Unbreak My Heart (Unbreak My Heart #1)(22)
“Gee, thanks.”
“That is absolutely not a bad thing, Kate. You saw him, and for a while I could tell that he reveled in that. He loved that you could see straight through him. It challenged him.”
“He left me, Mom. I’m not sure how you could say he loved anything about me.”
“You got too close, Katie. He wasn’t ready for that.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” I cried, sitting up in bed. “I was nineteen! I didn’t know what I was doing!”
“There’s those hormones.”
“He dropped me, Mom. He never cared about me. You should’ve—” No. She didn’t need to know that Shane had called me for months my freshman year of college, then had acted like he didn’t want anything to do with me the minute he’d seen my best friend. It wasn’t even relevant anymore. “He just…made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. He’s avoided me for ten years. His opinion’s pretty obvious.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, lovey.”
“You didn’t.”
“Okay, new subject?”
“Yes please.”
“How did Shane take the news?”
“That’s the same freaking subject!”
*
I woke up the next morning to whispers and the smell of formula breath fanning across my face.
“Is she awake yet?”
“Not yet! Daddy said to be quiet.”
“Quiet!”
“Whyet!”
“I wish she’d wake up already.”
“Keller, you better zip it.”
“If your daddy wanted to let me sleep, he wouldn’t have left four monsters in my bed,” I growled, sitting up too quickly and pulling them to me as they squealed and my stomach churned.
“Oh, Auntie Kate needs another minute, guys.” I moaned, lying back against my pillow. “Want to snuggle for a little bit?”
They curled up around me, Gunner playing with my loose hair, Gavin’s head resting on my sore boobs, Keller’s body twisting one of my ankles in a way it didn’t want to twist, and Sage holding my hand. Within seconds, I felt a million times better.
“Where’s your dad?” I asked quietly, letting my eyes close as Gunner’s tiny fingers ran through my hair.
“Goin’ potty.”
“He’s taking a long time.”
“I bet he’s pooping! He stinks so bad!” Keller crowed, making me snicker.
“I’m not pooping, Keller,” Shane mumbled from the side of the bed, making my eyes pop open. His cheeks were red with embarrassment, and I think I fell a little then.
“You stink worse, Keller,” I accused, meeting Shane’s eyes.
“No I don’t! You do, Auntie Kate! You reek!”
“You week!” Gavin yelled right in my ear.
Shane’s eyes crinkled a little at the sides as he tried to hold back a smile.
“I thought you might want to see them,” Shane said quietly as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I know you don’t feel good—”
“Thank you,” I cut in, letting go of Gunner for a minute to reach out and rest my hand on his knee. “This is just what I needed.”
“I used the spare key.” His voice grew quiet.
“I figured.”
“You want it back?”
“No,” I whispered.
“Okay.”
“Auntie Kate, why are you sick?” Sage asked suspiciously, her voice quivering.
“Come here, Sage the Rage,” I answered, pulling her toward me. “I’ve got news.”
“Kate,” Shane warned in a low tone.
“I’m going to have a baby.”
My words seemed to stun the kids into silence for a moment before they all spoke up at the same time.
“Baby.”
“Baby.”
“What?”
“You are?”
“Yep! Growing a baby sometimes makes a mama sick, but only for a while. So that’s why I’m sick. Once the baby’s a little bigger, I won’t be sick anymore.”
“You’ll be fat!” Keller yelled.
“Keller,” Shane snapped.
I shook my head slightly at Shane and met Keller’s eyes. He wasn’t being a brat…He was worried.
“Come here, Kell.”
He crawled up and sat on my thighs.
“Careful, pal,” Shane warned.
“He’s okay,” I said with a smile, never looking away from Keller. “I’m just growing a baby, bud. But it takes a long time—nothing’s going to change for a while.”
“Where is it?” he asked curiously, looking down at my relatively flat stomach.
“Right about here.” I pointed, making all of the kids look closely at where my finger was.
“I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because its really, really tiny right now.”
“How tiny?” Keller asked dubiously.
“Like a little bean.”
“But it’s going to grow?”
“Yep.”
“Cool.”