Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,116
her to confirm. God help him if he knew before she did. He didn’t want to be the asshole who gave her that kind of news unexpectedly – good or bad. If she didn’t know... His heart thumped against his ribs as a new fear seized him. If she didn’t know she was pregnant, what if she didn’t feel the same joy that he did? She wanted to be with him, forever as she claimed, but that didn’t mean she’d welcome a child. They’d only known each other a short time.
He choked on nothing and kept pointing at her stomach, since he didn’t know what else to do. “Are you... Is this...”
Tears slid down her cheeks and her face got a little blotchy. There was some commotion across the room with Evershaw crowing about something, but nothing could have drawn Dodge’s attention away from his Persephone. She cleared her throat a few times, as if she wanted to speak, then she only nodded.
He started nodding, too, since there wasn’t much else he remembered how to do.
When he said nothing, Persephone took a shaky breath and caught his hand, squeezing his fingers with her soft ones. Her hoarse voice lanced right through him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know until... I just took a test this morning and it said positive, but really I have to go to the doctor and can’t do that for a few days. I just thought you would want to know.”
“Of course,” he said, the words escaping in a sudden, almost violent rush that set her back in surprise. Dodge shook himself, running his hands through his hair until it stuck up in wild tufts. “How did... I mean, I know how, just...”
He stumbled to a halt, still trying to process what she’d said. A baby. A child. Which meant... he was going to be a father.
The chasm of everything he didn’t know how to do and be and say yawned in front of him in a dark pit. He’d barely known his father, and his grandfather had been a puritanical, cold piece of shit. What the hell was he going to do with a child?
As his world re-ordered itself yet again, Dodge was distracted by a snort and amused sneeze from Silas, who flopped on his side and thumped his tail against the floor. Something about his friend’s posture made Dodge think the bastard was entertained by his predicament.
Not that it was a predicament. It was a joy, a wonderful incredible link to his Persephone. A miracle. More than a miracle.
As his thoughts flew in a thousand different directions, he finally dragged himself back to reality and found Persephone still weeping, covering her face with her hands. His chest nearly caved in as he reached for her. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Are you – upset? About... this?”
He tugged her hands away so he could see her face, ducking so he could peer at the miserable expression that gutted him. Dodge gathered her up in his arms and pulled her onto his lap, desperate to stop her tears. He couldn’t think with all the noise Evershaw made, despite Deirdre telling him to shut up. He didn’t want to share that moment with Persephone with anyone else.
Dodge rested his forehead against hers and breathed her in, closing his eyes so he could memorize the first hints of his child. Their child. “My love, talk to me. Are you upset?”
“It’s a lot to take in,” she whispered. She curled in on herself, trembling. “I don’t even know... I can hardly believe it, and now I told you and I don’t know how you feel, and it’s just too much. It’s too much.”
She didn’t know how he felt? Dodge swallowed a curse and instead scooped her up in his arms. He didn’t give a shit about anything else. He carried her up the stairs and ignored Deirdre calling after them. Persephone felt so slight in his arms. He counted it as a victory that her arms slid around his neck and she rested her head on his shoulder.
He kicked the door closed once they were in his room and put her on the bed. He needed to be close to her, to feel her. Dodge sat up against the headboard and arranged the pillows before drawing her up next to him. He looped his arm around her and held her close, listening to the soft hush of her breathing. At least it was quiet upstairs.