After Us (Next Generation #6) - J.M. Walker Page 0,13

ever made our relationship official. We had a fling and then I got pregnant with his baby. I didn’t want him to feel pressured into staying with me just because of Brynn. We didn’t have to be together for him to be a good father. I just wanted him, us, happy.

Even before he went to jail, a part of me feared that he wouldn’t want anything to do with me after a while. In the beginning when I told him I was pregnant, the silence that had fallen between us was deafening. He spoke without telling me. He liked the fact that I was pregnant with his baby.

“Have you ever changed a diaper before?” I asked Jaron, grabbing a onesie out of Brynn’s dresser. We ended up watching a movie first. Brynn had been wide awake through the whole thing, so we made sure to watch something she liked. Now we were getting her ready for bed since she started yawning during the credits.

Jaron was standing by the far wall that had pictures of him hanging on it. I wanted Brynn to see his face as often as she could. Even if he wasn’t around.

“Jaron?”

He looked at me over his shoulder. “Sorry, what?”

“Have you ever changed a diaper?”

“I have.” He went up to Brynn who was lying on the change table and tickled her belly.

She giggled, slapping her hands against his cheeks. “Dada.”

“That’s right, baby girl. I’m your daddy.” He grinned, grabbing her hands and kissing her fingers.

My heart swelled at the exchange taking place before me. “That’s her second word.”

“Yeah?” He tickled her belly. “What was her first?”

“Mama. She’s said some other stuff, but it was mostly babble. Tell me about the time you changed a diaper.”

“A club brother’s son brought his baby to the clubhouse,” Jaron told me. “They bet me a hundred bucks that I couldn’t change the diaper.”

“And did you?”

“Fucking right I did.” He chuckled. “It was the easiest hundred I’ve ever made.”

I laughed. “When I first changed hers, it fell off.” I shrugged. “But we got it figured out.”

“You did.”

I handed him the onesie.

He took it and changed Brynn with no fuss from her. It had amazed me how she didn’t cry with him like she did with everyone else. I was the only one who could hold her without her freaking out. It was like she knew. It had only been her and I for months and now that Jaron was home, things changed. It was different but she accepted it with open arms.

“There.” Jaron picked her up off the change table. “How does she look, Mama?” he asked, bringing her over to me.

“Perfect.” I kissed her cheek. “You sleep well, baby girl.”

Jaron placed her in her crib and put her stuffed pig in her arms. “Dream of puppies and kittens, little princess.”

I turned off the light before we left the bedroom and closed the door nearly all the way, but left it open partially.

I almost asked, now what?

But Jaron led the way into the living room. Just when I thought he was going to sit on the couch, he headed into the kitchen instead.

I moved to the couch, sat down, and breathed. Everything that happened in the past few hours, hit me. Jaron being back. The father of my daughter being here. With me. With us. Finally.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Fuck me. You are?” Jaron’s voice lowered.

The tiny hairs on my skin tingled. “I am.”

He had been happy about it. And when I had Sammy bring him the picture of the ultrasound, he had called me as soon as he could.

“You’re pregnant. With my baby. My baby is growing inside of you. That tiny, tight as fuck, little body.”

I smiled to myself, remembering that it had turned him on.

Jaron took that point to join me on the couch. He handed me a beer before taking a swig of his own. “Fuck. I missed this.”

“I guess you don’t really have beer in jail, do you?” I asked, taking a sip of my own.

“No. Although I’m sure if you’re a good boy, you could probably swindle your way into getting some but who the fuck knows what you have to do for that.”

I lifted my knee onto the couch and turned toward him. “Are you happy to be home?”

His eyes flicked to mine. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I mean…” I shrugged. “I don’t know what I mean. I just want you happy.”

Jaron turned his full body in my direction and grabbed my hand. “A lot of shit happened while