Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty-Four

LOGAN

“Uh, I’m going to make sure she’s alright.” Everyone’s eyes burn into me as I speed-walk down the hallway. There’s no relief until I close the bathroom door.

“I hate squash,” Rae wails.

“I know,” I say as soothingly as I can. I’m lying. I don’t know. Squash has never come up before.

After a few minutes, she wipes her forehead and sniffles. “I feel better, but I don’t want to go out there.”

“We can stay here as long as you want,” I promise her.

“I love you.” She pouts. “What did they say after I departed?”

~After I departed~. I fucking love her. “They didn’t really have a chance to say anything. I came right after you.” Massaging her back lightly, I add, “Love you too.”

Yesterday, Rae told me she loved me mid-story, and when I replied, I forgot to tell her I love her too. I spent nearly an hour reassuring her that I do, in fact, love her very much. Never forgetting that again.

“They didn’t say anything at all?” She lets out a loud groan and uses my shoulder to stand up before whipping out one of her portable toothbrushes.

“That’s not good,” she continues, sending toothpaste splattering onto the mirror.

Someone knocks gently and then, “Rae? You alright in there, honey?”

Rae spits. “Put the squash outside and we can talk, Mom.”

I choke back a laugh. Never in a million years would I have thought Rae would issue an ultimatum. Definitely not one about squash, that’s for sure.

“I’ll pack it up in the ref—”

“That’s too close,” she hollers. “Backyard, please. I don’t want to walk by it.”

I hear the tiniest snort through the door. Rae doesn’t miss it either. “It’s not funny,” she shrieks. A second later, she cracks up and snorts into her palm. “No, it’s funny, but the squash has to go, Mom.”

“Alright, Rae. I’ll let you know when it’s gone.”

Rae frowns. “What if there’s a trail of squash smell leading outside?”

She declines my offer to test the air. “No, your nose doesn’t understand,” she sighs. “Your nose doesn’t have a baby.”

I don’t tell her that hers doesn’t either. I just nod understandingly and escort her back out when Mrs. Olson knocks and informs us that the coast is clear. In the living room, Brad is lighting candles.

Rae plops down in front of a vanilla one, wafting its aroma toward her nose.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandpa,” he exclaims. “Rae, I’m thrilled for you.”

Rae’s eyes fill with tears. “You’re not mad?”

He shakes his head. “Surprised? Yes. Mad? Of course not.” I breathe a small sigh of relief when he sticks out his hand toward me. “Congratulations, Logan. You excited to be a dad?”

“Yes, sir,” I answer.

“None of that ‘sir’ talk,” he laughs. “Brad, please. You should be excited. It’s the toughest, most rewarding job in the world.”

“Thanks, Brad. I’d love to, uh, talk to you about—” I cough “—about being a dad if you have some time this afternoon.”

He appraises me with his eyes. He definitely knows. “Of course I’ve got time.”

Thankfully, Rae has other things on her mind and doesn’t seem to notice our odd conversation. “Where’s Mom and them?” she asks.

“Your mother is cleaning the kitchen,” he answers with a grin. “I’m not sure about Miles and Nicole. Probably helping her out.”

“Yeah, like Miles ever cleans,” Rae scoffs.

“Rae,” Brad sighs.

“Dad,” she sighs back. “If I have a boy, I’m going to teach him to clean, and Logan’s going to teach him to cook.”

She purses her lips and whispers in my ear, “I hope she’s a girl. We’ll make her future brother take care of everything.”

I can’t help but chuckle as Rae glares at her confused father. She’s on fire today.

“Your mother was fresh when she was pregnant too,” Brad laughs.

“I’m not being fresh,” she snaps. “Right, Logan?”

“Right,” I answer immediately.

Brad raises an eyebrow at me, and I smile over the top of Rae’s head, letting him know that I secretly agree on this one.

She’s ~being~ fresh, not that she doesn’t have a valid reason. Brad didn’t deny that Miles never cleans. I’d be irked if I were stuck doing all the chores.

“Sparkling clean for your royal nose, Rae,” Miles announces. “Not a single squash particle in the air.”

