His Perfect BabyA Miracle Baby Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  Problem is, they may already have fucking done that. I’m not so sure I’m afraid of what else they can do.

  I should stay away from Avery, mostly just because I know I shouldn’t risk my son’s position with them. He has a good thing, with her family. But that’s just not how I work. He’s my son, and I can’t just let him go.

  That’s how people are. We do the wrong thing, the fucked up thing, because we can’t help it. Sometimes love and family and desire overrides logic and reason, and we’re stuck with it, all those emotions overwhelming everything else. I know I’m swept up, but I’m not stopping.

  As I head back to town, I let my thoughts drift to Avery, and what I want from her. I picture how I’ll kiss her, slowly undress her, feel her body again, feel that skin I’ve missed so goddamn badly.

  As I pull into the back roads I’m so familiar with, a big dark truck suddenly comes up behind me. I haven’t been paying attention to where I’ve been going, so I’m not sure how long it’s been there. But suddenly it’s filling my rearview mirror, and getting closer all the time.

  “What the fuck?” I say softly. I slow down a bit, roll down my window, and wave my arm. “Go around if you want to be a fucking prick.”

  I wave my arm a couple more times, and the truck’s engine suddenly revs. It moves like it’s about to pass me, but at the last second it turns and slams its front into my rear and my truck goes spinning out. The last thing I know, I hear glass crashing, and the front of my truck slams into a light pole.

  12

  Avery

  Max crosses his arms. “No, no, no, no, no!”

  I sigh and pull the covers up tighter around his chin. “Sweetie, it’s bed time. I read you two stories, and now you have to go to sleep.”

  “No!” He stares at me defiantly, and I can’t help but think of his father.

  In the past, this look would have sent me reeling for days. I’d get stuck thinking about Luke, over and over, unable to get him out of my head. And that pain would dig deeper into my bones and make me more obsessed with him.

  Every time I thought I’d give up, move on, focus on giving Max what he needs, Max himself would pull me back in. Even if I was risking everything investigating Luke’s case, I couldn’t help myself. Max reminds me so much of his father, and that kept me going. That’s also why I’m so afraid to tell Luke the truth. If he knows that I was risking his son’s future for what were really totally selfish reasons, he’ll be furious.

  But tonight, instead of pain, I feel something else. It’s confused, and difficult, but it’s joy. Because Max’s father is free, I was just kissing him not too long ago. Even if things are fucked up and confusing and I still can’t even go see Luke without getting kicked out of my house, it doesn’t matter. He’s free, I can touch him, I can taste him again.

  And Max can get to know him.

  I sigh and give in. “One more story,” I say, pulling out his book. “Last one. Okay?”

  “Yes,” Max says. “Read, please.”

  He settles back and I smile, reading him his favorite story for the third time. Now I get why parents always buy a ton of books: it’s not for the kids, it’s for them.

  By the time I’m nearly finished, Max’s eyes are fluttering shut. He’s asleep as I shut the book and head toward his door, walking softly.

  Before I can leave, I hear something. It’s a voice not far away, and I don’t know why I stop, but I do. I lean up against the wall and listen, not daring to breathe.

  “—like he fucking was dead or something.”

  It’s Thomas’s voice. His room is right next to Max’s, and he must have his door open.

  “I mean, we didn’t want to kill him. That’s a whole thing. But hurt him real bad? Definitely.”

  I stand there listening, terror ringing through me, because I know what he’s talking about.

  “Serves him right, coming to my house like that. He’s lucky my idiot sister pulled me away. I would have kicked his ass then and there.” He pauses, listening. “Fuck, yeah, I would have. We rammed his truck, didn’t we? Fucked him up real good.” Another long pause. “Don’t be such a pussy, Franklin. We’ll get the truck fixed, don’t worry about it. He won’t go talk to the cops. Because he’s fucking afraid of them.”

  I’m starting to hyperventilate. What he’s saying sounds really, really bad. I don’t know what he did, but it sounds like they did something to Luke, some kind of car accident.

