“Think I can move back here just before the birth?”
The drive to and from university every day would take about forty-five minutes each way so that would be too much for me to do each day. But I needed to be close when I was near to my due date because I had very little idea of what it was going to be like.
“As if we’re going to say no!” Dad said, sitting down beside Mum.
“Thanks.”
Jasper leant back, placing his arm on the back of my chair.
“And if he did you could just stay with me.”
Dad barked a laugh. “I don’t think so.”
Wow, living with Jasper. Recently that fantasy had filled my head more times than it should, and I didn’t know if it was because I had real feelings for him or because I was carrying his baby. Who was I kidding, they were real feelings!
“She’s carrying my baby,” Jasper said, trying to keep a straight face. He and Dad had a weird relationship; they teased each other a lot, and it was sometimes hard to tell if it was in jest or not. At first I was worried Dad would hate Jasper, but he was very quickly coming around, probably because Jasper had been perfect.
“Anyway,” I said, pulling Jasper up with me. “We need to talk about some stuff so we’ll see you later.”
“Leave your door open, Holly,” Dad said. I could hear the humour in his voice, but I didn’t look back because him trying to be a ‘cool dad’ was annoying. Jasper, however, laughed as we walked up to my room.
“We should actually have sex and call your dad’s bluff,” he joked. I noticed he waited until I’d closed my door before he said it though.
“Hmm, I’ll pass but thanks for the offer.”
He gripped his heart.
“You wound me. I thought I was irresistible.” Giving me his big puppy dog eyes, he pouted his lip and cocked his head, giving the full effect. My heart pounded.
“You’re not that irresistible.”
“Then why’re we up here?”
I rolled my eyes. “To talk about how this is all going to work. Do you think your mum will be able to help with childcare for the few months the baby’s here before university finishes?”
“You kidding, right? Try taking her off my mum! We’re all going to help, Holly. I’m so glad you decided to stick at uni.”
“Me too. My friend Li is coming to visit on Friday. I’d like you to meet her. You don’t have to or anything-”
“I’d love to meet her.”
I sighed in relief. We weren’t together so why would he want to meet my friends? I was glad that he took an interest. He probably just wanted to check her out because she would eventually have contact with our baby.
“We need godparents!” I said.
“Alright, moving on. What made you think about that?”
“I don’t know. There’s just so much to do, and you only get nine tiny months. Hell, by the time you find out it’s only eight months!”
“Calm down,” he said, holding his hands up. “Why don’t you think of two and I’ll think of two.”
“Who’s your two?” I asked.
“Cole and Oakley.”
I could’ve guessed that.
“Brad and Amy.”
“There. Tick that off your list. Stop stressing, Hol. Hey, we agree on things easily. I’ve never had that before. Ha, I should’ve married you and not Abby.”
I laughed, pretending to take it as a joke when something deep inside me wondered what it’d be like to be Mrs Scofield. If he decided to keep his new surname, you never knew with him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“When is Li getting here?” Jasper asked, eyeing my still flat belly. I was sure he was keeping an eye on it so he could be the first to see the bump.
“In about an hour.”
“And she definitely speaks English?”
“Jasper!”
He looked up and raised his hands. “Hey, don’t go getting all defensive. I’m not being an arse or anything, but you met her in on your exchange thing, and you speak Chinese.”
Okay, he had a fair point.
“Yes, she speaks English. Better than you actually.”
He smiled teasingly.
“Why didn’t you want to go to China when she invited you? I thought you wanted to go back.”
“I do and I would’ve, but if I get a bump while over there…” Jasper couldn’t wait to see the bump first appear.
“You stayed because of me?”
I did a lot of things because of him. Like getting butterflies, blushing fits and heart palpitations.
“I can’t miss anything – not that I’d want to – but you can so I don’t think it’s fair if I go off and risk you missing seeing my belly stick out or my squealing over the first kick.”
“Thank you,” he whispered.
My heart skipped at the low rawness and sincerity in his voice. I was lusting after the man I was having a baby with, a man that pledged his allegiance to the No-Strings Attached Club. I was doomed.
“So, we’ve got time before she arrives,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Jasper!” I whacked his upper arm.
He pouted. “I don’t even get a kiss?”