Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?” Blaze asked after he’d swallowed his bite of food.
“Montana was crying when I got home today, writing in a journal.”
He nodded. “I caught her writing in it a couple of times,” he said. “Was it the journal on the table?”
I nodded. “She came to a decision about our baby.” Blaze jerked his head back to look at me, his fork raised halfway to his mouth. I drew in a deep breath. “She’s decided on adoption.”
“Shit,” he swore, having the same reaction I had when I heard the news. He set his fork down and ran his hand through his hair. “Is she okay?”
I shrugged. “She cried herself to sleep. She thought I’d hate her.” I shook my head. “You and I both know I’m not capable of hating her. But this is something she’s got to come to terms with on her own. She’s made her decision. We need to stand by her and remind her that whatever decision she makes is what is best for her, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
He nodded in agreement. “I’ll take tomorrow off,” he said, grabbing his phone off the counter to check his calendar. “I’ll talk to her about some adoption options. Might be a good idea to call John and have him take tomorrow off, too. Montana is going to need her brother after the day she had today.”
I nodded in agreement and left the kitchen, already pulling my phone from my pocket. John answered on the fourth ring, right before I would have gotten his voicemail, which he still hadn’t set up.
“What?” he grunted. “Fucker can’t sleep anymore.”
I snorted. “Your sister decided on adoption,” I told him.
“Fuck,” he swore, sounding much more awake now. “How is she?”
“She’s sleeping right now,” I told him. “But I think she’s going to need you tomorrow. Think you can swing by sometime after lunch? Blaze is going to talk to her about her decision probably sometime tomorrow morning.”
“Don’t ever have to ask me that, Jonah,” he told me. “Let Blaze know I’ll be there to pick her up tomorrow afternoon.”
We ended the call, and I got up, heading back into the kitchen. Blaze clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Make sure you eat. I’ll make sure Montana gets a big breakfast in the morning.”
“Thanks, man.”
He nodded and disappeared from the kitchen, most likely going to shower and crash into bed with our woman.
It had apparently been a long day for all of us.
16
Blaze
Montana was sluggish this morning, and I couldn’t really blame her. After finding out she’d cried herself to sleep last night and gone to bed without eating anything, I hadn’t expected her to be up and ready to do anything.
I handed her a cup of decaf coffee when she sat at the bar. “Thanks,” she whispered.
I pressed a kiss to her lips and moved back to the stove to make breakfast for her—pancakes and eggs. “Want to talk to me about last night?”
She shook her head. “No,” she croaked, tears thick in her voice. “But I need to.”
“Good girl,” I praised. She was learning that holding everything in wasn’t healthy. Every day, she got better at opening up.
She tightened her hands around her coffee mug. “I decided to choose adoption.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “I just hate how shitty I feel for it,” she confessed.
“You’re not a shitty person, Montana,” I told her, my voice stern. “You’re making the decision you feel is best for both you and your child. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Her lips trembled. She swiped at her eyes. “Can we meet with an adoption agency today?” she asked me.
I nodded. “Of course, we can, sweetheart,” I assured her. Fuck, I knew this decision wasn’t easy for her, but she was being so fucking brave. And she was talking to me about what she was feeling instead of lashing out. That was a huge improvement from when we first got together. I was so goddamn proud of her; words couldn’t even begin to express it.
“Can you eat for me?” I asked, plating the pancakes and eggs.
She nodded. I set the plate in front of her and then worked on making my own breakfast. Today would be a hard day for her, but I knew her time with John would help.
For Montana, there was nothing better than spending the day with her big brother. He was her rock before me and Jonah, and I’d never let anything destroy that.
Montana
I was ready for a fucking nap. I hadn’t cried this much in a twenty-four-hour period ever. But I’d just signed paperwork to officially begin looking for a potential family for my baby. And that had been harder than I thought it would be. But I still felt this was the best decision for me and for this child.