Thrown for a Curve

by Sugar Jamison

  “Really? Because it seems like you took advantage of a grieving girl.”

  “She wasn’t grieving when we made this baby and you knew we were together before Baba’s funeral. Why the hell are you being such an arsehole about it?”

  “Because you ruined her life and yours because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

  Before he realized what he was doing he had Mike pinned to the wall. “You’re my best fucking mate. You think I would set out to ruin her life. I want to marry her. I want this baby. I was there for you when you fell in love with Ellis. I supported you. I thought you of all people would be happy for me. You know how much I’ve always wanted a family. But all you can do is sit there and be sanctimonious. You were just as bad as I was. Nobody is holding your past against you.”

  “What the hell is going on in here? Are you two fighting?” Ellis walked in, her heels rapidly clicking on the floor. She grabbed Colin’s shoulder, causing him to release her husband. “What baby? Who do you want to marry?”

  “Cherri.”

  “Oh.” She blinked at him. “It’s Cherri who’s pregnant?”

  He nodded. “We just found out today.”

  “Are you happy about this?”

  He nodded again, unable to find the right words to explain how he felt.

  Ellis searched his face for a moment. “Then I’m happy for you.” She looked at her husband. “We are happy for you.”

  “You’re okay with this?” Mike threw up his hands in frustration. “She’s a kid!”

  Ellis shook her head. “She’s not and you—we all have to stop treating her like she is.” She reached up and hugged Colin. “You do know that if you mistreat her I’ll cut your balls off.”

  “I would expect no less from you.”

  “I’m glad you know that. So when’s the wedding?”

  “I don’t know if there’s going to be one. She turned me down twice already.”

  She shook her head. “Then keep asking her until she says yes.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Celebrate me home …

  The heavy footsteps pounding on the floor above her should have woken Cherri from a deep sleep. But she’d never managed to fall asleep that night, so instead of being frightened of her intruder she sighed and turned over, waiting for him to make his appearance.

  “I’m going to freeze my bollocks off,” he cursed as he entered the basement.

  She wasn’t surprised to see Colin. But she was surprised he waited so long to make another appearance. It was the first night in two weeks that he hadn’t come by for dinner, and she realized that she might have missed him.

  “I can see my bloody breath. Bloody icebox basement.”

  Without saying a word to her he dropped the large duffel bag he had brought with him on the floor and bent in front of the wood-burning stove. She propped herself up on her elbow and watched him, his muscles bunching under his shirt as he worked to light a fire.

  So this man is going to be the father of my child. She placed her hand on her belly and gave it a small rub and instead of thinking about her impending motherhood, or the fact that she only had seven months to prepare, she thought about how much it was going to hurt. She was six feet tall. Colin was six foot three and had the kind of large body that seemed to take up the entire room. They were going to have an enormous child. With long stilt-like legs, linebacker shoulders, and big water-ski-sized feet. Ouch.

  He wiped his hands on his shirt, peeled it off and then his pants. Her breath caught and her eyes froze on his nearly nude body, especially on his tight behind that rounded nicely in the black boxer briefs he wore. And as he crawled into bed beside her, she focused on his face with his chiseled jaw and soft brown eyes. He was very easy to look at and the mental image of what their future children looked liked changed in her mind. Maybe they would have beautiful children with soft brown eyes, gorgeous faces, and big water-ski-sized feet.

  “Come here and warm me up, love.”

  “Are you moving in?”

  “Yup.” He reached for her, gently removing her hand from her belly and placing his under her nightgown to hold the place where their baby grew. “I don’t like you sleeping in this house alone, or away from me for that matter. So I figured I’d move in to make things easier.”

  “How is moving in here easier? Your house is next to the shop where we both work. Wouldn’t it make sense for you to sleep closer to it?”

  “Common sense tells me that it would be easier if both of us slept there but since when do I listen to common sense? So I’m here because I don’t get much sleep if I’m up all night worrying about my stubborn girlfriend. And if I don’t get any sleep then my work is shit. So it’s better for me to be where my family is.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest at his words. “Your girlfriend? Your family?”

  “Yeah.” He glanced at the clock. “I should get going soon. They’re probably wondering where I am.”

  “Ass,” she muttered. He smiled at her, taking some of the heaviness off her chest. “I didn’t know we were a couple.”

  “Why else do you think I’m putting up with you, love? You’re a big pain in my arse and I’m really not that nice of a bloke.”

  “You’re too nice and that’s the problem. I really don’t see why you’re trying so hard to be with me. Tons of women would push me in front of a train for a chance to be with you. Who in their right mind would rather have a six-foot-tall, poor, grieving, pregnant girl?”

  “A man who likes to feel her long legs wrapped around his waist.” He pulled her closer and ran his hand down the back of her thigh. “A man who can take care of her. And as for the pregnant thing. You won’t be pregnant forever. At least I bloody hope not.”

  She laughed for the first time since Baba passed away. It almost felt foreign to hear the sound come out of her, of but it also felt good. “No. This baby is coming out of me one way or another.” She looked into his eyes. “I’m scared.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose, then under her eyes. “Of what, love? That we are going to have a two-foot-tall twenty-pound baby? You’re from sturdy stock. You can take it.”

