Metsy Hingle - The Baby Bonus

She arched her brow. “You mean aside from the mess we find ourselves in?”

He narrowed his eyes, told himself he wasn’t hurt that she considered their situation to be a mess. “I mean you look like hell.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s just what every pregnant woman wants to hear.”

Cole swore, dragged in a breath. “What I meant was you don’t look well. You look…exhausted.”

“I’m fine.”

“Did you eat anything? I heard that pregnant women need to eat lots of small meals, and that—”

“I’m fine, Cole,” she insisted, her voice tight, strained. “I’m just tired. And to be honest, I’m not up to playing word games tonight. You already know that I saw Aunt Liz and that she…she confirmed your story.”

“My story?” Cole repeated, irritated that she seemed to find it so difficult to say that he was the father of the child she carried. He followed her into the living room.

“That you were the sperm donor for my baby.”

“Our baby,” he corrected and had the satisfaction of seeing those green eyes flash with annoyance. But his satisfaction was short-lived and made him feel small because it was obvious she was dead on her feet. “Sit down—before you fall down.”

She hesitated for all of two seconds, then sank to the couch. She looked so fragile and lost sitting there. Something inside Cole unfurled, making him want to draw her into his arms and promise her everything would be all right. Instead, he claimed the chair across from her. Several heartbeats passed in an awkward silence. Then, sighing, Cole leaned forward and said, “I owe you an apology. I honestly thought Liz had told you that she’d approached me about being a sperm donor for you.”

“I know. She told me what happened. She also told me that you had apparently changed your mind.” Regan stared down at her hands as though she hoped to find the answers she sought there. “I’m sorry, too. If I’d had any idea…”

Regan didn’t finish. But then, she didn’t need to, because he knew he’d been right. He was the last man she’d have chosen to have a child with.

“I know Aunt Liz meant well. But she’s put us both in an impossible situation.”

“Awkward maybe, but not impossible,” Cole offered, wanting to ease some of the tension. “There are options available to us. Several in fact.” But there was only one option he could live with. And as much as Regan wouldn’t like it, he had no intention of settling for anything less than the course he’d decided upon already.

Her head snapped up. “I’m going to have this baby.”

“Do you honestly believe I would suggest you not have it?” He bit back the sharp jab that she might think such a thing of him. “Regardless of how this pregnancy came about, I want this baby.”

“The only question is how we’re going to deal with custody.”

Her eyes slapped to his, narrowed. “This is my baby, Cole. Mine. I’d already planned on being a single mother. I have no intention of shuttling my child back and forth between me and its father. That’s not what I want for my baby.”

“Our baby,” he corrected her again. “And I agree. I don’t want our child shuttled back and forth between us either.”

Hesitating, she curled her fingers into her skirt. “Does that mean you…that you would be willing to relinquish your rights and let me raise the baby?”

Her words hit him like blows. Gritting his teeth, Cole worked to keep his emotions in check. After all, it wasn’t the first time he hadn’t been found good enough, he reminded himself. In her eyes for a child to have no father would probably be preferable than to have him as one. But like it or not, it was his baby she was carrying, and he had no intention of walking away from his responsibilities. He forced his lips into a smile. “Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but that’s not what I had in mind.”

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