Complication (Rock Stars & Romance Book 6)

by A. K. Evans

  “Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night,” I reminded him.

  He grinned and winked at me. “Have a seat and relax, baby girl. I’ll be back.”

  It wasn’t a bad idea, so I sat down to take a break. As Roscoe, his dad, and my dad all worked together to carry the gifts we’d received outside, many of our guests came up to congratulate me once more before they left. Eventually, I rested my head down on the table and closed my eyes.

  The next thing I knew, I felt my body moving.

  “What?” I mumbled.

  “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. Go back to sleep,” Roscoe said softly.

  “I have to say goodbye to everyone,” I argued, even though my eyes wouldn’t stay open.

  “I took care of it already.”

  At that, I gave in and allowed myself to drift back to sleep. But I did it wondering if Roscoe was so insistent about me resting up because he had plans for us for tonight.

  Twenty-two

  Sienna

  Overwhelmed.

  That was precisely how I felt as I stood there in the midst of all the chaos.

  Boxes and boxes surrounded me. Gift bags galore. Piles of diapers.

  There wasn’t even a corner of the room that wasn’t filled with something. And considering just how large the room was, the amount of stuff in the room was a testament to precisely how lucky this baby was.

  Apparently, after we’d come home last night, Roscoe must have worked with his dad and mine to get everything brought up to the room he’d been stockpiling baby things in. I didn’t know because he carried me in while I was still sleeping and settled me on the couch. I only knew that because I woke again when he carried me upstairs to bed.

  It made sense for now to keep everything here, considering it kept everything out of the way and a second trip to my apartment last night wouldn’t have made much sense.

  And while I’d seen all the gifts yesterday at the shower—heck, I’d opened all of them up—it felt different seeing them all here in this room. In this home.

  Just as I felt myself on the verge of a breakdown, thinking about all that I would never be able to give my baby, I heard movement behind me. I turned around and saw Roscoe standing there carrying two plates.

  “Good morning, baby. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed,” he said as he walked into the room.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I figured you’d gone downstairs to make breakfast, so I was coming down to meet you and help. But I got sidetracked,” I explained as he came to a stop in front of me.

  I gave him a kiss and took the plate from him.

  “Grab a seat,” he urged.

  That’s when I noticed he’d assembled a glider that had been one of the things he purchased a few weeks ago.

  I sat down, put my feet up on the hassock, and began gliding while I sunk my teeth into the bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel sandwich that Roscoe had made. I moaned at the taste. It was so delicious.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he said through a chuckle while he sat down on the floor against the wall.

  “The chair or the sandwich?” I teased.

  “I was referring to the food, but I’m happy to hear you like the chair too,” he returned.

  I smiled at him. “Thanks for making breakfast.”

  He shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

  And that made me feel even worse about myself. He just kept doing things for me, and I wasn’t doing anything for him. I couldn’t even stay awake.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

  Confusion washed over him. “For what?”

  “Last night,” I answered. “I know you had exciting plans, and I ruined them. I was so tired.”

  “Sienna, it’s okay,” he insisted. “Honestly.”

  “Are you sure you’re not mad?” I asked.

  He tipped his head to the side and looked at me like I had suddenly grown three heads. I thought I was asking a fair question. Apparently, Roscoe felt differently.

  “What kind of man do you think I am?” he asked. “Why would I be angry or upset about that?”

  I looked away, embarrassed that I’d made him feel that way. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just… I feel like I got your hopes up for a night of fun that didn’t happen.”

  “Baby girl, you couldn’t even open your eyes,” he reasoned. “That was mostly my fault from the night before. Let it go. I promise it’s fine.”

  I nodded and agreed, “Okay.”

  For the next few minutes, Roscoe and I both ate our breakfast and looked around at everything in the room. Eventually, I said, “This baby is so spoiled and so incredibly lucky to have you and all of our family and friends. I can’t believe how much stuff is here.”

  “Is that why you were in here?” he asked. “Trying to take it all in?”

  Shaking my head, I confessed, “I actually came in here to look for a gift bag from Chasey. In addition to the stroller that she and Beck got for the baby, she had actually picked up this pair of lounge pants that I’d told her I’d loved but didn’t get myself. I wanted to find them and wash them so I could wear them today, but I got sidetracked when I walked in and saw everything.”

  “Oh. I thought you were trying to decide on a color,” Roscoe returned.

  A color?

  A color for what?

  I must have had the confusion written all over my face because Roscoe added, “A paint color for the room.”

  My eyes went to the stark white walls. Before the room had been filled with all things baby, it was clear to see that nothing had been done here. I had to assume that Roscoe hadn’t just tossed some furniture out because he wanted to have a place to put all of this stuff.

  But now he was talking about painting this room.

  “You want to paint the room?” I asked.

  “I don’t know anything about setting up a nursery, and since we don’t know the sex of the baby, I’m not really sure what color the walls should be,” he replied.