  “Fine, yeah, I gotta go. Fucking neck’s killing me from that,” he says, laughing. “But I bet he got the worst of it. All right, later.”

  I hear him shuffle around his room for a second before walking down the hall. I wait for him to disappear downstairs before running into my bedroom and grabbing my phone.

  I call Luke ten times, but he never answers. Practically frantic, I grab a sweatshirt and my car keys before sneaking downstairs and out the garage door.

  I start my car, praying nobody hears it, before slowly pulling out with my lights off. Once, I’m in the street, I turn them on and start driving fast toward Luke’s place.

  My brother is such a bastard. I don’t know how I’m related to a violent piece of shit like that. I don’t understand why he hates Luke so much, why he takes such pleasure in fucking with people. But my brother is one of the stupidest, most spoiled assholes in the world. I don’t know why my father puts up with him, but for some reason he can’t see the trouble my brother constantly brings.

  I pull up outside of Luke’s building and my heart practically stops. Luke’s truck is parked out front, the front of it smashed in. I don’t even know how he got it here. It looks like it wouldn’t drive. I kill my engine and jump out, practically running to the door.

  I buzz his apartment, hitting the button over and over. “Come on, Luke,” I say, heart hammering.

  A minute later, the intercom clicks. “Yeah, okay, what the fuck?”

  Relief floods over me. “Luke, it’s me, are you okay?”

  A brief pause. “Come up.”

  The door buzzes and I hurry inside. I walk fast down the hallway, happy that he’s home and safe, but terrified of what my brother did to him.

  I get to his door and it’s already open. I find Luke standing in the kitchen, a glass of whisky in his hand, and a bruise blooming under his right eye.

  He grins at me. “Hey,” he says.

  “Oh my god,” I say softly. “Luke.”

  “I’m fine.” He touches his nose. “Could be worse. At least I put seatbelts in there.”

  “What did Thomas do?” I ask.

  He looks away. “How did you know?”

  “I heard him on the phone, bragging to Franklin Walker.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

  “Luke.” I walk up to him and tilt his face toward me. He’s going to have one black eye, and his nose is slightly crooked. “You need to get this set.”

  “I’ll do it later,” he says.

  “You have to see a doctor.”

  “Can’t afford that.” He goes to turn away but winces.

  “What?” I ask. “You’re hurt.”

  “Just my ribs. I’m fine.”

  “Luke,” I say. “Come on, this is serious.”

  He shakes his head and finishes his whisky. “I’m fine,” he says, again. “I’m glad you care, though.”

  “Why wouldn’t I care?” A flood of emotions threatens to drown me.

  He sighs, shaking his head. “I’m just angry.”

  “My brother is a fucking prick. You could go to the cops, you know.”

  He laughs. “No fucking way. I’d go to jail again.”

  “They attacked you.”

  “They ran me off the road. Honestly, I’m more pissed about my truck.”

  “Oh god,” I say, covering my mouth. It just dawns on me how long he worked on that truck for. “How bad is it?”

  “Bad,” he admits. “I might be able to restore it, but not anytime soon.”

  “God damnit,�
�� I say. “We can’t let them get away with this.”

  He looks back at me, a smirk on his lips. “We? You’re pretty cute when you’re pissed.”

  “Stop,” I say. “This is serious.”

  “Is it? Your brother is a psycho and I wasn’t paying attention. It won’t happen again.”

  “He could have killed you.”

  “He didn’t. And he won’t.”

  “Damnit, Luke,” I say, anger slowly filling me. “Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time?”

  “It’s just part of my natural charm.”

  “It drives me insane.”

  He shrugs and fills his glass again. “Have a drink. It’ll calm you down.”

  “I don’t want a drink,” I say.

  He turns toward me, coming closer. “What do you want then, Avery? Huh?”

  I blink at the sudden turn in his voice. “I don’t know,” I admit. “They just can’t get away with this.”

