Sinful Ever After (Sinful Serenade Book 5) (16 page)

"Fuck no." He stares at me like I'm crazy. "Did Miles put you up to that?"

God, Miles is ridiculous too. And Pete—he acts all quiet and sweet, but he's the filthiest pervert of them all.

All of them are my family. It's not a traditional family, but so what? It's mine, and they're going to make great aunts and uncles.

If I'm pregnant.

Tom looks from me to Willow to Drew. He makes eye contact. "You hung over or pregnant?"

"Tom!" Willow squeals.

"It's okay. She asked me the same thing," I say.

Drew clears his throat.

This does nothing to move Tom and Willow.

"I don't know yet," I say. "I haven't taken the test."

Willow leans in to whisper in his ear.

His eyes light up. He nods.

The girl has his number.

She looks at me. "We'll be at the table. If you want to skip out on breakfast, we can handle it. Just text me."

"Maybe
we
should practice the mechanics of making a baby," Tom says. "Don't want to get rusty."

"At the table?" She raises a brow.

"No, kid, don't be ridiculous. At the hostess stand."

"We already decided we're adopting, but sure, I'll play into your fantasy. Back in our hotel room. After breakfast." She kisses him then turns to me. "Good luck. Call if you need anything."

Tom follows her out of the bathroom.

Drew comes closer. He sits on the ground next to me. The expression in his dark eyes is soft.

"We have a weird family." I squeeze his hand. "But I wouldn't trade them for the world."

"Me either." His dark eyes fix on me. "Are you ready?"

"Will you read the results?"

He nods.

"Then I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

He pulls the test from my purse and hands it to me. "You can do this."

I step into the stall and take a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

––––––––

D
rew

Two-minutes fifty-nine seconds. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven.

Fuck, this is going to be a long three minutes.

Kara washes and dries her hands. She stares at the test sitting on the counter. Her big brown eyes fill with anxiety. I can practically see her neck and back tightening.

There's nothing I can do to change the results or make them come faster. But I
can
ease the agony of waiting.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her close. She's a strong person. It's easy to forget how petite she is. She barely comes up to my chest.

Her voice is a little louder than a whisper. "Are you terrified?"

Only that she's going to break. She's still shaking. I rub her shoulder with my thumb. She purrs, leaning into the gesture.

I rub a little harder. "I'm ready to know."

"You're brave."

"You too."

She shakes her head.

"Say it. You're brave."

"I'm brave
sometimes
."

"You're lucky you're pressed against me, or I'd give you a hard time about this shit."

"You should give me a hard time as soon as possible."

Fuck yeah. Soon as we deal with this.

She digs her fingers into my t-shirt, holding onto me like I'm her life vest. It feels fucking good bringing her comfort, knowing I'm taking some of the weight she carries around on her shoulders.

I'm not sure how we manage to stay alone in the bathroom, but we do. All three minutes, I stand here, holding Kara.

The timer beeps.

The test is done.

Kara takes a step backward. She looks up at me. "Are you ready?"

I nod. I am.

I take the test from the counter and turn it over.

Two lines.

Positive.

Kara is pregnant.

Fuck.

This is fantastic.

The two of us having a family—it's real. It's happening.

"Drew..." Her voice is timid. "What does it say?"

I meet her gaze. Those big, brown eyes of hers are filled with that same anxiety.

I slide my arms around her waist and pull her closer. My voice is bright, excited. "You're pregnant."

Her eyes go wide. "I am?" She takes the test from my hands and stares at it.

Moments pass as she takes it in. I'm not sure what's going through her head. I hate not knowing what's going through her head, but I have to give her time.

"I'm pregnant," she whispers.

No sense in beating around the bush. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm pregnant." Her voice lifts. "I can't believe it." She takes a deep, slow breath and looks up at me. "This is good."

"This is fucking great."

She nods. Her lips curl into a smile. She tosses the test on the counter and jumps into my arms. "We're gonna have a baby."

I hold her closely. "Yeah, we are."

When our embrace breaks, she looks up at me. Her smile widens. Her eyes brighten. "You look happy."

