Unexpected Chances (Fairshore Series Book 2)

by Christina Butrum

  “How far along are you?” Bailey asked impatiently.

  Amelia knew Bailey had wanted the details, but she was slow to give them to her. She blamed it on the hormones which made her feel sluggish and confused. “Dr. Bohage said he thinks I’m about six weeks along. He wants me back in two weeks for an ultrasound.”

  Bailey’s eyes lit up and she smiled. “I can’t believe it!” she shouted with her arms in the air. “How exciting is this?!”

  Amelia smiled and said, “Zach’s excited, too.”

  Bailey sat on her couch. She reached for her glass on the coffee table and took a drink. “I’m sure he is.”

  Amelia thought about the irony in the situation. She found humor in the idea he had mentioned he wanted to have kids with her and now she was pregnant. They were going to have a baby, she hoped. Fear twisted in her gut as she thought about her last miscarriage.

  “What’re you thinking about?” Bailey asked.

  Amelia shook her head. “Just how ironic it is that Zach had just mentioned wanting to have kids with me. Then out of nowhere, I’m pregnant.”

  Bailey nodded. “God works in mysterious ways.”

  Amelia smiled. She had thought the same when the DNA results came back negative for Zach with Courtney’s baby. She was relieved they were able to move forward with their life. Her only hope was she would be able to give Zach what he wanted.

  “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?” Bailey asked as she watched Amelia who sat on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest.

  Amelia shrugged. “I’m just hoping I can give Zach what he wants.”

  Bailey set her glass down on the table and looked at Amelia with concern. “What do you mean by that? I’m sure you aren’t failing with that.”

  Amelia reached for her glass of water and took a drink. She sat back and looked at Bailey, who had her eyes focused on her. “I just hope I’m able to give him the children he wants.”

  Bailey leaned forward and waited for Amelia to explain. Amelia caught the hint Bailey wanted her to explain. Bailey raised her eyebrows in an attempt to get Amelia to talk.

  Amelia shook her head and chuckled as she set the glass down. “Let me guess, you want details?”

  Bailey rolled her eyes and said, “Of course I do. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t want to know everything?” Bailey moved to the cushion next to Amelia on the couch and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here for you, no matter what.”

  With that said, Amelia turned to Bailey and said, “I have fears.”

  Bailey leaned back and asked, “Do you mean the fear of miscarrying?”

  Amelia nodded. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she held them back. She did not want to cry again.

  Bailey leaned Amelia against her and squeezed her close to her. “I know it must be terrifying to think about what happened the last time you were pregnant, but you have to move on and let your fears go. Otherwise, they’ll get the best of you.”

  Amelia wiped an escaped tear from her cheek. Bailey lifted Amelia’s face with her hands and looked into her eyes. “Worrying isn’t going to help you. You’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

  “What am I going to do if I lose this baby?” Amelia asked. Her voice cracked with emotion. She hated to think about it, but the thought had stayed with her since she had found out she was pregnant.

  Bailey shook her head. “You shouldn’t think about it. Being stressed won’t help your pregnancy. It’ll increase your risk of losing the baby.”

  Easier said than done, Amelia thought.

  “I know you’re going to think about it and you’re going to worry about it,” Bailey said. “I understand how scary it is for you.”

  Amelia nodded. “I wish I didn’t worry. I don’t like to worry about it,” Amelia stated. “I just hate the fact that it could happen again.”

  Bailey hugged her and said, “Let’s pray it won’t happen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Where are you going?” Zach asked Amelia.

  Amelia turned around and faced him. “I’m going to the store. I have some work that needs done there. Courtney and Tony have done a lot in the last few weeks. It’s time to give them a break.”

  “I don’t want you lifting heavy things or doing too much,” Zach stated. “Call me if you need any help, okay?”

  Amelia rolled her eyes. It had been a week since they had found out they were pregnant. Zach had become sensitive and had demanded she take it easy. By easy, she knew he meant for her to sit around and do nothing. If he had it his way, she would not be able to leave the house. She would be bed-ridden and he would have a maid do everything for her.

  “Zach, I’m pregnant, not handicapped,” Amelia assured him. “I think I can handle a few hours of work in a day.”

  Zach reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. He massaged them as he said, “I know you’re willing and able, I just want you to take it easy. Not everything needs to be done in a day.”

  Amelia leaned her head back and enjoyed the massage while it lasted. She smiled when he finished. Her muscles had become tense in the last few days. The massage helped them relax. She turned around and stood on her tiptoes as she kissed him. He leaned his head down toward hers. His lips landed on hers and she smiled through the kiss.

  “I love you, is all,” Zach confirmed. “I want you to be careful and not overdo it.”

  “I won’t overdo it. It’s called working and I can handle it,” Amelia reassured him. “Even Dr. Bohage said it’s okay for me to continue with my routine.”

  Zach frowned. “I guess if he says it’s okay, then it must be. But I have final say and I say to take it easy.”

  She tried to argue her point with him, but he raised a finger to her lips. “It’s all I ask, please?”

