It had only been two days since I found out I was pregnant, but I already knew that my little nugget was going to be special. I couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down my face as I thought about how hard this was going to be to do alone. Well, maybe not totally alone. I picked up my phone, wiped my face on my forearm, and dialed the one person I knew would never abandon me.

“Hello, Beau? I need you. I’m at my apartment.”

“Be right there, sweetheart,” was the instant reply before he disconnected.

I set my phone on the toilet seat as I struggled to my feet.

Splash.

I looked down to see my phone sinking down into my vomit in the toilet. Well, fuuuuck!

2. Axel

Axel

Five Years Ago

“So, how far along is she?” my brother asked as we sat at the bar eating spicy garlic chicken wings.

Well, now I felt like a dumbass. Hell, I felt like a dumbass from the moment I walked out Blaire’s door last night. I should have gone back right then, but I knew I needed to cool my temper before I saw her again. “I, uh, well, I didn’t ask her.”

“Huh.”

“I kinda… well, I had just sat through an entire dinner sitting next to Dad and listening to him spew all that shit about women, and about Blaire in particular, and I just…”

“You didn’t?”

“Yeah, I kinda did,” I said miserably. “I accused her of getting pregnant on purpose to trap me now that I was going to be making millions.”

The look my brother gave me was one of pity mixed with anger. “Blaire? You actually said that shit to our Blaire?”

“She’s not our Blaire,” I growled. “She’s mine.”

She is still mine, isn’t she? I know I hurt her with my ignorant bullshit last night, but I could fix that. Right?

I stared down into my beer. Yeah, I was drinking before noon. Kiss my ass. “I yelled at her and then I threw some money down on the dresser and told her to take care of it.”

Oliver slapped me on the side of my head, and I glared at him. “Ow, asshole,” I snapped, rubbing my fingers against the scalp underneath my dark hair. I wasn’t sure if I was angrier at him for smacking me or at myself for deserving it.

“You yelled at Blaire? He rolled his eyes and shook his head, mumbling, “Fucking prick.”

“I know. It was stupid.”

“And she said she wanted to get rid of it?” Oliver asked incredulously. I scraped through the ugly memories in my mind, trying to remember. Had she said that?

“Well, she said she was still going to med school, so I just assumed.”

“You know what they say about people who assume.”