"I am." I run my fingers through her hair until she looks up at me. Understanding passes between us. Kara and I are a team. We come before everything else in the world. Our family comes before everything else. "As long as I'm alive, you'll never be alone. This kid too."

"Okay."

"I'll figure this out. Trust me." I look into her big, brown eyes. "I don't want to be like my father. I want to be there every fucking second till that kid is yelling at me to give him space and locking himself in his room."

She laughs. "Are you going to tell your parents?"

"No. I don't want my mom getting in his way the way she did with me. Whatever this kid wants, he's going to get it."

"What if she hates the guitar?" Kara teases.

"With half my DNA? Not possible."

"But what if she does?"

"Then she hates the guitar. But that won't happen. I'll teach her to play as soon as she can hold a guitar."

She looks up at me. A playful smile spreads over her face. "What if she only likes rap music?"

"Then we'll soundproof her room. And ours." I pull Kara into my chest again. She's warm, and she smells good. "We should soundproof our room no matter what. I'm not gonna hold back on fucking you because I'm afraid of waking the baby."

She laughs. "Good." Her voice softens. "Do you think... for the name. Alex. Alexander if he's a boy, and Alexandria if she's a girl? After my dad."

I melt. That's perfect. "Of course."

She smiles. "Really?"

I nod.

"That will make Mom happy." She squeezes me. "I'm terrified of what she'll say."

"She'll be happy."

"You think so?"

I have to admit I'm stretching the limits of my knowledge. Kara's mom hasn't always been as supportive as she could be. But the way she looks at Kara—she'll come around.

I rub her shoulders. "Yeah, but let's not worry about it right now. Let's soak in the good news for a while."

Her voice wavers. "That sounds nice, but... maybe not the most possible."

"It's okay you're scared." I lean down to press my lips to her forehead. "I'm scared too. But I think we should continue this conversation outside the bathroom."

She laughs. "True. I'm going to wash up. I'll meet you at the table."

"I love you, Kara. We can do this."

She nods. "We can. If we do it together."

***

T
om and Willow are waiting at the table. They're teasing as they feed each other bites of toast and eggs.

They really are happy.

It's fucking weird that Tom is married to my sister. Not sure it will ever stop being weird, but I'm happy she's happy.

Tom nudges her. He practically points to us. Then the two of them are exchanging whispers.

Kara squeezes my hand. A nervous look spreads over her face.

I rub her shoulders. "They'll be happy for us."

She nods, but her big brown eyes stay nervous.

Tom rises as we approach the table. He looks from Kara to me. His eyes fix on Willow. "I told you she was pregnant."

"Tom!" She shakes her head, but she's smiling. My sister looks at me. "Is it true? Are you?"

"Yeah," I say.

Willow claps her hands together. "Oh my God. That's great! Are you happy? You look scared. But happy. It
is
scary." She jumps to her feet and hugs Kara. Then she hugs me. "I'm excited for you."

Tom nods. He hugs Kara. I try to shake his hand, but he shakes his head and pulls me into a hug.

"Happy for you two." He steps back and looks at me. "Don't worry about band shit. We'll figure it out."

Kara presses her lips together. "I... I don't want this to be the thing that breaks up Sinful Serenade."

Tom waves his hand in a
don't worry about it
gesture. "It won't. Worst case scenario, we replace Drew."

I scowl.

Kara frowns.

"Kidding." Tom looks to me. "Shit. Nothing is coming to mind, but we've got time. Enjoy your news. Go have crazy sex or some shit like that."

Willow laughs. "Sex isn't the solution to everything."

"Gonna have to agree to disagree there." Tom shoots her a flirty look. "Or I could prove you wrong."

"Later." She looks at him with adoration then she turns her attention to us. "We're happy for you. Really. And happy we'll be an aunt and uncle. Everyone else will be happy too."

"Thanks." Kara tries to smile, but it's not quite there. "Keep it between us for now. I don't want to usurp the wedding."

Tom nods. "Seriously, Kara, the band will be okay. We'll figure it out."

