Redeem Me: Oakville Series:Book Four (19 page)

“Did you know that you’re...we’re, pregnant?”

Chelsie

“A
ngel, I had no idea. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I quickly explain. How did this happen? He must be furious with me. This wasn’t something I planned, but I can’t help the excitement that bubbles inside me. Without thinking, I take my hand, place it on my belly, and move it back and forth over the spot where our baby is.

“I was shocked when I first heard, but now I’m thrilled. You have nothing to worry about, sweet pea. We’re in this together. I’m not going anywhere,” he says, his tone sincere. His eyes shine with love for me and my heart swells. “There’s something else I need to tell you,” he says nervously.

Apprehension quickly replaces the elated feeling I just had. I should’ve known everything wouldn’t be as perfect as I thought. Holding my breath, I wait for the other shoe to drop.

“Sweet pea, we’re having twins,” he says excitedly. My mouth drops open and I can’t seem to speak. I’m not sure which shocks me more: the fact that we’re having twins or that Angel seems excited.

“Twins? Really?” I question. One is a shock, but two is crazy. We’ve only been together a couple months. Is he really okay with this? “How are you not a little freaked out by this?” Angel chuckles. I love hearing him laugh.

“I’ve had a couple weeks to process it all. I’ll admit, I was a little freaked at first.” At least I know it’s not just me. “The doctor has been doing ultrasounds every couple days to make sure the babies are okay.” He looks so proud every time he talks about the babies. “I can’t wait for you to see one. It’s amazing.” He sounds so excited, it makes me excited.

Though, if I were honest with myself, I’m still a little freaked out. This is all happening so quickly. Here I was just getting used to being in my first relationship and now I’m pregnant—with twins. And there’s still the whole issue with Kayleigh. That is what started our fight to begin with. What if he really can’t forgive me for going to Beasley? Will finding out Kayleigh is his sister cause him to go off the deep end?

“Don’t over think things, sweet pea. We’re gonna be just fine. I promise,” he says, then places a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. Slowly, my worries melt away—at least for right now.

Chelsie

I’
m finally going home today. Three weeks in the hospital was more than enough. Thankfully, I was asleep for two of those weeks or I would have really been going crazy. I am going to miss the ultrasounds, though. Angel was right about them being amazing. It’s hard to believe I can love these babies so much without even holding them in my arms.

“What has you smiling so big?” Angel asks. Involuntarily, my hand goes to my belly. Angel’s hand leaves the steering wheel and joins mine on my belly. He’s in love with these babies as much as I am. And that scares the hell out of me and melts my heart all at the same time. Can a man really change? And so quickly, at that? One day, he’s sleeping his way through town, and the next, we’re in a relationship. That in itself worries me. I can feel my smile fade and my body tenses. We are still in the getting-to-know-you stage. What if he realizes he would rather go back to the bachelor lifestyle? Any normal man would be freaked about their girlfriend getting pregnant, but this is Angel. He has to be freaked times five.

“You went from smiling to frowning awfully fast. Where’s your head, sweet pea?” he questions, sounding a bit worried.

“You seem really okay with everything. A little too okay. How are you not totally freaked out by the fact that we’ve only been dating a few months and now we’re having twins? Are you truly okay with all this?” While I’m ranting, his hand continues to rub my belly gently.

“I promise you I’m okay with all of it. When I thought I lost you, my whole world changed. I realized I wanted the things I’ve always tried to avoid because I thought I didn’t deserve them. Even before I found out about the babies, I knew I wanted us to be together. Yes, I’m a little scared, but not of being with you or the babies—I’m afraid I won’t know what to do, that I won’t be a good father,” he says honestly.

“I have no doubt you’ll be an excellent father. I’ve seen you with Amber and Holly’s babies. You’re a natural.” I give him a warm smile. I want to believe him, but I just can’t see him being this calm. I glance out the window and see we are passing our apartment. “Uh, I thought we were going home?”

“We are. I have a surprise for you. Hopefully this will show you how okay I am with everything and how much I love you and our babies,” he states. What can I say? He always seems to say all the right things to put my mind at ease.

Angel pulls into the neighborhood Paul and Holly live in. He drives past their house to the end of the street. There’s a beautiful little house that sits on a cul-de-sac. It looks like something from a movie. The lawn is perfectly green, and a white picket fence encloses the front. A winding walkway lined with an array of multi colored flowers connects the driveway to the front porch. The house is light blue with white trim. Angel pulls the car into the driveway and puts it in park.