  There were a million thoughts running through my mind at everything he’d just said, and I had a bunch of things I wanted to say. But the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Do you want to know the sex of the baby before he or she is born?”

  “What?”

  “When I thought I was doing this on my own, I made the decision to wait to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl,” I began. “But I’m not doing this on my own any longer, Roscoe. If you want to know so you can plan this room better, I wouldn’t mind.”

  Roscoe set his empty plate down beside his hip. His legs were stretched out long in front of him, one ankle crossed over the other. And he was only wearing a pair of sweats. He looked beyond sexy.

  “I’m happy to wait until the baby is here,” he said softly. “Listen, I know music. I don’t know anything about decorating. Most of what’s in this house is here because of my mom or my sister. I want your help doing this room.”

  I didn’t hesitate.

  “I think it would be really nice with a light gray and white,” I told him. “After the baby is born, you’d easily be able to add any sort of accent pieces since you’re starting with a neutral color.”

  Nodding his head, he looked around the room and said, “Gray. Okay. We can do that.” He returned his attention to me and asked, “Do you want to go with me today to pick it out?”

  My eyes widened in surprise. I definitely wanted to go with him to pick it out. “Yes!” I bubbled, nearly bouncing out of my seat. “But will you help me find these pants first? I want to be able to wear them when we get back, so I’d like to throw them in the washing machine now.”

  “Sure.”

  Roscoe was already moving across the room before I could get out of the glider. He sifted through a few bags until he finally asked, “Are these them?”

  I pulled my bottom lip in and bit down on it. Roscoe must have thought I was crazy for the level of excitement I felt over something that probably seemed so trivial to him.

  “Th
ose are what I was looking for,” I announced, scooting to the edge of the chair and dropping my feet to the floor. I got up, moved toward him, and slipped my arms around his waist. “Thank you.”

  Roscoe hugged me back and replied, “It’s just a pair of pants. It took me two seconds.”

  Tipping my head back, I looked up at him and clarified, “No. I meant what you’re doing here.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  I twisted my neck in the opposite direction and looked around the room, recognizing just how lucky this baby was to have Roscoe for a father.

  Returning my attention to him, I responded, “I’m just so grateful that our baby is going to have at least one home where he or she will have a real nursery. I won’t ever be able to give him or her any of this, but I’m really glad that you can.”

  “Sienna…” He trailed off.

  I could feel myself getting emotional. And evidently, that meant I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

  “From the very beginning of this pregnancy, I tried to be positive,” I started. “And I guess on some level I was. But when you came back from being on tour and I got the reaction from you that was less than stellar, it hit me just how hard it was going to be. I know you offered to help financially and that I turned it down. I wanted to believe that it didn’t matter. I wanted to prove, maybe more to myself than anyone else, that I didn’t need to be rich to provide this baby with a good life.”

  “You were right about that, Sienna,” he insisted.

  Shaking my head, I argued, “No. I was wrong. You have no idea, Roscoe. None. It was so hard, and I—”

  “I saw you,” he chimed in, cutting me off.

  “What?”

  “At the grocery store that day,” he began. “I know you think I simply saw you when you were in the checkout lane, but I saw you way before that. I followed you all around the store. And you… Sienna, you broke my heart.”

  I stared up at him in complete shock. The thought that he’d watched me as I walked through the store was… I didn’t know. I was trying to recall what I purchased that day.

  “You put that ice cream back in the freezer, and I hated myself,” he shared. “I watched as you punched prices into the calculator on your phone while you agonized over getting one or two packs of diapers. I saw you decide on one, start moving out of the aisle, and reconsider. I watched you go back for the second pack because you knew our baby would need it. And I witnessed you walking back to that freezer aisle to return the ice cream, the ice cream that seemed to be the only item you put in the cart that made you smile.”

  Loosening my hold on him, I took a few steps back from him. “That’s why you bought diapers,” I guessed. “That’s why you had that ice cream here.”

  Roscoe nodded, but he did it cautiously. I had a feeling he couldn’t work out my mindset at that moment. It wasn’t surprising, though, because I wasn’t sure I could either.

  “Is that also why you bought everything that Chasey told you I didn’t put on the registry?” I pressed.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  I didn’t know what to think. “So, you have been doing this to ease your conscience?” I questioned him.

  He shook his head and immediately answered, “No.”

  Maria was right. In an instant, her words came back and filtered into my mind.

  Maybe he’s doing the right thing now for the sake of the baby, assuming it’s his, but if you know him at all, you know he’s not in this for the long haul.

  Oh God. Had he been planning this all along?

  “I think I’m going to need an explanation, Roscoe,” I advised him. “Because from where I’m standing, that’s what this feels like. And if you’re telling me that’s not what this is, then I can only assume it’s your way of making sure this baby stays safe and healthy until he or she is born.”