  “They’re going to. Because you know what? Guys like your brother and Franklin always do. That’s how the world works.” He comes toward me, backing me up against the counter. I stop, my hands against the Formica, and he hovers inches away from me. I can feel his anger and his intensity radiating off his handsome body. He’s so damn attractive, even with a black eye and a broken nose.

  “I’m going to change that, though,” he says softly. “They got this on me, I’ll give them that. But I’m not going to stop. You get me, Avery? I’m not stopping.”

  “Okay,” I say softly, blinking into his luscious gaze.

  “Now tell me, what do you want?”

  I feel a shiver run down my spine, but I don’t respond. I stare into his eyes as he tips my chin up and slowly kisses me again.

  It’s gentle and it feels right. That feeling from before floods me again, like I’m coming home. It’s messed up and so incredible all at once. The kiss doesn’t last long before he slowly pulls away, leaving me lingering there, wanting another taste. I don’t want to run away this time. I just want to bask in him.

  “I want to see Max,” he says, turning back toward the bottle.

  “Okay,” I say.

  “Soon. This week.”

  “Okay,” I say again. “Give me a few days, okay?”

  “Thank you.” He smiles at me. “Come here.”

  I walk over to him, drifting across the linoleum like my legs control me. He pulls me tight against him by my waist and he kisses me again, my front leaning up against him.

  Suddenly there’s a noise. We pull apart, and it’s Luke’s uncle, spare key dangling from his finger, standing in the living room and looking in at us.

  “Oh, uh,” I stumble.

  He grins. “Hi, Avery,” he says. “Luke told me to stop by and check out the truck.” He hesitates a second. “I have keys.”

  “Good to see you, Mr. Harper,” I say. I barely know Luke’s uncle, I’ve met him only a few times, but I know he’s a nice enough man.

  “Call me Nick,” he says. He looks over at Luke. “Really fucked up the truck, huh?”

  Luke sighs. “Pretty bad.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you about it later.” Luke glances in my direction and Nick seems to understand.

  “Okay then. I’ll get it towed back to the garage and we can figure it out in the morning.”

  “I appreciate it, Uncle Nick.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll just be docking your pay.” He grins a little. “Good to see you, Avery.”

  “I should go too,” I say quickly. “I have to get back to Max.”

  “Well. I’ll walk you out.”

  I hesitate a second and Luke smiles at me. “A few days,” he says.

  “Bye.” I walk over to Nick and we head out together.

  “You and Luke, you, uh…” Nick trails off, sounding uncomfortable.

  “No,” I say quickly. “I mean, I don’t know.”

  “Complicated,” Nick grumbles. “You damn kids these days, it’s always so complicated.”

  “Life’s always been complicated, right?”

  He nods a bit. “Guess so. I just feel bad for this kid.” He glances at me and quickly adds, “Not your fault of course.”

  “I know,” I say. “He’s been through a lot.”

  “That’s just the half of it. Kid didn’t have a great home life before getting thrown in jail. He’s trying to better himself, to drag himself out of the gutter my asshole brother made for him, and then he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Damn fucking shame. And he’s a good kid too, smart, loyal, works hard. Better than most.”

  “I can’t agree more,” I say softly. We push out through the front doors and I drift over toward my car.

  Nick pauses and look at me. He’s a tired man, I can see that, but he’s clearly a good person. He cares about Luke and he’s helping him out a lot.

  “Listen Avery. I don’t know you, but I know one thing. The kid loves you. Just don’t hurt him, okay?”

  “I don’t want to hurt him,” I say honestly.

  “Good. I don’t know what this is all about,” he waves at the truck, “but just be careful.”

  “I will. And uh, Nick? Thanks for being good to him.”

  “He’s blood. It’s what family does. Now I just gotta clean up this fucking mess.” He grumbles and walks over toward Luke’s truck, inspecting it, and I can tell our conversation is over.

  I get back into my car and head out. I can still feel Luke’s kiss on my lips, and I hear Nick’s voice in my head.

