I frown and nod. “Yeah, I—did you notice all day yesterday I—”
“You didn’t get sick at all,” he confirms and smiles. Then he takes me in his arms and hugs me tight while twirling me around.
“Are you trying to make me sick?”
“No, I’m happy for you. However, I don’t have an excuse to sneak into your bed,” he confesses and sets me down.
He rests his forehead on mine and encircles his arms around my waist. “Are you ready to tell me what’s bothering you?”
I nod, and tell him everything, including the fact that I might get served with an order that won’t allow me to leave the state. He kisses my lips and says, “I won’t let that happen.”
Cupping his face, I sprinkle a few kisses along his jaw before I untangle myself from his grasp.
“They play dirty,” I inform him. “We—Pierce and I—have heard the rumors that their firm buys judges. Edward and his brother once confirmed it while they were drunk. I think that’s why Pierce focused on the part of the firm where he didn’t have to deal with his family as much.”
Nate runs a hand through his hair and asks. “How do I help?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “But that adult discussion has to be tabled until I am in a good place.”
“Can he actually force you to stay in the state?” he asks. “Is that even legal?”
I shake my head and start researching in case there’s a precedent.
That’s when I find a case that happened a few years back. A famous Olympic skier who fought for custody of the fetus. He lived in California; his ex moved to New York.
In theory, I have worked and lived in New York since August. Aldridge Enterprises and Merkel have been paying me. They have both the Seattle and New York addresses as my residence.
The best way to take away the power the Bryants have is by leaving today and not coming back until the custody of the baby is squared up in a court where they are looking out for the welfare of the baby and not because the Bryants are paying them to take away my kid.
Moving my laptop toward Nate I say, “Read this. I think I might have the answer.”
Nyx: Remember the custody case of the skier and the former marine?
Pierce: It’s six in the fucking morning. I am busy feeding the animals.
Nyx: I might have the answer to my problem. I’m texting you a link with the case. New York has precedent about a dad trying to use a fetus to fight for custody.
Nyx: Said dad is from California. They fucked up pretty bad therefore there’s something that will make it pretty clear for them to deny Edward’s request. I should be safe if I fly back there.
I drum my fingers against the counter while I wait for Pierce to text back. Nate’s eyes scan the screen. His frown deepens.
“What a tool,” he complains, pushing the laptop slightly. Then he places a hand on my belly and rubs it. “First, he wants her to terminate the pregnancy, and then he wants to claim the child while in utero…which isn’t different from what Edward is doing. He doesn’t want our blueberry demon. He just wants to fuck with you.”
“In theory, I could sue him for threatening my rights to move and make a living,” I say, relaxing even more as I see a light at the end of the tunnel.
He shakes his head and kisses my nose. “So, you think that since the New York system learned their lesson it’ll be safe to move there for the remainder of the pregnancy.”
I nod.
“Let me handle the details,” he says, and I don’t pay much attention to him because Pierce finally texts me back.
Pierce: I remember this case. I agree with you. It’ll be best if you leave. You could move to New York or Seattle. I can defend you in either place. Neither one will demand you to go back to Colorado. If you need a plane, I’ll have one soon. Leave now.
Nyx: You think they’re going to do something, don’t you?
Pierce: They’ll try. Don’t let them. The sooner you leave Colorado the better.
“Babe, I’m going to walk Brock,” Nate announces. When I look up, I realize he changed his pajama bottoms. He’s wearing a pair of shorts, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes. When did he change? “The plane should be ready to depart soon. I just texted Ford in case Persy wants to see you before we leave.”
“You don’t have to go. I know you and Ford have a lot to do tomorrow since it’s officially moving day,” I object.
“Our blueberry demon is more important than the move. He’ll understand. Demetri, your dad, and Eros can help him,” he argues, and walks toward me, brushing away the strands of hair covering my face. “Remember, you’re not alone. We are in this together.”
“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m complicating your life,” I say, trying to remind myself that it’s okay to let others help me.
He rubs my belly, places a kiss on it and then looks at me saying, “You two are worth it. So what if we have to stay put in New York? It doesn’t matter where we live. Home is just a place within us. For me, it’s become wherever you are. I can’t guarantee that this is going to be easy, but I’ll be by your side, and I’ll make sure that he doesn’t take away our baby.”
“I wish…”
“Me too,” he says, giving me a kiss. It’s longer than a peck but not too long that I lose myself inside him. “Get ready.”
“By the way,” I say before he leaves. “We can go to Seattle instead. It’s about choosing one of them, and we just go to the other place once a month.”
He nods and leaves with Brock.
I place a hand on my belly and whisper, “It’ll be fine. No one is taking you away from us.”
Thirty-Nine
Nate
We choose Seattle. Nyx said she’d be okay moving to either place. Though she’s honest with me, I know she favors the house by the lake better than the penthouse. We live within an hour from her figuring out the best way to avoid a messy, yet illegal, custody battle.
To no surprise, Edward files for custody of the unborn baby. Since Nyx lives in Seattle, he files a second petition in the state of Washington demanding her to go back to Colorado.
