Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“Madison, are you okay?” Aisling asked from the other side of the door.
There was no point in hiding from her. I looked like a wreck with a red face and teary eyes, so I opened the door and held up the pregnancy test.
“I didn’t plan this,” I told her. “But it happened.”
Aisling’s eyes widened in shock as she took a step closer, seeing the two blue lines that were clear as day.
“Oh, honey, it’s okay,” she said, wrapping her arms with me after I set the pregnancy test down.
I hugged her back, burying my face in her shoulder with a light sniffle.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.
Aisling rubbed my back.
“You should tell them. Or at least tell one of them and figure out what to do next,” she said. From the day me and Chloe showed up on her doorstep, I told her everything that had been going on. Being with the guys. The near kidnapping. Michael’s motive and threats. My entire crazy life. She was as supportive as I predicted she would be.
“I was thinking about telling Marlo first, but what if he’s mad that I left? What if he doesn’t hear me out? Michael threatened them, and Marlo might not want anything to do with me anymore,” I told her once I broke away from her to meet her sympathetic gaze.
“You don’t know that. You won’t know until you talk to him,” Aisling pointed out. “All they’ve wanted to do is help you, and they’re part of this pregnancy regardless of what happens with Michael.”
I released a faint sigh, knowing that she was exactly right. It wouldn’t be right to not tell them, which meant casting my fears aside and doing what needed to be done.
“I’m just nervous,” I admitted, feeling my stomach churn again. I wasn’t ready to deal with all of the pregnancy symptoms again, especially alone.
Aisling rested her hands on my shoulders and gave me a comforting smile.
“Because you care about them. You want a happy life with them, and you might get a happy family too,” she pointed out. “I’ll watch Chloe. Go talk to Marlo.”
I managed a small smile out of gratitude and nodded. No matter what, I had to try. A baby was a huge deal, and I needed an answer to know what my future was going to look like. Whether I was ready or not, it would come faster than I could ever be properly prepared for.
Chapter 23
Madison
I arrived at the tattoo shop an hour earlier than opening, my heart pounding heavily as I approached the front door.
I knew that Marlo always arrived the earliest so that he could look over the books and pick what music he wanted to play that day. As I expected, the lights were on, and I could hear the faint muffle of nineties R&B playing from inside.
At first, I couldn’t bring myself to reach out for the door handle, my muscles locking up. I hoped for the best, but that was all that I could do. Hope. Because I had no idea what was going to happen when I walked through that door.
I breathed in deeply before pulling open the door and stepping inside of the tattoo shop, hearing the light swishing of papers as Marlo stood at the front desk. I didn’t even take two steps forward before he looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of me.
Marlo immediately strode over to me with a straight look on his face. At first, I thought he was going to berate me, but he pulled me into his arms instead, enveloping me in the smell of laundry detergent and intoxicating cologne.
“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been worried sick,” Marlo asked as he kept his arms wrapped around me like he was afraid of letting go.
I sank into his hold for a few seconds, having missed this so damn much. I gripped his black jacket as a surge of emotion hit me, my eyes immediately watering.
“Oh, damn it,” I whimpered as the tears started pouring again.
Marlo pulled away with a worried look on his face as I cried on the spot. He cupped my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked.
Between everything going on and my hormones, I was going to be a crying mess for days.
“I’m sorry for disappearing, but there’s something important I have to tell you,” I told him as I gripped his forearms, my eyes meeting his.
Marlo’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“What is it?” he asked.
I parted my lips to speak, but my throat grew so tight that I couldn’t force a single word out. A few more tears spilled down my cheeks as I swallowed hard, knowing that I couldn’t back out now.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurted out before I could chicken out.