  I don’t want to hurt Luke. He’s a good person, trying to better himself, but he’s been given a shit roll of the dice over and over again. He’s buried in shit, but he’s still fighting.

  I think most people would have given up by now, but not him. He’s standing tall and not giving in. And that’s part of what I admire in him, and it’s something I hope he passes on to our son.

  Now though, I have to figure out how the hell I’m going to introduce him to Max. One problem at a time, I guess.

  13

  Luke

  I stand in front of my broken ass truck staring at the loss of years.

  It’s hard to explain how I feel. I worked my ass off on this truck back when I was younger, before I went to prison. It took all of my time, all of my money, and all of my energy to restore. Seeing it again after prison is like getting a small piece of myself back.

  Standing here is like going to prison all over again. Well, no, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s still pretty fucking bad.

  I despise her brother and Franklin. I suspect they stole five years of my life, and now they’re trying to steal this.

  I’m not totally sure why. I get that I’m a Harper, and they hate Harpers. I get that I fucked his sister and got her pregnant, but it wasn’t like I was running out on her and leaving her alone. I loved her, and was all ready to spend my life with her back then. I would have done right by Avery and Max.

  This is about more than that. This is about rich versus poor, class versus trash. This is an economic story as old as time. The haves and the have-nots, all that fucking shit, and I bet that idiot asshole Thomas doesn’t even understand why he does the things he does. He’s a goddamn walking cliché.

  Uncle Nick comes out from behind the truck and wipes his hands down on a rag. “We can fix it,” he says after a beat.

  “You sure? Finding the parts is going to be hard enough without having to weld together a new axle.”

  “I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Uncle Nick says. “It’ll be hard, but I think it can be done.”

  I sigh and shake my head. “Maybe it’s better to let it go. Everything else from that time in my life is fucked beyond recognition. Why not this too?”

  He frowns at me. “It’s a truck, Luke. We fix trucks, it’s what we do.”

  I take a breath. “Yeah. You’re right.”

  “Good. We’ll start this weekend. Start trying to source some parts if you can in your spare t
ime.”

  “I will.”

  “Good.” He walks over to the bench and tosses the rag down. He hesitates a second before looking at me sideways. “You with that Avery girl again?”

  I’m a little surprised to hear him ask. Uncle Nick doesn’t usually pry much about that sort of thing. I can tell he’s pretty uncomfortable.

  “It’s complicated,” I answer honestly.

  “I think that’s a bad idea, son.”

  I watch him for a second, trying to gauge how I want to respond. “I hear you,” I say finally. “But it’s not that simple.”

  “Look, I bet she’s a good person, but she can’t ever understand you. She comes from everything, money, power, all that shit. She’s a goddamn Seller, for fuck’s sake. Look, Luke, I know you still love her, and she might love you too, but you’re completely different people. I don’t want to see you get hurt all over again, all because of this girl.”

  “She’s the mother of my son,” I say softly. “And aren’t you the guy that once told me not to let names get in the way?”

  He frowns a bit. “I said that?”

  “You did,” I confirm. “Back when I was going to prison. You came to see me, and you said that.”

  “Damn. Guess I’m smarter than I seem.”

  “I’ll be careful, Uncle Nick. I promise.”

  “I just don’t want to see you broken again, son. You hear me? That Avery girl, she might be a good person and maybe she loves you, but I think she’s dangerous.”

  I can’t exactly disagree with him. The memory of my truck hitting that light pole comes back to me, the crunch of steel, the spray of glass, the crack of my nose breaking. That was her damn brother. Maybe Avery herself isn’t dangerous, but getting involved with her definitely is.

  I could break something worse than my truck, something I can’t fix. I can feel myself risking it, slowly and surely, bit by tiny bit. Every time I see her, I need more. I want more so badly it almost hurts. I’m afraid of what I’ll do to get it, what I’ll sacrifice.

  Uncle Nick heads back into his office and I turn to take a look at the truck. But before I can, my phone starts ringing.