40. Lark

Chapter forty

Lark

I give the waiter a smile of thanks as he sets the water glass down in front of me.

“Will you be wanting anything else to drink?”

Wanting, yes. Having, no.

“Water is fine for me. My friends might have something when they get here.”

He nods and walks away. I run my finger through the condensation on the glass. I don’t know why I’m anxious. Telling Willow and Sadie about the baby should be easy. I honestly can’t imagine them not being happy for us, even if it is unexpected.

But we haven’t told anyone aside from Dan’s parents yet. The plan is to announce it to the team after the home opener tomorrow. Dan wants to be able to focus on the game and not have anyone be distracted by the news. Of course, we didn’t account for how nervous either one of us might be about keeping it a secret until then…

“Hey, Lark!”

I look up to see Willow and Sadie weaving through the tables toward me. Standing, I hug both of them before we sit back down.

“Drinks?” Willow asks, looking at the menu. “I could go for a glass of wine.”

I shake my head. “Just water for me.”

“I’ll join you, Willow,” Sadie says in her soft voice.

“Perfect. Lark, are you sure?” Willow signals for the waiter before looking over at me. “You’re not feeling sick again, are you?”

“Not exactly.” I fidget with the paper wrapper that holds the cutlery and napkin together.

The waiter saves me from having to say anything more by taking their order for wine and some appetizers. But as soon as he leaves, Willow leans forward. She’s got her game face on. The one I’ve witnessed her use to wrangle a locker room full of players and a conference room full of media.

“Lark Miller. Spill.”

My mouth suddenly feels dry. I take a sip of water. “I’m pregnant.”

“I knew it!”

“What? How?” I ask as Willow holds her hand out to Sadie for a high five.

“Oh, come on, Lark. You were nauseous and tired, and then miraculously better. I’m guessing your doctor confirmed the pregnancy and gave you some drugs? Just because I’ve never been pregnant doesn’t mean I’m clueless to the signs.”

“Well, I sure felt clueless because that was the shock of my life,” I mumble, looking down at my glass.

“You really didn’t suspect it?” Sadie asks curiously.

“Nope. I mean, I guess I should have, seeing as the first time we had sex the condom slipped. But I truly didn’t worry. I was on the pill, making the chances so slim.”

Willow winces. “Yikes about the condom, though. Hopefully, Monty was a good boy and had a clean bill of health at his last physical.”

I only just manage to stop myself from saying that wasn’t a concern, what with it being his first time and all.

“Yeah, everything was fine. Well, except for the baby thing, but that’s fine, too.” I feel a small smile break free. “More than fine, actually.”

“I would imagine it’s pretty overwhelming,” Sadie says gently. “But it is very exciting, too. As long as you and Monty are both happy.”

“We are.” Happy is an understatement…

Our appetizers arrive, and now that I’m not feeling the pressure to tell them, I can relax and enjoy lunch with my friends. They have a hundred questions, and I answer what I can. We laugh about crazy name ideas, and nursery themes, and Willow insists she’s throwing me a baby shower in a few months during the All-Star break.

A while later, as we’re leaving the restaurant, Willow pulls me into her arms. “Ahh, I still can’t believe you’re having a baby. This is just so freaking exciting!”

“What did you just say?”

At the sound of a familiar, shrill voice, my good mood dissipates in an instant. Willow draws back and mouths sorry to me. Standing close to us is none other than Cordelia Hazelwood. I hadn’t noticed her approaching, and I’m guessing neither did Willow, who has moved to my side, tucking my arm in hers. Poor Sadie is hovering next to us. She hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting my former almost-mother-in-law. But the tension is obvious to anyone.

“Cordelia. Nice to see you. I trust you’re well?” I ask, my voice stiff. There’s no chance we can get away without a confrontation, especially if she heard what Willow said.

“Did your friend truly just say you’re with child, Lark?” Cordelia’s voice is cold. I suppose any remotely positive feelings she held toward me ended the second Baron and I broke off the engagement.

“Yes.” I force my spine to straighten and look her in the eye. “I am. And if you’ll excuse us, we need to be going. Have a nice day.”

I move past her, dragging Willow with me and hoping Sadie follows. As soon as we round the corner, however, I stumble to a stop, leaning on Willow.

“Oh God. Tell me that didn’t happen and it was just some bizarre pregnancy hallucination.”

“Um, sorry, babe, but you definitely just told your ex’s mom that you’re pregnant,” Willow says, her voice laced with sympathy.

“Hopefully, she doesn’t think the baby’s father is your ex,” Sadie says, and I look at her in horror.