  “Colin! That’s not funny.”

  “It is, a little.”

  She took his hand and placed it back on her belly. “What if I’m like my mother? What if I don’t love our baby?”

  “You will. You love him already.”

  “How can you be so sure? And why are you being so damn calm and reasonable about this?”

  He shrugged. “I’m having a baby with my best friend.”

  He was so sweet and seemed so positive that things would work out. Didn’t a constant barrage of doubts flow through his head? Ever since the doctor had told her she was pregnant the thoughts hadn’t stopped. While she never doubted Colin’s devotion to his child, she wondered how long it might be before he realized that she wasn’t who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The child would bind them forever, but the marriage would make it official. She had seen the women he had dated. All of them, especially his ex, the woman he wanted to marry, were beautiful and graceful and made her seem like an awkward giant in comparison.

  Colin was kind to her and would probably treat her well but she wanted a husband who was madly in love with her, not one who was sacrificing his freedom to give her some security. She didn’t want either of them to look back years from now and wish their lives were different. Then there was the freedom that she would never have. The life that would never be her own. She couldn’t change that. She was just going to have to accept that she would have to put her dreams aside so that her child would be happy.

  The need to speak to her grandmother hit her so hard in that moment that it took her breath away. She wondered what the old woman would think about her being pregnant. Cherri knew she liked Colin, but would she be happy with the news?

  “Say something, love.” He trailed soft kisses across her forehead. “You’re thinking so hard it’s causing my head to hurt.
”

  “You aren’t going to propose to me again, are you?”

  He grinned at her. “I don’t think my fragile heart could take it if you turned me down a third time.”

  “Your proposals sucked.”

  “They were a bit shit, weren’t they?” He rubbed her belly. “But I’m not sorry I asked. If I hadn’t we still might not know about Colin Junior.”

  She looked up at his face, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead he stared at her belly, the lazy grin never leaving his face. “You really are excited about this baby, aren’t you?”

  “I am.” He nodded and bent to press a slow kiss to her mouth.

  “What if I decided I want to move to France and study painting for a year?”

  “Then I would have to learn to speak French and live with the frogs.” He kissed her again, a little longer this time.

  And when he lifted his lips she asked, “What if I met a sexy Frenchman and fell madly in love?”

  “Then I would kill him.”

  “What if I told you I never wanted to leave this house?”

  “Then we would have to make a home here.”

  “What if I never want to get married?”

  “Then we’ll just have to live together forever in sin.”

  Holy crap, she loved him. If everything went to hell at least she could say she was madly in love with Colin O’Connell and she was going to have his baby. Her child deserved what she’d never had: a mother and a father, a normal childhood. And even though she was still so sad and unsure they were about to do the right thing, she said, “Okay, Colin. I’ll marry you.”

  “Will you?” He buried his face in her neck, and she could feel him smiling against her skin. “But I didn’t ask you.”

  “Colin!”

  He rolled away from her, reaching out with his long arms to drag his duffel bag over to the bed. He pulled out a small velvet box and slipped a ring on her finger. “Belinda said I should get you something big. Ellis said I should get you something modern, but I like this one. Will you marry me, lass?”

  She stared at the simple round-cut diamond set on a plain platinum band that suited her to a tee. “Yes.”

  He picked up her hand to admire it. “It’s good for when you work. It won’t be hard to get the paint out of the—”

  She reached up and kissed him before he had the chance to finish his sentence. “Mmm. When are we getting married?”

  He slid his hands up her torso and cupped her breasts in his hands. “Tomorrow, the next day.” He kissed her deeply. “The day after that. I don’t care. I just want to shag my wife as soon as possible.”

  “You’re such a romantic.” She wrapped her legs around him and brought him closer. “How about next week? It would give your father a chance to get here. We should at least be able to scrounge up one living family member between the two of us.” As soon as she finished speaking, the weight of her words settled on her chest. Baba wouldn’t be there to see her get married, or greet her great-grandchild.

  “Aw, love.” Colin stroked the hair out of her face. “We will have one family member there for sure.” He touched her belly. “That’s all we really need.”

  Pixie,

  I love the Irishman. For you, dumb-dumb, not for me. Even though I would still like to grate cheese on his belly, I can’t. I’ve only loved one man in my life and that’s your papa. I’m going to see him again soon. I’m glad because I’ve saved up a good ten years of busting his balls. We will have beautiful loud arguments in heaven. I hope they don’t kick us out. Don’t be sad, pixie. I am an old fat lady and my time has been coming for a while, but I pushed it back because I didn’t want to leave you alone. But now you have Colin and he’s a good boy, and he will take care of you and that baby you’re carrying. Of course I know you’re pregnant, dumb-dumb! I’ve been tracking your period since you got boobies. It’s okay for me to leave you now because you’ll have a family of your own and a man who loves you and you won’t need me anymore. You haven’t needed me for a long time, anyway. I was the one who needed you. I just wanted to tell you that you are such a good girl, and so beautiful, and the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m sorry that things went so wrong with your mother. I blame myself, but if you ever see her again, tell her that I love her and thank her for giving me the chance to raise you. Give my great-grandbaby a hundred kisses for me,

  Baba

  A sob tore from Cherri’s throat as she finished reading the letter. She had come into Baba’s room to look for her pearl earrings. Cherri wanted a piece of Baba with her on her wedding day. The wedding preparations had all gone by in a blur for her. Questions were asked. Decisions were made. She was there for it all but she had no idea what was going to happen. None of it seemed to matter.