“Angel? I’m not really in the mood to visit anyone. I’m kinda tired,” I whine. I don’t mean to be a rude, but I really am tired and want to crawl into my comfy bed. He gets out of the car, opens my door, and holds out his hand.

“We aren’t visiting anyone. I want to show you something. Your surprise is here,” he says, his voice laced with excitement. Eyeing him skeptically, I allow him to help me out of the car. Noticing my apprehension, he squeezes my hand. “Trust me.”

I smile at him as he leads me up the walkway. He pulls a key from his pocket and unlocks the front door. When the door opens, the breath is knocked out of me. In the living room, there is a mixture of my and Angel’s furniture. Pictures that were hanging up in my apartment are now on the walls of this house. I look up at Angel, puzzled.

“What do you think of our new home, sweet pea?” he asks, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Our new home? Tears roll down my cheeks and I sway a little on my feet. Angel scoops me up and places me gently on the couch. “Don’t you like it? I should have asked you first. I’m sorry. This was a stupid thing to do on my own,” he panics. His wide eyes and sweat-soaked skin as he stares at me, waiting for a response, is rather cute.

“I love it. I was just surprised. It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. The house is beautiful and absolutely perfect,” I tell him, watching relief wash over his face. “How about giving me the tour? I can’t wait to see the rest.” With an enormous smile on his face, he scoops me up in his arms again and carries me throughout the house, showing me every room.

First is the kitchen. With its stainless appliances, tile floors, and granite counter tops, it’s beautiful. The pantry is large enough to hold my car. From there, we see the dining room. I can picture us having all our friends over for dinner in the spacious room.

“You can put me down if I’m getting too heavy,” I say, giggling, though I’m hoping he wants to keep carrying me. I’m rather enjoying it.

“You’re not too heavy. Not yet, anyway. Pretty soon, I may not be able to do this,” he jokes. I slap his chest and feign anger. Until now, I hadn’t thought of the fact that I’m going to be as big as a bus. The image of myself with a huge protruding belly scares me.

“Stop it. I was just joking. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than my girl carrying our twins.” As always, he knows exactly what to say to calm my self-doubt. I am so in love with this man.

We continue through the rest of the downstairs. There’s a family room, a study, and a full bathroom. We ascend the stairs and he takes us directly into the master bedroom. With a fireplace in the corner and a sitting area in the opposite corner, it’s magnificent. I don’t fail to notice the brand new king size bed. I always teased him about not knowing who could’ve been in his bed and he hated my tiny double bed. Now, we’ll both be happy. He sees me looking at the bed and smiling. “I thought you’d be pleased with that,” he states, sounding all proud of himself for thinking of it. I nod and we continue with the tour. The bathroom has a walk-in shower and a large garden tub. I’m going to live in this bathroom. Long hot bubble baths with a good book—I’m relaxed just thinking about it.

The tour progresses to two guest rooms and another moderate sized bathroom that sits between them. When we reach the end of the hallway, Angel tells me to close my eyes. I do as I’m told, and he leads me through a doorway.

“Okay, sweet pea. Open them up,” he says excitedly. Slowly, I open my eyes and gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “I knew you’d want to pick out all the items for the nursery, so I thought I’d do this just to give you the image of what it could look like,” he says, waving his arm to the cardboard cutouts of nursery furniture he placed in the room. The only real piece of furniture in the room is a large, comfy-looking rocker in the corner. Walking over to the rocker, he sits, taking me with him. He cradles me sideways on his lap, like you’d do a small child. I feel safe and loved like this in his arms. I feel so blessed that he seems genuinely excited about the babies.

“Thank you. I love it all, and I love you,” I whisper. He squeezes me a little tighter, and I feel him smiling against my head.

We sit here for hours discussing our future. Names we have in mind for the babies, whether we want girls, boys, or both. We learn so much about each other and the type of parents we want to be. The evening is amazing, until he tells me about the perfect family he wished he had and how he’ll make sure our family is different. Guilt consumes me as I think of Katie, or Kayleigh—whoever the hell she is. As much as I hate to ruin this amazingly perfect night, it’s time to tell him what I know. I take a deep breath in hopes of steeling myself, and begin.