Melanie wondered what they did, what he’d done to her, and what she’d done to him, and if he’d done that thing that Adam used to do with his-
“Are you okay?” Aidan asked, frowning down at her as she forced herself to look away before she made this situation awkward.
Okay, even more awkward than it already was, Melanie amended a second later as she cleared her throat and mumbled, “Yes.”
Nodding absently, Aidan finished off his Gatorade and tossed the empty bottle in the trashcan that she’d asked Rebecca to sneak in for her in an effort to curtail his messy ways, before grabbing another bottle and announced, “Your apartment’s finished,” to which she reacted like any woman in her situation would.
She wiggled her way to the edge of the bed and sat up.
Chuckling, Aidan reached over and helped her to her feet. After murmuring a, “Thank you,” Melanie waddled her way through his apartment, navigating her way around the messes that he’d left here and there, and straight out the door, across the small hallway, and into-
An apartment that she was never going to be able to afford.
“Rebecca helped design it,” Aidan said, which explained why the apartment walls that had once been off-white covered with stains, dents, and holes were now a warm grey accentuated by white trim and black doors. The stained carpet that had given the apartment a musty odor was now gone and in its place was a beautiful wood floor with accent rugs to protect the floor from her furniture, which at some point in the last month had been moved in.
“You’re going to love the kitchen.”
She was afraid of that.
When he wrapped his arm around her and guided her towards the kitchen, Melanie did her best to ignore the white wainscoting that lined the walls, the beautiful cast iron light fixtures and walked into a kitchen that she would have happily killed for. The damaged linoleum floor that had once lined the kitchen floor was gone and its place were Spanish tiles that surrounded a beautiful French styled kitchen island that had her breath catching.
“If you don’t like anything, I can change it,” Aidan offered while she stood there, taking in the new cabinets, granite countertops, and black stainless-steel appliances that made up her dream kitchen.
“Let’s go see the bathroom,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her and gently pulled her out of the room that she never wanted to leave.
“Bathroom?” she mumbled distractedly as she allowed him to lead her back through the living room and-
“Oh, god,” Melanie choked out as she stepped inside the large bathroom and took in the black marble shower, the freshly tiled floor, two-person sink only to whimper when she spotted the large garden tub in front of her.
Before she could lovingly caress the tub that would make all her dreams come true, he was leading her back out of the room, through the living room and-
“This is the nursery,” he said, opening a door to reveal a large carpeted room with freshly painted blue walls and before she could step inside, his arm was wrapped back around her, and he was bringing her to the room next to it.
“And this is your room,” Aidan announced as he opened the door to the beautiful bedroom with soft lilac walls, all of her things lovingly set up in the room, and by the bed, the most beautiful bassinet that she’d ever seen.
“What do you think?” the man that had done an amazing job to make a home for their son, asked.
Licking her lips, Melanie said the only thing that she could, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Chapter 14
“I’m fine,” the woman that was slowly driving him to drink said from where she lay, curled up in a ball on the floor he’d installed last week, hugging a bath towel against her chest, and looking absolutely miserable.
“Yeah, you’re a rock,” Aidan said dryly as he sat there, trying to figure out how he kept fucking everything up.
One thing was clear, they couldn’t keep doing this.
“Aidan,” Melanie mumbled, averting her pale baby blue eyes as a pink blush crept up her neck and stained her alarmingly pale cheeks, “I-I can’t afford this apartment.”
“I’m not expecting anything,” Aidan said, biting back a sigh as he sat there, trying to figure out how he kept fucking this up.
He’d never had any problems talking to anyone even when he was a kid and could barely get a word out without mangling every single syllable in the process, but whenever he was around her…
She made him nervous and he had absolutely no idea why.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that, Aidan,” Melanie said, clearing her throat awkwardly before adding, “I think it might be for the best if I stay with my parents for a while. At least until the baby comes,” and if she’d actually sounded like that’s what she wanted, he would have let her go and figured out another way to make this work.
But it was the way that she said it that had him closing his eyes and saying the one thing that he prayed would change her mind.
“I used to wet the bed.”
“Ummm…”
“When I was ten, my brothers paid me two dollars to wear my mother’s bra, took pictures, and then charged me twenty dollars not to show my friends.”
“Well, that’s-”
“You know those marshmallow peeps?” he asked with a heavy sigh.
“Um, yeah?”
“They freak me the fuck out,” he reluctantly said, admitting his secret shame.
“I see,” Melanie murmured thoughtfully before asking, “Is there a reason why you’re telling me all this?”
Nodding, he said, “It’s my five things.”
“You’ve only told me three things,” she pointed out, sounding amused.
“That’s because I’m pacing myself,” Aidan said even as he opened his eyes so that he could reach back into the tub and turn the water on.
“For…?”
“Well, I don’t want to rush things.”
“And telling me five completely random things about yourself at once would be rushing things?” Melanie asked, blinking up at him.
Sighing heavily, he said, “Yes, yes, it would.”
“Okay, should I take a moment to prepare myself for the two earthshattering revelations that are about to come?”
“That would probably be a good idea,” he said as he moved so that he could drop the stopper and fill the large bathtub.
“I’m not sure if my heart can handle all this excitement,” Melanie said, smiling as she carefully sat up with his help.
“Are you ready?” Aidan asked, helping her to her feet.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked as he adjusted the water.
“I’m afraid not,” he said with a helpless shrug before admitting, “Once, when my brother Garret refused to share his sandwich, I convinced him that he was invisible.”
“Wow,” Melanie said, shaking her head in wonder before asking, “And how long did that last?”
He shrugged. “A year, give or take a few months, but by then, Arik and Reese had convinced him that he was adopted.”
She chuckled. “You’re so mean.”
With a heartfelt sigh, Aidan said, “True, but that wasn’t the worst thing that we did to him.”