  Amelia nodded. How could she not obey him? He was the sweetest, most adorable man who cared about her. She knew better than to over-exert herself. She knew her boundaries and limitations. She wished he would understand she knew what she was doing.

  “I love you,” she said as she grabbed her jacket off the hook. She reached for her car keys and looked back at him.

  He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and gave her sad puppy eyes.

  “Don’t give me that look, it won’t work,” she said as she smiled at him.

  She blew him a kiss and turned to leave for work. She glanced at the clock. In another hour, he would be on his way to his job.

  “Love you, babe,” he called out to her as she opened the door. “Have a good day and remember what I said.”

  “Love you,” she called back to him over her shoulder as she walked to her car. With a smile on her face, she opened her car door and sat in the seat. She wondered if he would be worried about her all day. She turned the key over in the ignition and smiled. She knew there was no need to wonder about it, she knew he would be worried.

  On her way to work, she wondered if he would stop by the store and check on her. She smiled at the thought of being so loved. She was happy she had found a man who loved her so much.

  * * *

  “Hi, Amelia,” Courtney called out to her as soon as she walked into the store.

  “Hey, Court,” Amelia greeted when she placed her purse and coat on the counter by the register. “How has it been here in the last couple of weeks?”

  “Not too bad,” Courtney said. “It’s been busy here and there, but nothing Tony and I couldn’t handle.”

  Courtney smiled. Amelia hung her jacket over her purse on the hook. “That’s good to hear,” Amelia said. She picked up her coat and purse. “I’m going to take this to the back room. Holler if you need me.”

  “Wait, aren’t you going to tell me what you found out?” Courtney asked.

  Amelia smiled. She almost forgot she hadn’t told anyone besides her mother and Bailey. She told Courtney how she took the test and how she had left the test on the counter to answer the phone. “We found out together,” Amelia said. “It di
dn’t turn out the way I had planned for him to find out.”

  She explained how Zach had come home for break and had seen the test on the counter. Amelia looked at Courtney who had hung on every detail so far. Amelia could tell Courtney was impatient as she waited to hear the results.

  “Are you pregnant or not?” Courtney blurted out.

  Amelia smiled and nodded her head yes. Courtney shrieked and ran to Amelia with her arms open wide. “Oh, my gosh! That’s awesome, Amelia!” Courtney announced as she wrapped her arms around Amelia and hugged her. Amelia squirmed a bit in the embrace, but relaxed once she realized she wasn’t able to move.

  “Thanks, Court,” she said. “We’re just as happy about it.”

  Tony walked out of the bathroom while Courtney had her arms wrapped around Amelia. He held a towel as he dried his hands. “Tell me you didn’t miss her that much,” he joked.

  Courtney let go of Amelia and smiled at Tony. “Well, I did miss her, but she just shared some good news!” Courtney shrieked again as she clapped her hands. She looked at Tony and back to Amelia. Her eyes bounced back and forth between the two. She bounced on her heels and said, “Tell him the news, Amelia.”

  Tony threw the towel into the basket by the bathroom door. He kept an eye on Amelia while he waited for her to tell him what the fuss was all about. “Well, what is it?”

  Amelia opened her mouth to tell him, but Courtney beat her to it. “She’s pregnant!”

  “You are?” he asked as he grinned. “What does Zach think about it?”

  His response was the typical man’s response to these types of situations. Amelia chuckled. She held her hands out from her sides and said, “Well, I think he’s as excited about it. In fact, I think he’s more excited than I am.”

  Tony chuckled. His beer belly shook as he laughed. “Well, congratulations! When’s the party to celebrate?”

  Amelia shook her head. She knew with guys, it was all about the beer and cigars to celebrate. “I’m sure Zach wouldn’t mind a few beers to celebrate the pregnancy.”

  She exchanged looks with Courtney and they chuckled. She whispered to Courtney, “I’m not too sure if guys celebrate the pregnancy.”

  Courtney shrugged. “I don’t know either, but I like the idea.”

  “I guess I’m about to find out,” Amelia said.

  “Find out what?” Zach asked from behind her.

  Amelia turned around. Zach stood five feet away from her and Courtney. “I was just telling them we’re expecting a baby.”

  “Hey, man, congrats!” Tony hollered from the meat counter.

  “Thanks, man,” Zach said as he kept an eye on Amelia.

  “What’re you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you had to work at the furniture store today.”

  Zach shrugged. “I figured I’d come by the store and see if there was anything I could do to help out around here.”

  Zach glanced around the grocery store in an attempt to bypass her glare. She furrowed her eyebrows and said, “I know why you’re here.”

  Zach held his arms out and said, “What can I do?”

  Amelia furrowed her eyebrows and stared at him. The anger she felt was nothing compared to the embarrassment. She looked at Courtney and said, “Excuse us for a minute.”

  Amelia took Zach’s arm and drug him over two aisles. “What’re you doing here? Are you serious right now?”

  “Amelia, calm down. I just thought I’d stop in and see how you’re doing.”

  Amelia shook her head. “No, that’s not why you’re here.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at him. She waited for him to respond. When he did not say anything, she said, “You’re here to check up on me and make sure I’m not doing anything wrong.”

