Chapter 21: Chapter 21

ODETTE

Yesterday was pleasant. It had been a while since someone had taken care of me.

Reece was insistent that I should live with him, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could live independently. I had lived with Tyler, and while I took care of everything, he still controlled my life. I couldn’t do anything without his approval.

Yesterday, I felt like Reece and I reached a new level in our relationship. I wasn’t even sure you could call it a relationship, but I guessed that’s what it was.

Being with him was more than I expected, and the cuddles with breakfast the next morning were everything I needed.

We discovered that the baby loved eggs, so he had been cooking eggs for me to eat if I couldn’t stomach whatever else he cooked.

He got up early today and made me an omelet for breakfast and two egg burritos for lunch, along with some fruit.

I had a meeting to get to, so I took out my phone to check the time and saw a missed text from Tyler.

My anxiety spiked when I saw his name, but luckily, this text was him sending me his lawyer’s contact information. I quickly forwarded the information to Reece, knowing he would pass it on to his partner. I still needed to meet him, but I figured we had time since we couldn’t really do anything until the baby was here, and that wouldn’t be for a while.

“Hey, you said you wanted to see me?” Olivia asked.

I replied, “I did. That client who was giving you a hard time is just being difficult. I went over everything, and you did everything correctly. Is he still giving you a hard time?”

“He backed off once I told him my supervisor was looking into it,” she stated.

“I think he is looking for a discount by blaming your work. If you have any more issues, let me know right away.”

“I will. Thank you so much,” Olivia said excitedly.

“It’s not a problem. Keep up the good work, Olivia.”

“I will, and congratulations on the pregnancy.”

Her words took me by surprise.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I’ve picked up on how you’re sick, and you only want certain things—my sister had severe morning sickness,” she admitted.

“James is the only other person who knows, so I would prefer to keep this quiet until I’m further along.”

“Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me,” she promised.

Speaking of keeping it a secret, I needed to call Theo before he found out. I didn’t want him to think I was keeping it from him.

***

By the time I made it back to Reece’s house, I was tired, had a headache, and was hungry.

All I wanted to do was lay down and not move for anything.

“You’re home a little early,” Reece said, looking like he was in shock to see me.

“And you’re home extremely early,” I replied.

Reece smiled at me and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I wanted to surprise you, but I’m not done. I thought I had another hour.”

He grabbed my hand and guided me upstairs. I was starting to get annoyed because I hoped the surprise wasn’t moving me out of my room.

Instead of taking me to his bedroom, he took me to his office.

“I hope you like it; keep in mind that it’s not done. Close your eyes.”

I closed my eyes, and Reece covered them with his hands.

“You don’t trust me?” I asked.

“You’ll peek; you were horrible at Christmas growing up.”

We slowly walked forward.

“I hope you like it. Are you ready?”

“I am,” I squealed.

Reece removed his hand, and I quickly opened my eyes.

I was standing in front of a white crib with gray bedding and elephants on the blankets.

I turned around to face Reece and noticed he had decorated the entire room.

There was a rocking chair, a dresser, and what looked like a baby changing station that was in the process of being built.

“Why did you do this?” I asked.

“I wanted to. I wanted the baby to have a place, and I wanted you to have somewhere to put all the stuff you’ll end up getting.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears; I started crying uncontrollably.

“If you hate it, we can redecorate,” Reece quickly added.

“I love it,” I sobbed out.

“I wasn’t sure about the elephants, but I thought they were cute and gender-neutral.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you, Reece. What about your office?” I asked.

“I didn’t actually need it. I could do work at the kitchen table or in the living room.”

“I don’t deserve you,” I replied, throwing my arms around him.

“You deserve everything, Etta.”

***

The nursery was amazing.

I always stopped in on my way to and from our bedroom. I couldn’t believe he did that. It was a big commitment—a reminder that he was all in.

As a thank you, I decided to compromise and continue living with him to see how it went. A relationship was about working together.

“Thank you for meeting with me, Ms. Hart,” my lawyer stated as I entered his office.

“Please call me Etta.”

I was meeting my lawyer for the first time. Mr. Rhine was Reece’s partner and older than I expected.

“Reece has filled me in on your situation, and I’ve had a chance to talk to Mr. Johnson’s attorney. This isn’t going to be easy. You have to be willing for this to go to court.”

“I am,” I quickly stated.

“Good, because Mr. Johnson and his lawyer are petitioning to have a paternity test done as soon as it’s safe to do one.”

“That’s not bad,” I admitted.

“If it proves he’s the father, he wants to petition to be there for all the appointments and to make decisions,” Mr. Rhine added.

“How does he expect that to happen?”

“I’m getting there. The petition states that the two of you will have to live in the same area, and to be honest, if it’s approved, he’s going to try and force you to move.”

“He can’t do that,” I yelled.

“He can petition, but it’s up to the judge. Reece said he was abusive.”

“That’s why I left,” I replied.

“Do you have proof?”

I shook my head. “No, I have text messages where he alluded to things, but I don’t have physical proof.”

“It’s going to be a lot of he said, she said, so we need to be prepared for anything.”

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had no idea what was going to happen, and it scared the shit out of me.