Thankfully, Pierce is able to have the case dismissed in the state of Washington because the child isn’t born yet. He also sues Edward for endangering Nyx and the fetus because he tried to run roughshod over her rights.
Pierce’s suggestion that we don’t go to Colorado until the baby is born is now a prerogative. He knows they are waiting for Nyx to be served with an order from a judge to stay. It’s illegal, but Edward Bryant’s family has several judges in their pockets.
Nyx assures me that she’s fine, but I can feel the tension weighing her down. Her family comes to spend Thanksgiving with us. During dinner, Persy and Ford announce that they are planning on getting married at the end of the year, in the Maldives. They want something simple and family only.
I’m happy for my brother, but their news sits like lead at the bottom of my stomach. A month ago, I was about to tell the woman I love that I wanted to explore the possibilities of an us. I wish I could just propose to Nyx and say, fuck it Edward. We haven’t even sat down to talk about us. I can’t, and they are getting fucking married.
I hate the days when she retreats into her own world and ignores everyone—even me. My only consolation is that there are evenings when all we do is sit by the fire holding each other.
It’s understandable. She’s terrified of losing the baby. I am too. This wouldn’t be the first time I lose a child, and it’s killing me that I can’t even say that out loud because I’m literally nobody. Just her roommate. I can’t be more because what if they use our relationship against her. She’s preparing for the fight of her life, and I know that we’re there for her, but also that I can’t be too close because they can use me as ammunition.
I’m so fucking paranoid that I gifted her a phone with a Seattle number that we can use to communicate, just in case they subpoena her phone log and her texts. After dinner, we set up the seven-foot-tall tree we bough
t while we were shopping in New York. She thought it’d look perfect right next to the staircase. Her family helps decorate the tree.
“How is she doing?” Persy asks once Nyx goes to bed around nine. “She’s been too quiet.”
I blink and let out a loud breath. Quiet is an understatement. “She’s vocal when she’s on the phone with Pierce discussing a new approach to the custody.”
“It’s going to be okay,” she reassures me.
Raking my hair with my fingers I let out a breath. “See, that’s the problem. You can’t know until we have a judge reiterate that it’s going to be okay. That he won’t take her away. It’s so fucking painful to lose your kid. This…we can’t lose her.”
Persy smiles at me. “You really love them.”
I nod and don’t tell her all my fears because again, who the fuck am I to worry. But what if Nyx shuts the door between us because that’s what’s best for the baby. I’d lose both of them, and then what’s going to happen with me?
“You have no idea,” I claim. “They are my life.”
Ford squeezes my shoulder. “We have the resources, Nate. You’ll hire whoever we need to keep that baby safe with her family.”
“Maybe you should talk to Nyx,” Persy suggests. “Sometimes she needs space but others…you have to drag her out of her head, or she’ll drive herself crazy. Look, I totally understand that you’re trying to respect her, but how do you guys want her to remember her pregnancy?”
I could say something stupid like, we’re not together or this isn’t my baby. Except, I love this baby as if she’s mine, and Nyx has become my entire life. Persy is onto something. I gave Nyx four weeks to use her logic and come up with at least thirty solutions to the custody battle that won’t start until our baby is born.
“See you tomorrow morning,” I say, marching back into the house.
Eros is in the living room reading. He stares at me and says, “You owe me an explanation.”
“I don’t have time,” I announce without stopping to hear his nonsense.
“Nyx seemed happy with you, until she’s not,” he states.
I halt. “What does that mean?”
“Listen, I told you to stay away but forwent the warning when I realized she was finally being more herself and less like the tight ass woman she became when she started working for that firm. But today…fuck, it’s like dealing with a sad zombie.”
He’s right. Now I feel like a failure for letting this go too far.
“Good night, Eros.” I wave at him and head upstairs.
Instead of going to her room, I go to mine first to change my clothes. That’s when I find her on my bed. She wears one of my sweaters and Brock rests his head on her bump. I shut the door, put on a pair of pajama bottoms, and join her, pulling her body against mine.
“What’s happening?” I whisper.
She shakes her head.
“I get it,” I mumble. “The idea of losing her is frightening. You want to be ready to make sure he doesn’t take her away but…we can’t stop living while we’re waiting for the worst of the storm to arrive. We can still sing, dance, and get ready for her. Celebrate our baby.”
She turns around and snuggles herself closer to me. Her head rests against my chest.
“I miss this,” she says. “Spending the night in your arms.”
“Me too,” I confess.
I want to tell her to listen to my heart. To listen to the many ways I love her.
“This fight is mine too, Nyx. He’s not going to take her away from us,” I say it out loud. “I understand how your mind works. You like to do things alone, but you’re with me. If there’s something I do well, it is protecting those I love.”
Placing a hand on her belly, I say, “I need you to trust me. To let me back inside because being just a spectator doesn’t help either one of us. We’re in this together, right?”
She chuckles, and then I hear her sob.
“Nyx, talk to me,” I beg.