"How?" she asks. Her voice is dripping with anxiety.

It's a fair question. I don't own a teleporter. I can't exactly fly home between gigs, not when they're two days apart.

Something has to give. Either I'm home less or I'm on the road less.

It hits me like a ton of bricks. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I am.

I kiss Kara on the forehead. "I'm gonna make a call. I'll be back in a few."

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

"Everything is fucking great, Kendrick." I take a moment to take her in. She's scared, but there's happiness in her expression too.

Tom was right. Her chest is bigger.

Damn, her tits are gonna get huge. Can't complain about that.

I step away so dirty thoughts won't take ahold of me.

This is an obvious solution.

But I still can't believe I'm doing it.

Hell, I'm not sure my ego can handle it.

I find a semi-quiet spot and I call Ethan—he's the guitarist of Dangerous Noise, the band opening for us on the tour that starts in two weeks-and bring the phone to my ear.

I was the original guitarist for Dangerous Noise. At this point, there are only two original members of the band left. It's normal for small bands. Most people are in half a dozen bands before one sticks.

But I'm still worried. I didn't exactly make a good impression by stealing the former lead singer's girlfriend and generally being a narcissistic prick.

Ethan is groggy, fresh out of bed. "Drew Denton? What the fuck you doing calling me?"

"How fast can you get to Vegas?"

"You getting hitched or something?"

"No. Wouldn't invite you if I was."

He laughs. "Cold. Just like Tom says."

I shake my head. Used to be that kind of thing would bait me, but it's hard to feel anything bad at the moment. "No. I need to ask a favor."

"I'm listening."

"How fast can you get here?"

"Couple of days. Tour doesn't start for another two weeks. Heard rumors you're a perfectionist, but I can't imagine you want to help me work on the Dangerous Noise set list."

"No, it's something else."

"Hard to believe
the
Drew Denton needs me."

He's teasing me. I think. Hard to say. I'm not exactly a people person. I don't know Ethan well enough to know if he's teasing or serious.

I clear my throat. Better to focus on the task at hand. "I'll need you all day."

"Damn, wish you were somebody else talking like that." He chuckles. "You're not secretly a smoking hot strawberry blond with soft lips and legs for days?"

"Brunette, but my legs do go for days," I say. "You'd have to ask Kara about the soft lips part."

Ethan laughs. "I'll be there."

––––––––

K
ara

I push my delicate condition aside to focus on steadying the blushing bride. She's almost as nervous as I am.

Everything blurs together until I'm watching the happy couple say I do. The reception is as gorgeous as the wedding. The chocolate cake with mocha frosting is to die for.

I eat far too much of it, considering I should be concerned about my nutrient intake. Starting tomorrow, I eat healthy, I get light exercise, and I take my vitamins. This baby is going to have the best possible start.

I'm having a baby.

It feels too grown up, but it's good. I'm happy. Scared, but happy.

I'm too tired to think about it. I need to sleep forever. Or at least until Drew works out how he's going to be around enough for us. It's weird wrapping my head around the idea that it's an
us
now.

Drew sits next to me. He runs his fingertips over my chin, careful not to mess up my tight updo. "You should call your mom."

"First thing in the morning."

"Everyone is meeting for brunch tomorrow. That's a thing, apparently."

I look up at him. "You said brunch without rolling your eyes."

He chuckles. "Call her now. You'll feel better."

"I can think of another way I'd feel better."

He raises a brow. "That so, Kendrick?"

I nod.

"I'll run the bath."

Oh, I like the bath.

I don't so much like worrying what my mom is going to say.

I know I'll feel better after I call her. But the part where I call her... that part is terrifying.

I'm only twenty-two. Moms aren't usually happy about their unmarried twenty-two-year-old daughters getting knocked up.

It takes me half an hour to psyche myself up enough to call. I dial her number. But I'm not ready yet.

I end the call before it can ring.

Mom and I are better than we were, but things are still strained sometimes. I
know
she wants the best for me, but sometimes, it feels like she wants her idea of the best for me.