Chapter 16

Amber

"Don't call me Babe!" I practically yell at him.

"Sheesh! Are you having your period? You're so worked up for no reason." I squeeze my eyes shut. I don't even bother explaining to him that I don't even have a period while I'm pregnant. "I don't even want you in my car." He disappears, and I bite my tongue to keep from calling him back. Because as much as I don't want to ride with him, I don't want to be in this parking lot at night all alone. But I can't bring myself to do it, so I open the Uber app instead. After a nerve-wracking twenty-five minutes, I finally get in the backseat of my ride and do my best not to fall asleep on the way home. When I finally get home, I thank my driver and drag myself inside. After unlocking the door, I'm surprised to see the lights still all on. "Mom?"

"I'm in the kitchen, Love."

"You would not believe the day I had," I say, kicking off my shoes and dropping my bag. "Cal would not leave me alone. He kept trying to bring me home, but I wouldn't let him. And then my car broke down, and he was going to give me a ride; but then he didn't. And then he left me there. I had to catch an Uber, and I was scared I was going to die in the middle of the dark parking lot in the—" My words come to a crashing halt as I step into the kitchen. I stare at the big guy sitting at the table with my mom.

Rico's eyes lock with mine. "Who's Cal?"

I look between him and my mom and then back to him. "What are you doing here?"

Before he can answer, I see the pizza on the table. "Pizza! Oh my goodness." I throw the lid back and stare down at it, suddenly more hungry than I've ever been in my entire life. I snag a piece and take a huge bite, and my eyes nearly roll back in my head. When I open my eyes, both Rico and my mom are staring at me. "What?" I ask, licking sauce off my finger.

"Honey, are you okay?" my mom asks in concern.

"I haven't eaten anything since this morning, and I know how terrible that is."

"Why haven't you eaten?" my mom asks as I dive back for a second bite. I have a feeling I'm going to regret this soon, but I'm so hungry right now.

"I just got too busy." I pause before my next bite. "Is it okay that I'm eating this? I didn't even ask."

"Eat as much as you want," Rico says. "Just...don't get sick," he adds as almost an afterthought.

I smile at him. "No promises."

His eyes widen slightly, but he doesn't say anything. And I go back to devouring my pizza. Rico stands. "You can sit here."

"No, I'm going to bed; you can sit here," my mom says as she stands. "Thank you for the pizza and all the other stuff," she says to Rico.

"What stuff?" I ask in between bites.

My mom kisses my forehead. "Night, Baby."

"Night, Mom." She disappears, and I slide into her seat. Rico stands up and walks out of the room for a moment but comes back with a water bottle.

"Oh, thanks," He even opens the cap for me.

"So, who's Cal?"

I shake my head as I take another bite. "Only the most annoying guy on the planet. He won't get it that I'm not interested . Tonight, he even told me it's okay that I'm pregnant...like he was giving me his permission ." I use my fingers for quotation marks. "Who even does that? And we're not even dating. He won't get it that I'm not interested. And when I finally snapped at him, he asked me if I was on my period. I can't even have a period while pregnant!" My brain finally catches up, and I remember who it is I'm talking to. I grimace. "And that was way more than you wanted to know about me."

"Not really. You said he left you in the parking lot by yourself?" he asks. I nod and take a long swallow of water. He's quiet for a few beats. "You work at the library on campus?"

I nod again. "This pizza is so good. Where is it from?"

"Xpress Pizza. What are your normal hours?"

"I'm there right after lunch every day until closing. I clock in at one and get done a little after ten every day except Thursdays. Thursdays I don't start until two."

"How come you didn't eat today?" he asks, surprising me with the change of topic.

"I got busy and didn't get something to eat."

"You don't take lunch with you?"

I scrunch up my nose. "I'm always going to pack a lunch before I leave for the day, but I always run out of time. And yes, I know I'm irresponsible. I'm going to do better. I spent three hours trying to get everything planned out, so I can be a responsible human being." I sit back in my chair, finally feeling full. "That was really good pizza; thank you."

"I think you're really hard on yourself," he says, surprising me.

"Or not hard enough," I argue.

"You're going to class full time and working a full-time job on top of growing a baby. I think you're doing pretty well."

I put my hand on my belly. "Yeah, well, there are alot of things I've messed up."

"We all have," he argues. He studies my face a minute. "You look better."

"I feel really good right now, after that pizza. We'll see if I regret it later." I take a deep breath, feeling myself relax for the first time today. "Why are you here?"

"I dropped some stuff off," he says vaguely.

I look around the kitchen. "The pizza?"

"Well, that too."

"Are you being purposefully vague, Rico?"

He runs a hand over his chest. "I brought some stuff for you and the baby."

