There was an awkward silence that followed, and Baz paced the yard, trying to gather his thoughts, trying to come up with the best way to tell Molly that he intended to limit his time with her because this was getting them nowhere. Before he could speak, she did.
“You just don’t get it. You’re supposed to spend more time with me. That’s how this works, Sebastian.”
Baz rolled his eyes. She was the only person in the world who called him by his full name. Not even his parents called him Sebastian. He wasn’t sure they ever had.
“I get it, Molly. I do. You’re pregnant, I’m the father. That’s relatively simple. But that doesn’t—”
“There’s nothing simple about this!” she shouted. “Nothing! Do you hear me? You’re supposed to be here to support me. To take care of me.”
To love me, he filled in because that was where she was going with this. It seemed to be her only objective. From day one, Molly had been telling him how much she loved him. She would go so far as to ask him to say the words. Once she’d even told him it was all right if he didn’t mean it, she just needed to hear it.
Needless to say, Baz hadn’t said them. He wouldn’t because they weren’t true, and the last thing he wanted was to lead Molly on.
“I can’t do this without you, Sebastian. I can’t have this baby without you. You did this to me. You put me in this position.”
Oh, he definitely knew, because she’d told him again and again how this was all his fault. How he was the one who’d had sex with her without a condom, although for the life of him, he still could not remember the events of that night. Nothing past a few fuzzy puzzle pieces of moments that didn’t quite come together.
“I’m here, Molly. Just like I said I would be. And I’ll be here for the baby, too.”
“No, you’re not! You’re there, not here.”
“I have a job. I have to be here.”
“No!”
Baz stopped pacing. “What?”
“No,” she said more firmly, her tone going from irate to eerily calm. “That’s not how this is gonna work.”
“Molly, I think you need to—”
“No, Sebastian. I’m not doing this your way any longer. If you want anything to do with our baby…”
He waited when she trailed off.
Baz heard more sobbing in the background.
When she came back, her voice was smooth and even. “You need to marry me, Baz.”
His entire body went ice cold. Marry her? Not a chance in hell. Baz had already started giving Molly money to take care of things. He’d bought a majority of the baby items she’d told him she would need, plus he’d promised he would start paying her rent once she went out on maternity leave and until she could return to work, something she insisted wasn’t going to be possible because she believed she needed to be a stay-at-home mom. From what she’d told him, she had it all planned out. Problem was, Molly’s version of the future was nothing more than a fairy tale that wasn’t going to come true.
“Molly—”
“No!” she screamed. “You don’t get to say no this time, Sebastian. We’re getting married because that’s what people do when they have a baby. I love you and I want our baby to have a father the right way. It’s the only way this works.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then … then … then I won’t have the baby! I won’t! I’ll get rid of it, Sebastian.”
“Molly, stop,” he demanded, his body tense from her threats.
“I won’t have your baby! Do you hear me? Are you listening?”
Oh, he was listening, all right. His ears were open and he was listening as he made a beeline for his truck.
He would admit he knew very little about Molly Ryan, but the one thing he was certain of, she was seriously unstable. During the past nine months, ever since the one and only time they’d been intimate in any way, she had conjured up this relationship, convincing herself they were something they weren’t. Not once had Baz ever placated her, never had he pretended he wanted something with her. He had insisted from the beginning he would be part of the baby’s life because he was as responsible as she was. Never once had he denied that.
But he wasn’t going to pretend to care for her or want to be in a relationship. What happened between them … it had been a drunken mistake.
“I’m on my way over there, Molly,” he told her as he yanked open his truck door. “We’ll talk about this.”
“Don’t bother, Sebastian!” She was screaming at the top of her lungs now. “Unless you plan to marry me today, you and I are done. And you won’t have to worry about a baby because—”
“Molly?” Fuck. The call disconnected.
Baz floored it, the truck’s tires spitting gravel in his wake as he headed for the main road.
He tried to call her back, but it went right to voicemail.
He kept his foot on the floor as he commanded Siri to call JJ.
“Hey,” she greeted with what sounded like a smile in her voice. “Where’d you go?”
“I’m going to Molly’s,” he blurted, his heart pounding in his chest. “I think she’s gonna do somethin’ stupid, JJ. She’s actin’ crazy. Said she wouldn’t have the baby if I didn’t marry her today.”
JJ’s sharp inhale made Baz’s heart ache.
“I won’t marry her,” he assured JJ. “It’s not an option.”
A second of silence before JJ finally said, “Oh, jeez. Okay. Just … uh … call me if there’s somethin’ we can do.”
“I will. Just let Brantley and Reese know.”
“Of course.” JJ’s voice lowered. “And Baz … be careful.”
“I will. I’ll call you in a little while.”
The drive from HQ to Molly’s was only ten minutes, but it felt like ten hours.
Baz managed to find an empty spot in the apartment complex’s lot. Although he tried to play it cool and calm, something told him that Molly had finally come unhinged. She’d been headed in this direction since the very beginning, but he had somehow convinced himself she would eventually settle down and realize the only way this would work was for them to be co-parents, not a couple. Baz had attributed some of her irrationality to the pregnancy hormones and the fact that she was still young. Only twenty-one and pregnant out of wedlock. Probably not how she’d seen her life unfolding.
When he reached her second-floor apartment, Baz knocked. Quietly at first, then louder.
“Molly, open the door.” He glanced left and right, hoping he didn’t draw the attention of her neighbors. “Open the door so we can talk.”
A second later, the door opened and Molly stood there. Her face was red, her hand cradling her stomach as she folded over in obvious pain.
“What did you do?” he accused.
“Nothing,” she groaned. “The baby’s coming, Sebastian. Oh, God. The baby’s coming.”
Baz frowned, stepping inside, closing the door behind her. “Are you havin’ contractions?”
“Yes! Yes. God, it hurts.”