“Yes.” I whispered.
He lifted his head to smile at me and dropped it again, gaze fixed on my bump. This time no one stopped me when I let my hand fall to cover it lovingly. “Is it – is it mine?”
“Of course it is.”
“We're going to have a baby?”
“Yes.”
“This is our baby?” He reached for the photo in my hand.
I smiled, “Yes.”
His expression was so beautiful, tears instantly poured down my cheeks. “We're having a baby.”
I laughed through my tears and nodded my head.
Chase ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a laugh. He looked from the picture to my stomach once more, “I love you so much.” he breathed and closed the distance between us, crushing his lips to mine.
I didn't care that his family was watching, I threw my arms around his neck and let him lift me off the ground. After I was good and kissed, he set me back down and dropped to his knees. Running his hand over my gummy bear bump, he lifted my shirt and kissed my bare stomach twice. A sob broke out of my chest and I looked at Claire who was freely crying and leaning into Robert. Even Bree was wiping a few tears away.
Chase stood back up and cupped my face in his hands, “Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was scared,” I shrugged, “I still am.”
“You don't have to be scared,” he whispered and kissed my nose, “I'll take care of us.”
I looked up at the family, “Can you guys excuse us for a minute?”
Grabbing Chase's hand, I led him up the stairs and to his room. I hadn't been in here since that heated night and I was hit with flashes of it when we stepped in. I sat on the edge of the bed, but he pulled me down so I was curled up into his side. He brought my hand up and played with it over his chest, alternating between intertwining our fingers and bringing them down so he could kiss my palm.
“I can't believe we're going to have a baby.”
I blew out a hard breath, this is what I'd been waiting for and secretly hoped I could have skipped altogether. “About that…Chase –”
He groaned, “No, don't do this again, please.”
“Just hear me out, okay? You're twenty two, you're about to graduate college, I don't want to take your life from you. If you want to live your life, I won't stop you. Just because this baby is yours, don't think that means you're forced to be with me...with us.” I pulled myself up so I could look at him, “I want you to be with us, don't get me wrong. But I will let you go if that's what you need.”
“Are you done?” He was smiling.
“Yes.”
“Harper, I love you more than I could ever explain. Meeting you changed my world. Even when I thought you would never be mine, I couldn't continue to live a life I knew you hated. The night you told me you loved me was the best night of my life, up until tonight. I never want to let you go again, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to marry you someday Harper.” He paused and searched my eyes, “I would do anything for you. I don't know what to do to make you believe me, but I'll spend forever trying to show you.”
“You want to marry me?”
“You have no idea how much.” He brought me back so I was half laying his chest.
“Not just because I'm pregnant?”
He kissed me softly, “Not at all. I gotta admit, it’s a little bit of a shock, but I’ve always thought about being with you and starting a family. And even though it’s sooner than I thought it would be, I’m so freaking excited that it’s happening. When should we be expecting him?”
“Him?”
“Yep, it's gonna be a boy.”
I laughed and ran a hand through his hair, “I'm due October fourth.”
He mentally counted the months and smiled widely when he was done. “So six months, huh? Do you want to take next year off from classes?”
“I can't go back to school.”
“Of course you can, I'll help you.”
“No, not that. I know you would.” I bit my lip and laid flat on the bed, “I told Sir that I'm pregnant.”
He squeezed my hand once, “And?”
“He uh – isn't going to pay for school anymore and he said I'm not welcome back home.”
Chase cursed under his breath, “Are you serious? We'll figure it out, if you want to finish school we'll make it happen.”
I could make it happen if I wanted to, but Gummy Bear had changed all my wants in life. “Really, I don't even want to go back after this semester, that's not why I'm sad. I just hate how he is. I hate how he resents me for being born.”
He pulled me back into his side and stroked his hand up and down my side, “It's not your fault. He's a douche and it's his loss for missing out on an amazing daughter.”
“I was afraid you'd resent me too, for getting pregnant. You wanted to stop and I pushed you.”
“It's not like you had to push hard, I wanted you so bad.”
I nodded and ran my fingers over his chest.
“I don't resent you Harper, I never will.”
We sat there for a while longer, just holding each other and sharing sweet kisses. Bree popped her head in to let us know the movie would be starting soon and left right after to give us a few more minutes.
“Harper, I want you to be mine, and not just because we're having a baby, though I'll warn you, I'm about to tell everyone that we are.” He smiled and kissed my nose, “But I want to be able to hold you in public, I want to show everyone that you're taken and you belong to me. That you’ll always belong to me. Are we done torturing each other by staying apart?”