Surely I didn't hear him right. "What?"

His eyes meet mine. "I just brought over some stuff."

"Some stuff," I repeat slowly. He nods. "Well, where is it?"

"Your mom told me to put it in your room."

I stare at him. "You didn't have to do that"

He shrugs. "I wanted to."

Suddenly, I'm not as tired as I was a little while ago. I stand up and push my chair in. "Can I see it?"

He chuckles. "Yeah. And Amber, I'm not taking any of it back. You're keeping all of it."

I give him a mock look of horror. "No takebacks, Indian Giver. Of course, I'm keeping it. Can I see it now?"

He gives me a warm smile and stands up, suddenly towering over me and dwarfing me. "Only if you smile at me like that all the time," he says in a low voice.

I give him my best cheesy grin. "Like this?"

He shakes his head. "If that's all I can get, then yes." He swipes my nose. "Come on, let's go check it out." I follow him to my bedroom and stare. There are three baskets stuffed to the brim. "It started out with stuff for you."

I start looking through the baskets. There are boxes of saltines, lemonade bottles, apple juice bottles, lemon drops, ginger ales, ginger candies, vitamins, an essential oils kit, a diffuser, wristbands that say they're for nausea, a water bottle with markings on the side for tracking water intake, an electric blanket, the softest sweater, a candle, and more.

"That's unscented; I didn't want to make you sick," he says when I pull out the candle. I pull out a white box that's unmarked. When I open it, I stare at it.

"You got me a Kindle?"

"I loaded it with several of your favorite authors, according to Bri and your mom. I thought maybe for when you were sick..." his voice trails off. I go back to the basket and pull out a spray bottle. "That's a mix of water and magnesium. It's supposed to help with the nausea."

I set it back, trying not to be completely overwhelmed. And then I pull out a gift bag with the word, Baby, written in big letters. I pull out the tissue paper and gasp softly. I pull out the softest green blanket I've ever felt. Next, I pull out little green baby socks. Then I pull out a green onesie that says Green Thunder across the front in white letters and a baby beanie that matches. I shake my head and blink back tears. "Rico," I swallow down the emotion. "Sorry, Pregnancy hormones." When I lift my head, he looks unsure of himself and my heart turns to a puddle of goo. "I can't believe you did all this for me."

"I hope I'm not overstepping."

I drop the onesie into the basket and spontaneously wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Rico. This is the most amazing and thoughtful gift I've ever received." His arms wrap around me, and I bury my head in his chest, allowing myself this moment of weakness before I step back. "Thank you, seriously."

"You're welcome. I can't wait to meet him or her." I look away because I don't know if I can handle him being so nice to me. A huge yawn escapes me. "I'm going to go so you can get some sleep."

"Thank you, Rico for all this and for the pizza as well and for just...being really nice...and good to me."

He studies my face. "You're welcome. It's not that big a deal."

I laugh dryly. "It really is."

"I'm sorry I didn't get it to you sooner. I was waiting on the baby beanie to come in, and it took several weeks longer than it was supposed to."

"It's okay. This is perfect. Thank you."

He walks to the door, and I turn on the outside light and follow him out into the chilly night. I'm glad I still have my sweater on. "Amber, before I leave, will you please tell me what you wanted to ask me that night a few weeks ago?"

I blink. "Rico, I don't even know what I ate for dinner last night; I don't remember something from a few weeks ago."

"You showed up at the end of practice with Bri and wanted to ask me something."

Oh.

" You remember."

"It's not important," I say, waving him off.

He lifts an eyebrow. "You came all the way to a private practice to seek me out, and it's not important?"

"Nope."

"Amber."

"Rico," I return.

"Come on, Amber. Please tell me."

I blow out a breath, suddenly feeling my exhaustion all the way to my toes. "I just wanted to ask for a loan." I don't think I could have shocked him more. And I hate myself for it. "Never mind." I turn to go back inside, but he puts his hand on my arm, halting me.

"Wait."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You did so much for me. Please, Rico. Please just forget about it."

"Amber, come on. Just talk to me. What do you need?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. Please don't worry about it."

He looks back at the house. "For the house?"

"No. Don't worry about it."

"Amber, please tell me."

I blow out a deep breath. "My insurance is terrible, but it's fine. I'll figure it out."

"What are you doing for appointments then?" he asks with a frown.

"I found a clinic that accepts my insurance."

"Is it a good one?" he asks.

It's terrible. " It's fine," I say out loud.

He cocks his head to the side, studying my face. "Your mom said you pay for her meds too."

I nod. "I do."

"And how's that going?"

I push my shoulders back. "It's going."

"How much do you need?" he asks softly.

"Please just let it go," I ask. I'm embarrassed that I even told him what I was thinking.