“What can I say? Today I was thinking maybe I should just go back to Colorado, buy a house and leave this little fantasy. You’d be better suited with a woman like Persy. Just think about it. She’s fun, carefree, and doesn’t have baggage.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to blow out the candles on the cake for your pity party and end it?” I ask and smile when I feel the blueberry demon kick against my hand. “See, she wants you to stop too.”
“I’m happy. Your baggage is precious, and I can’t wait to meet her. I don’t need a carefree person who does stuff without thinking. I have enough of that with myself. I need someone who grounds me. You have flaws and I embrace them because they are part of who you are,” I assure her.
She lifts her gaze and looks at me. “How could you say that?”
“You’re the careful to my reckless. Those times when I want to be impulsive, you stop me because you’re a sensible person. This is why things work so well between us,” I explain, kissing her neck. I nibble on her earlobe, making her shiver. “You’re a planner. I like to do things on the go. If it was up to me, we’d be in Vegas, eloping.”
She laughs. “Really, in front of Elvis?”
“Wherever you want to do it,” I say, planting tender kisses all over her beautiful face. “You’ve been in your own little world for so long. Today I feel like you shut the window you had open just for me. What happened?”
She shakes her head.
“Nyx, please,” I mumble against the base of her sternum and run my lips all the way to her jaw. “What upset you?”
“I should be happy for my sister, but…envy overtook me. She’s always been in some sort of relationship. I never cared about it, but after all the wrongs she found… she found him. The perfect guy who does everything for her and adores her. They are getting married, and because I was too busy planning my future, I’m alone and terrified that I might lose my baby and…what if you and I never happen?”
She’s not saying this because she wants someone like my brother. What she wants is the security of having a steady relationship and a guy to hold her all the time. Maybe it’s not just her who retreated during these past four weeks. I might have distanced myself. Between her need to have some space, my trip to Boston, and the few issues we had with production, I’ve been neglecting her.
This stops today.
“So, you’re complaining because you get the shitty Chadwick?”
“What?” she squeaks and snort laughs. “No. I wish things between us could work, but in reality, at the end of this, I don’t get any Chadwick. I…you. We can’t.”
“Let’s make a deal,” I offer. “Starting tomorrow we forget about everything we can’t fix. You let me focus on swooning you for the next five months. We concentrate our energy on this little one who needs a name, a nursery, and love.”
“Just like that?” she asks, skeptical.
“It’s pretty simple,” I conclude, brushing my thumb along her bottom lip. “Choose being happy. I’ll take care of everything. It’s not easy to let go, but let me carry your worries and take care of my girls. Can you please trust me?”
She nods. “How do you make everything less daunting, or is it more manageable?”
“It’s a gift,” I tell her, kissing her eyelids. “Let’s get some sleep. We’re spending the weekend with your family. It’s going to be hectic.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I wait until she falls asleep before I mumble, “I love you, more than you can ever imagine.”
Forty
Nyx
November wasn’t a pity-fest, as Persy likes to call that period. It wasn’t nesting either, like Mom likes to believe. I was in a place where I felt like I couldn’t see beyond the next minute. It’s silly to say that I was scared of time, but every minute that passes is a minute closer to facing Edward and the nasty team of lawyers who are supporting his insane claim for custody.
A father who loves a kid would want to work something out with the mother of
her child to guarantee her happiness. Fighting just for the sake of winning is spiteful. Persy and Ford have assured me that I can count on all of their assets. Nate though, he will surrender his entire fortune to keep her with us.
As promised, I stop retreating inside my head and let Nate take charge. This month hasn’t been a fairy tale, but it’s certainly close to it. However, this swooning business is something he’s been doing all along. There’s so much about him that I love. My favorite part about him is how much he loves my baby.
She adores him back because every time she hears his voice, she’s kicking a storm. I can’t wait to meet her and to hold her, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be the happiest in his arms. Time with him passes pretty fast, and before I can say Merry Christmas, we are already celebrating the New Year and waving at Persy and Ford who are going to Bora Bora for their honeymoon.
Seriously, wasn’t the two-week stay in the Maldives enough?
Nate got us a two-bedroom suite because we’re still in the just friends stage of our relationship. It’s hard for some to understand, but with Edward trying to find an excuse to label me as an unfit mother, we want to keep this pretty PG, even when we share a few kisses that threaten to become only for mature audiences.
It’s getting harder and harder to stop them. My hormones keep me horny all day long, but I don’t act upon my lust. Someone should hand me a trophy, a medal, or some award. I should be part of the Guinness World Records for the most self-controlled hormonal woman living with a hot as fuck male.
“Have you ever imagined spending New Year’s Eve like this?” I ask Nate as we watch the fireworks from the veranda of the suite on a swinging cabana.
Like almost every night, my head rests on top of his chest, his hands are on top of my bump, and we are watching the sky. This time there’s more than constellations. It’s an entire show celebrating that the new year is about to start.
“With a beautiful woman in paradise?”
Didn't Expect You (Against All Odds Book 2) Page 24