“Oh shit, I didn’t even consider that.” I remove my arm from Willow’s and cover my face in my hands. “What am I going to do?”

“Nothing,” Willow says firmly, pulling my hands down. “You’re going to do nothing. You don’t owe that witch or her family anything. If Baron, for some crazy reason, thinks the baby is his, he can reach out. But didn’t you tell me you two hadn’t had sex in months? He’s not an idiot, he can do the math. Don’t let her ruin your vibe, girlfriend.”

I pull her in for a hug. “Thank you for having my back and being amazing friends. This baby is going to have the best aunties ever.”

“You’ll have a built-in babysitter in a few years when Peyton’s older.” Willow smiles. “On that note, I better get back to the office. When will you two be announcing this to the team officially?”

“After the home opener.”

Willow flashes me a thumbs-up. “Got it. My lips are sealed until then. Girl code.”

“I won’t tell Maverick anything, either.” Sadie hugs me. “But I’m also really happy for you. Monty will be a wonderful dad, he’s got such a good heart.”

We say our goodbyes and I make my way home. It’s difficult to say where feels more like that nowadays. Half of my things are at my apartment and half at Dan’s. We do need to sort out our living situation. But now, with the season starting, who knows when we’ll have time for house hunting if we decide to buy somewhere new. The easiest thing would be to just get rid of one of our apartments and move into the other. But which one?

I ponder that question the entire drive back to my apartment. When I open the door and let myself in, I look around with fresh eyes, trying to envision both of us living here, and maybe even a baby.

It’s smaller than Dan’s place, yet filled with light, and the view of the city is wonderful. As I stand in the living room, looking around, I reflect back on when Baron and I got engaged. I didn’t want to leave my apartment and move into his. I hated his apartment; it felt cold and sterile.

But when I think about moving into Dan’s, I’m filled with happiness. His spare bedroom would make a good nursery, and being so close to the stadium would be convenient. It all clicks in that moment. I want to move into his place until we decide on a long-term plan. Now I just have to wait for him to get back from the stadium so I can tell him.

To occupy my time, I start searching for moving companies. Even though I’m sure the guys would help, they’re going to be a little busy starting tomorrow. So am I, for that matter, with today being a rare day off for me.

In the middle of reading reviews for one company, my phone rings. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see Baron’s name, but I am a little disappointed. Obviously, Cordelia wasted no time in contacting her son about my news.

“Hello,” I say coolly. It might not be fair to be mad at him when his mother is the overbearing cunt.

“Hey Lark, how are you?” He doesn’t sound freaked out or worried, giving me hope that he’s using some common sense.

“I’m fine, thank you. I’m guessing your mother called you.” I jump straight to the point, not wanting to be on the phone with my ex-fiancé any longer than necessary.

Baron clears his throat. “Ah, yeah, she did. I tried to tell her I was certain it wasn’t mine, but you know how she is.”

Yeah. A freaking steamroller.

“Mm-hmm. Well, it’s not yours.”

“Cool. Yeah. I figured, seeing as we… ”

Good grief, he sounds uncomfortable. And weirdly, it makes me happy. For a man who always seemed unruffled, it’s gratifying to hear him squirm a little.

“Seeing as we didn’t have sex for, oh, what, six or seven months before we broke up? Not even the night we got engaged. Yeah, it would be tricky for you to be the father of this baby.”

“Right.”

There’s a pause, and I wonder if he’s going to ask me who is the father. Assuming he even wants to know. I don’t care either way, but I do want him to know one thing.

“I never cheated on you, Baron. The baby was conceived on New Year’s Eve.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me,” he says stiffly. I hear him exhale. “I feel like an idiot even asking this, but is it him? That baseball player?”

This time, the pause is mine.

“Yes.”

Another sigh. “How long have you loved him?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I never thought about him that way because I was with you. But he…”

“He’s better for you than I ever was,” Baron finishes my thought.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, Lark. I wish you nothing but the best.”

Even though he can’t see me, I smile. “Thank you. Same to you.”

“Right, well, I guess it’s goodbye —”

“Wait!” I interrupt. “Will you please try to get your mother to hear the truth? I don’t want her thinking the worst of me.”

Baron laughs, but there’s no warmth to it. “Not sure she deserves that, but yeah, I’ll tell her. Goodbye, Lark.”

We hang up and I stare at my phone. Why do I care what Baron’s mother believes of me? I wish I knew, but I don’t. Honestly, her opinion matters less than almost anyone else’s. Still, I don’t want people thinking I would disrespect Baron like that.

Just because we were wrong for each other doesn’t make him a bad guy.

But I certainly am glad this baby is Dan’s and not his.