  Zach looked down at the floor and tapped the shelf with the toe of his shoe.

  “Exactly,” Amelia said. Her face was hot and she knew it was probably just as red as it was hot. “You don’t trust me to do what’s right?”

  Zach looked up at her. Hurt crossed his face and he said, “It’s not that.”

  Amelia tossed her arms in the air. Pregnancy hormones were on a rampage throughout her body. She wondered if others would notice how crazy the hormones had made her. “Then what is it?”

  Zach straightened and held his head up. “I care about you, Amelia. I care about you and the baby. Is that too much for you to handle?”

  Tears sprang to her eyes for the second time that morning. She looked down at the floor and fiddled with her thumbs. She felt embarrassed by her reaction to his presence. She shook her head and tears streamed down her face.

  Zach placed a hand on her chin and lifted her face to look at him. “Why are you crying?”

  “I’m not crying,” she said. Her tone was a bit flustered. She looked up at him and said, “It’s the hormones.”

  They were interrupted by another voice from behind them. “Oh, boy, hormones already? You’re in trouble now, Zach.”

  Amelia turned and glared at Tony. Tony held his hands up and said, “Okay, okay, I’m going to get back to work.”

  Amelia chuckled. She couldn’t help but notice how innocent these two guys were. Guys had no clue what it was like being pregnant.

  Zach embraced her with a hug as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. “You have to give me a chance to show you I care. You can’t block me out forever.”

  Amelia sniffled. “It’s not that I don’t want you to care. It’s the fact that you’re trying to control me.”

  “Look at me,” Zach said as he tipped her head up with his hand. “Is that what you think I’m doing? You think I’m trying to control you?”

  Amelia shrugged. “It seems like it.”

  Zach grunted. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I can’t believe you would think that. After everything that has happened with us. I would think that’d be the last thing you would think of me.”

  Amelia looked up at him. She was lost for words. She could not explain why she felt the way she felt. She certainly could not explain it right now. She shrugged.

  “Amelia, I’m the last person on earth that would try to control you,” he calmly admitted. “I know better than to even attempt to control you.”

  “I don’t know how to explain how I feel,” she admitted. “I just have a lot of thoughts and doubts running through my mind and it’s making me go crazy.”

  “Obviously,” Zach said.

  She glared at him.

  He smirked and asked, “What kind of thoughts are you having?”

  Amelia looked around the grocery store. She stepped out of his embrace and said, “Right now isn’t the time to talk about this.”

  Zach glanced around them and looked at her. “Amelia, if you’re having doubts about us, I need to know.”

  She shook her head. She wondered how something so small had turned into this. Now she had to explain herself and she did not feel like it. She was tired of explanations. “It’s not always about you.”

  The minute she said the words, she realized she hurt him. The words were said, the damage was done. There was no way to take them back now. She watched as his face drained and a frown appeared.

  “Zach, I’m sorry,” Amelia tried to apologize. “We can talk about this later when I get home.”

  She tried to reach for him as he turned to walk away. “Zach, wait, I didn’t mean to say what I said,” Amelia tried to explain. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk away.

  “We’ll talk about this later, I guess,” he said over his shoulder.

  She watched him leave the store. A knot formed in her stomach as she thought about how much pain she had caused him. She walked to the back room and closed the door. Tears fell from her eyes. She tried to control them, but they fell harder.

  A knock on the door startled her. “Amelia, can I come in?”

  Amelia unlocked the door and opened it. Courtney walked in and looked at her. “What happened?”

 
Amelia shook her head. “I was just telling him how I felt and he got upset.”

  “Maybe you should go home and talk it over with him,” Courtney suggested.

  Amelia shrugged. “I will when I get off of work today. What’s been said can’t be taken back.”

  Courtney looked confused. “What was said?”

  Amelia shook her head. “I’m not really even sure, but I know I said that not everything revolves around him.”

  Courtney placed a hand to her mouth.

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  This whole situation had gotten out of hand. They had a long nine months ahead of them if this was how it was going to go.

  Chapter Thirty

  Amelia hung her jacket on the hook inside the front door. The smell of food hit her as she walked further into the living room.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Zach called out from the kitchen. “I’m making your favorite.”

  Amelia could tell he had cooked his homemade pizza. It was her all-time favorite food to eat. “It smells good.”

  She walked into the kitchen and chuckled when she saw he wore her kitchen apron and her oven mitts.

  He glanced at her and looked down at his attire. “I know, I’m funny-looking.”

  Amelia shook her head. She dropped her purse on the table and walked to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. “I think you’re sexy in an apron and my oven mitts,” she admitted. “I just wouldn’t recommend letting the guys see you wearing them.”

  Zach chuckled. “No worries there, because I don’t care what they think.”

  She loved how comical he was. He really didn’t care what others thought, as long as he was happy and had a good time, that’s all that mattered to him.

  She nodded. She stepped away from him and made her way to the oven. She opened the oven door and peeked inside at the pizza that sizzled in the heat. She inhaled deeply as she sniffed the smell in the oven. “Mmm, it smells so good.”