  Roscoe jerked his head back at my statement. “And then what? What do you think is going to happen after this baby is born?”

  You know it’s only a matter of time before he kicks you out and goes back to the life he loves.

  He was going to send me packing, and every time the baby was with me, I’d know just how ill-equipped I was to provide for our child.

  “She was right,” I rasped.

  “Who? What are you talking about?” he asked.

  I spun around and held my arm out to indicate everything that was in the room. “You’ve got everything you need here,” I told him. “And because I’d like to think that you know how important this baby is to me, you know that I would want to make sure he or she has everything that’s a necessity. This baby is going to be better off here with you instead of being there with me. Maria said it, and I just didn’t want to see it. You’ll do what you’ve got to do for the sake of this baby, but what’s happening between us will never be permanent. It’s only a matter of time before you want your old life back.”

  “Sienna, stop,” he ordered.

  I shook my head and kept going. “Our baby won’t even have his or her own room at my place,” I rasped. “I live in a one-bedroom apartment and—”

  “Our baby is going to be better off with you and me both being here,” he declared.

  “Yeah, until the baby is born,” I reminded him. “That’s what we agreed upon.”

  “No. That’s what I told you to get you to reconsider going home after you landed in the hospital from that fall,” he insisted. “What you don’t know is that when Addy showed up at my house that morning, I had already decided I wanted to try this out with you. I wanted to see where it could lead. And I had every intention of asking my sister how to get in there with you.”

  “Why? Because you saw that I couldn’t provide for this baby?” I retorted.

  Roscoe let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not going to stand here and lie to you. Seeing you in that store made me take a long, hard look at things in my life. Things I’m not proud of. And yes, I felt like I needed to do something. But not because I thought you wouldn’t do everything necessary to take care of this baby. I saw you, Sienna. I saw the woman you are. That’s why you’re here now. And that’s why I want you to move in permanently. Because over these last few weeks that you’ve been here, I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  My lips parted, my heart pounded in my chest, and I swear I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. My lungs stopped functioning.

  I’ve fallen in love with you.

  I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what I could say to all of that.

  Was he being serious?

  Being in such shock, I failed to respond.

  Roscoe didn’t.

  “I don’t know why you’ve got whatever Maria said to you twisted in your head, but I’m inclined to believe it’s a bunch of shit,” he said, taking a step toward me. “I’m not playing some game with you, Sienna. I love you.”

  “Really?” I whispered.

  His arms came around me, and he pulled me close. “Yes.”

  “You want me to move in permanently?” I pressed.

  He nodded. “I do.”

  The silence stretched between us before I rasped, “I love you, too.”

  Roscoe’s eyes intensified. And the second I got the words out of my mouth, I dropped the pants I’d been holding, threw my arms over his shoulders, and kissed him.

  His tongue immediately swept into my mouth and a shudder ran through my body at the same time a groan tore up his throat.

  Roscoe pulled his mouth away from mine, bent, and lifted me in his arms.

  Then he carried me to the bedroom, where he made love to me.

  And a couple of hours later, Roscoe and I went to pick out paint for our baby’s nursery.

  It was the best day of my life.

  Twenty-three

  Sienna

  With happiness in my heart and the unseasonably cool air on my face that indicated fall was right around the corner, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I lifted my phone to my ear.

  We were getting c
loser and closer to my due date and even closer to my favorite season. I couldn’t wait for winter to get here. But even more than that, I couldn’t wait to meet my baby.

  It was the early September, and I was approaching thirty-five weeks. I was officially in the home stretch.

  And things over the last couple of weeks had been truly amazing.

  Roscoe and I had confessed our feelings to one another, things were great between us, and I had finally gotten my cast off.

  That’s why I was now walking out of the physical therapy office and making a phone call. The phone rang twice before Roscoe’s voice came through the line.

  “Hey, baby girl. Are you finished?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I just walked outside, too,” I told him. “It’s so beautiful out. Are you here?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m running behind, but I should be there in about ten minutes,” he replied.

  I looked around, thought a moment, and insisted, “It’s okay.”

  “How was therapy?” Roscoe asked.

  I smiled, loving how much he cared. Maybe he didn’t care about the details of my physical therapy session, but there was no doubt in my mind that he cared about how I was feeling.

  “It was good. My range of motion has improved, and I’m definitely much stronger than I was right after the cast came off. The plus is that my arms are beginning to look the same size again.”

  “I knew you would bounce back quickly,” he said. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, babe,” I replied. “Hey, would you mind picking me up around the corner from therapy? There’s an ice cream shop there, and I kind of have a craving.”

  Roscoe chuckled. “Go ahead. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I disconnected the call, dropped my phone in my purse, and continued my walk down to the end of the block. As I did it, I thought about everything that had been happening in my life.

  Roscoe had dropped me off about an hour ago for my therapy appointment. While I’d driven myself around since getting my cast off, today he decided to bring me since he needed to run out anyway.