant before I even told you?”

“Elise texted me before you woke.”

“But I just told Elise after I woke up.”

Shit, how am I supposed to answer that?

“It doesn’t matter. Just know that I know. Here, you have to eat this apple.” Max thrust an apple in front of Clarice’s face. “It’s good for you and the baby. Studies have shown that... uh… wait.” Max dug into his jeans pocket and extracted the note Hunter gave to him about his research on apples and pregnancy, then read it aloud. “It reduces the chance of your baby wheezing because of asthma,” Max mumbled, looking away again. God, the guilt. It was eating him alive.

Clarice smiled. “You really care for me, don’t you? Going all out to buy me three bags of apples so I can eat well, plus doing extensive research on apples to make sure I benefit during my pregnancy. Thanks so much, you little rascal,” Clarice said, hugging him.

Max was crushed in his cousin’s hug. He didn’t move, but just let her continue to squeeze him. He was so ashamed of himself, so upset and so guilty. Inside, he prayed all would work out between Hunter and Clarice, because he had a strong feeling Hunter really cared for his cousin.





* * *





That night, Clarice lay in bed, rubbing her stomach.

“I know you’re only an embryo right now, but thank you for choosing me as your birth mother. I promise I’ll look after you, even if you’ve been conceived without the permission of your father.”