“You did that for me, Miles?” Rae squeals, clapping her hands to her cheeks like she’s in that Edvard Munch painting.

I imagined a whole lot of shit possibly going down during this visit. Brad chasing me with a shotgun.

Miles shooting me with the said shotgun. I even worried that Rae’s family might disown her as she feared.

I never would have guessed the hardest part would be holding in my laughter.

“Anything for—”

Nicole cuts off her husband with a sharp glare. “Congratulations, Rae,” she says sweetly. “Being a single mom is difficult, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

The firecracker who just snapped back at Miles disappears. “I…” Rae stammers. “Logan…” Her panicking eyes lock onto mine.

“She’s not single,” I deadpan.

“Really? I thought you dumped her.”

~Fuck it~. I don’t care if Rae’s family hates me. I’ll earn myself a “no” if I can give this bitch a piece of my mind. Besides, the more I think about it, I’m pretty sure Rae will be offended if I ask for her father’s blessing.

I open my mouth, but Rae’s soft whisper tickles my ear, shutting me up before I can get a word out. “She’s just jealous I got knocked up first,” she giggles.

And the firecracker’s back.

Just in time, too. Mrs. Olson enters the room and starts asking a million questions about the baby and pregnancy, each one more personal than the last.

Rae starts doing the thing where she tries to sound bored and unaffected by someone who’s getting under her skin. I first noticed it when Michael got creepy at the office.

I think it’s her way of demonstrating that she isn’t intimidated by the person she’s speaking with.

I’d never tell her, but she’s not the greatest at feigning indifference. After the first few questions, she’s squirming uncomfortably and twisting her necklaces into a bunch.

“Kim,” Brad finally says softly, “I think that’s enough for now.”

Mrs. Olson sighs. “I’m going to be a grandmother, Bradley. I can ask all the questions I want.”

Miles raises his eyebrows. “I don’t think it works that way, Mom.” For a second, I’m shocked and grateful that Miles seems to be on Rae’s side.

Then, he opens his mouth, and something much more characteristic comes out. “So, this is an ‘oops baby’, right?”

Rae’s parents flinch. Nicole smirks. I see red. Rae’s fingernails dig into my hand. “Well, you… You were planned, and you suck,” she spits out.

An intense hatred brews in Miles’ eyes, but they aren’t focused on his sister. They’re staring directly into mine.

“You’ve changed, Rae.” He shakes his head in mock disappointment, still glaring at me, as if I’m to blame for his sister finally putting him in his place.

“Yeah, I have.” Her voice is starting to waver, but her fists are clenched, nowhere near the sanctuary of her necklaces. “Let’s go, Logan.”

“Sure.” ~Fuck~. I’m torn between remaining by Rae’s side and accomplishing my mission.

~Rae really will feel insulted if I request her father’s permission~, I convince myself like a fucking pussy, so I hug Mrs. Olson and shake Brad’s hand before pulling Rae across the ice to my car.

“I ~have~ changed,” she says. “He’s mad because he doesn’t need to protect me anymore. You’d think he’d be happy for the time off.”

“You’ve been strong as fuck the entire time I’ve known you.”

She shrugs. “I didn’t realize it until I met you.”

I don’t care that we’re in her parents’ driveway and that her family is definitely the type to look out the window and wait for us to drive away.

I lean over the center console like a teenager giving his date a goodnight kiss, cupping Rae’s face in my hands as I press my lips to hers.

She hums happily, and we stay like this, lips touching, breathing in each other, until her stomach growls.

“Baby’s hungry!” she giggles. “She’s craving tacos.”

I don’t understand how the scent of squash bothers her and tacos don’t, but I’m not here to question the pregnant lady. “Let’s get baby some tacos,” I say.

I feel like the luckiest guy in the world as we drive toward the city, debating whether vegetables belong in tacos. I mean, I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

This perfect woman not only wants to be mine but is also carrying my child. It doesn’t get better than that.

I don’t know what Brad would have said to my question, but right now, I don’t give a fuck. Rae’s “yes” is the only one I need, although I might need Zoe’s if I want to do this thing right.