Keegan from his wandering thoughts.
Kaden took a seat beside her, but Keegan remained on his feet. He wasn’t sure sitting was a good idea just yet. For one, his hands were shaking, and he was a bit out of sorts. Not from the news, though. Which was really fucking odd. He should’ve been panicked or at the very least defensive. He was neither. More like nervous because what he said to her from this point forward would have to make up for what he’d done before. As much as he wanted to pretend he’d doubted whether she would stick around, he knew deep down it was all him. His own insecurities, his fears … they’d gotten the best of him and he had royally fucked shit up.
But this … this could be his second chance.
“When did you find out?” his brother asked.
“Earlier in the week. But I went to the doctor yesterday. Just to, you know, confirm it.”
“Then why were you drinkin’ at the bar?” Keegan wondered aloud, then shook his head when he realized that came out like an accusation.
“It was Sprite,” Bristol said, waving off the question.
Well, that made sense.
“I didn’t know how I was gonna tell you,” she said softly. “I definitely didn’t plan it to go like this, but I knew I had to. I went out tonight to try to get my head on straight, hoping to spend some time with my friends before I had to broach the difficult subject.” Bristol looked at each of them. “They don’t know, by the way. My friends. I haven’t told them yet. Well, no one but Rex. I needed someone’s perspective and he’s my oldest and dearest friend. I trust him.”
Rex knew? Before they did?
“He said I needed to tell you, that you deserved to know.”
Keegan noticed the way she continued to say you. Not y’all. She was speaking to them as though they were one.
Keegan did some simple math in his head. “That makes you, what? Four weeks along?”
“Five.” Bristol glanced between them. “I went to the doctor to be sure. He wanted to do an ultrasound, but I asked him if we could wait. Until next week. I … uh … I figured I would tell you by then. That way, in case you wanted to go with me…”
Admittedly, Keegan knew more pregnancy terminology than he should, but that was because he was around when Zoey was pregnant with Ethan and Beau’s triplets. He’d heard more than his fair share of details during that experience, so he knew an ultrasound was some kind of x-ray thing the doctor did to see the baby.
“He said we could do a DNA test if you want,” she continued. “I wouldn’t blame you. I mean, I haven’t been with anyone else. Certainly not since you and … well, it was a really, really long time before that night.”
“How long?” he asked, more for his own curiosity. He liked the idea that Bristol hadn’t been with any man but them in quite some time.
Her eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said defensively, tacking on a smile.
“That’s his alpha caveman comin’ out,” Kaden explained. “The idea of no man touchin’ you and all that.”
“Ah.” There was a barely there hint of a smile. “Anyway, if you want, we can schedule to get—”
“It’s not necessary,” Keegan told her. “I doubt there’s a chance they can determine exactly which of us is the father.”
Her eyes locked on his. “I wasn’t … I didn’t…” She sighed. “I guess I’m a little screwed up, because in my head, you’re both the father. I mean, what we did … how we did it…”
“And the fact we’re identical twins,” Kaden noted.
“Yeah. That, too.”
The three of them were quiet for a moment.
“I know we didn’t leave things on the best of terms, but I figured you’d want to be part of the baby’s life,” she said softly.
“We want to be part of your life,” Kaden corrected. “And the baby’s.”
When Bristol looked up at him as though looking for him to say something, too, Keegan thought for a brief moment that he might cry. And he didn’t cry. Ever.
He was the reason they were at this point.
Not the pregnancy. That was the three of them together.
But it had been his irrational response to her that had sent her running and kept them apart for the past five weeks. There was no doubt about it, he’d been miserable since that night, since he’d opened his big fucking mouth