Two weeks came and went, and suddenly it was the day before Arthur, and I had to leave for our first location. Nerves pricked at my stomach, mingling with the almost constant nausea. I really hoped the morning sickness wouldn’t be as bad during my second trimester. I didn’t think I could handle it much longer.There were a few things I still needed to do before I left, but I’d been putting them off. Lily was still in Egypt, and I hadn’t seen or heard anything from Barnett. Despite his office being in the same building, I never ran into him anymore. He was clearly still avoiding me. Maybe he’d never return to his office at all,

 Lily found Barnett at his apartment. She had to knock a few times before he finally came to the door, a slight scowl on his face.“So, you’re back,” she said.He stepped aside to let her in. She closed the apartment door behind her and trailed him into the room. “How was Egypt?”“It was fine. Saw the pyramids.” He looked interested, but she wasn’t there to talk about Egypt. “Have you been online recently?”

I wiped my hand across my cheek, realizing at the last second that I had blue paint on my fingers. I rushed over to the bathroom and laughed when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. There was pale blue paint smeared across my cheek, dotted across my white t-shirt. There was even a bit of paint at the ends of my hair that I would probably have to cut off.Deciding to decorate the nursery myself might have been a bad idea, but I couldn’t deny I was having a lot of fun. As much as I was making a mess, it felt meaningful to do it myself. To pour all my love and hope into that one little room.The cribs were arriving in a couple of days, and I already have a tall, white dresser to put in there for all the baby clothes. I bought a changing table from a lady online and it was already up and waiting in my new office. There were still quite a few things I needed before the babies were born, but I was finally on track.After arriving home, I decided that the first thing I needed to do was f

“Barnett, open up!” Lily called.Barnett sighed and got out of bed. It was still early in the morning, early enough that he wanted to yell at her through the door and tell her to go away. He hardly slept as it was. The last thing he needed was an early morning wake-up call.He pulled on his robe and stomped over to the door.“Barnett!” she called again.He yanked open the door and scowled down at her. “Do you know what time it is?”She smirked and shoved past him into his apartment. At least she had two coffee cups with her. She handed him one and he took a sip. It was still hot, and it burned his tongue.“It’s a beautiful day,” she said.“Is it?”He sank down onto his couch and pulled his robe tighter around him. Lily didn’t sit down, she just started pacing back and forth in front of him. He was much too tired to deal with all her energy. Lily wasn’t much of a morning person either, but today she was clearly on something.“Did you sleep at all last night?”“Like a baby,” she said, h

“I’m the father,” he repeated.I nodded. “That’s why I was trying to find you. I wanted to tell you, but after what Julia said, I thought you never wanted to see me again. If not for Lily, I would have continued to think that. Still, I’m sorry you’re only finding out now.”A sad look crossed his face, and he put his head in his hands. “God, I’m sorry.”I stood up and walked around the desk. His muscles tensed, but he didn’t look up as I ran my hands over his shoulders. “You’re here now,” I said.“I should’ve been with you the whole time.”He swiveled around in his chair and hugged me, his face resting lightly against my stomach. I ran a hand through his soft blond hair. “I’m so sorry,” he said. He looked up at me and gave me a wide smile. My heart skipped a beat. “I’m really happy, Anna.”“You are?”“You have no idea.” He still hadn’t let go of me, but I didn’t want him to. I never wanted him to. If I could have stayed in his arms forever, I would have.“I’m happy too,” I said, tears