  Because it all felt wrong. No bride should wake up on her wedding day with this many doubts. Colin didn’t deserve it. He deserved a woman he loved. He deserved an event that was carefully planned. He deserved to have his father there.

  The wedding had been thrown together so fast that Colin couldn’t get in contact with him. He shrugged it off as unsurprising coming from his father, but she knew that it hurt him. She knew that this was not the day he wanted for himself.

  She wished she could talk to Baba about it. Once she woke up and walked into her room to talk to her before realizing that she was no longer there. It had been a shot to her heart, and now seeing this letter made her ache. Baba let go because she thought Cherri didn’t need her anymore now that she had Colin. Well, that wasn’t true. She needed her now more than ever.

  She heard a knock on the door but couldn’t pull herself together enough to acknowledge it. “Love, I know it’s bad luck for us to see each other beforehand but … Charlotte.” He was across the room in moments. “What’s wrong, darlin’? Why are you so upset?”

  He gathered her close and kissed her wet face. She cried harder, the sobs causing her whole body to shake. “Please stop, love. You’re going to get sick. Tell me you’re crying because you miss your gran and not because you don’t want to marry me. You know how much I want to be with you. We rub along well. I’ll take good care of you. I know we can be happy and think about our baby, love. We need to give the little bugger a good home, where he feels loved. Just please stop crying.”

  Love. In all the reasons he’d just listed, he didn’t say that he loved her, and maybe that’s the one thing she needed to hear the most in that moment. For that alone she should back out of the wedding, but there was the baby growing inside her and she had to give him a good home. It was her only purpose now. Baba left because she thought this was the path Cherri’s life was going to take. Baba wanted her to marry Colin. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t in love with her. It didn’t matter if this life was the last thing she wanted.

  She managed to nod even though her tears didn’t stop flowing. Colin hugged her so tightly to him she lost her breath. “I miss her.”

  “I know you do, love. I’m so sorry she’s not here today.”

  She said nothing, knowing he wouldn’t be here today, either, if Baba were still alive. He was only marrying her out of pity. She should be grateful. It wasn’t as if anyone else was knocking down her door to marry her, but a little hard ball of resentment formed in her belly. She tried to push it away, remembering that Colin was a good man and that even if he didn’t love her, she loved him.

  “Cherri!” Belinda and Ellis came through the door. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Colin said, relieved. “I feel wholly inadequate right now.”

  “It’s okay, Col.” Ellis patted his shoulder. “We’ll take over from here.”

  He nodded but never took his eyes off Cherri. “I’ll see you in a little while.” He cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head back so that she looked into his eyes. “Won’t I?” He kissed her wet droopy eyelids. “Say yes,” he whispered.

  “Yes, Colin.”

  He kissed her slowly, and even t
hough she was still upset she felt it in her toes. “Let the girls take care of you. I’ll see you in a little while. Right?”

  She nodded.

  He kissed her once more, for a very long time, as if his kiss could make everything better, and left the room.

  “Wow,” Belinda said. “Did it feel as good as it looked?”

  She opened her eyes and blinked at Belinda.

  “Don’t ask her that!” Ellis scolded.

  “Yes.” She turned away and faced herself in the full-length mirror.

  “Yes, your face does look like shit.” Belinda patted her on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s fix you up. If you want to talk about what’s bothering you, we can.”

  “No. I’m fine.” She shook her head.

  “I was surprised,” Belinda started. “I was surprised when you told me you were pregnant, but I’m happy for you,” she said quietly. “He’s a good guy.”

  Cherri nodded, her eyes going to Ellis. She needed to know what Ellis thought. She needed a little reassurance that what she was doing was right.

  “You know I love Colin,” she said. “You’re both like family to us. I’m happy for you, too.”

  Fresh tears welled in her eyes. Her friends were supportive. They loved her. She was grateful for them, but it still didn’t stop the doubts.

  “Oh, honey.” Belinda wrapped her arms around her, and then Ellis. “Please talk to us.”

  “I’m fine. I promise. I’m just a little hormonal.” It was one of the biggest lies she had ever told, but the time for the truth was over. She was getting married.

  * * *

  Colin stood at the front of his living room alone. The justice of the peace was there, looking ahead, waiting for Cherri to make an entrance, but on his wedding day he stood alone. Mike was at Cherri’s side today, walking her down the aisle. He’d always thought his best mate would be his best man, but that wasn’t the case. He’d always thought his father would be there, but he couldn’t be bothered to pick up his damn phone. He’d always thought he would have a happy smiling bride. But he was faced with a grieving, miserable woman.