Tears rushed to Julie’s eyes again. She hadn’t looked in a mirror, but she figured her eyes were already red and swollen. She’d cried over him long enough. “You’re forgiven,” she said stonily. “Thank you for stopping by to apologize.”

When she started to close the door, he pressed the flat of his hand against the exterior side of the portal. “Please. I’ve been thinking about the baby. About what I said about not wanting it at my age. And then about how scared I was when you got so upset. I was afraid for you. I won’t lie about that. But mostly, Julie, my first instinct was to be afraid for our baby. It’s got such a fragile grip on life right now.”

Julie just stared up at him. She felt so empty inside, so horribly empty.

“I love it already,” he said softly. “God only knows how, but the feeling’s there, Julie. I told you before that I’d always wanted children. All my adult life, I wished I could meet the right lady and raise a family. You just hit me with it so suddenly. I didn’t have time to think it through or absorb what it meant. And I just blurted out my first reaction, that I didn’t want a baby at my age. Which was true. In that moment, it was true.”

“We’re a package deal, Blackie. I’m having this baby, and I’m keeping it.”

“I know, and I understand that. I’m just asking you to forgive me for what I said and allow me to be a part of this.”

Julie remembered her first reaction when the doctor had asked if she might be pregnant. She’d been appalled at the mere suggestion. And she’d actually thought, I don’t want a baby. She hadn’t said the words aloud, but after the shock wore off and she had a moment alone, she fell in love with the baby. Maybe, she thought with a tiny glimmer of hope, Blackie had, too.

“I’m sorry I dumped it on you the way I did. I planned to tell you after dinner, or maybe during dinner. But I was so afraid of your reaction, and I’ve felt so sick all day. If you were going to dump me over it, I just wanted to say it and be done with it, no matter what happened.”

Blackie passed a hand over his eyes. “Dump you? Julie, you’re a dream come true for me. The joy of my life.” He turned his palms upward like a supplicant. “I know you can’t forget those first words that popped out of my mouth, but I swear to you and before God that I didn’t really mean them. In fact, I’m feeling really excited now. About the baby, I mean. And I’m even thinking about more kids. If we have them soon, I’ll be young enough when they’re teenagers to still be a fairly good father.”

Julie placed a hand over her abdomen. More children? She was just getting her mind wrapped around having one. “Maybe you should come in. I need to sit down.”