That had her lips curving. “They’ll think some random guy is a jerk,” she corrected. “They won’t know it’s you. Whatever plan you have for your life can continue.”
“And what if I want to be involved?” My mouth went dry even asking the question.
“Then we’ll figure it out. I mean … you can have visitation. We have daycare here.”
“You’re going to raise a baby in a casino?”
“Why not?”
“Because kids need yards to run around in.”
“That won’t be an issue for a few years. I have plenty of time to come to a decision on a house.”
I was quiet, contemplative.
“You have time to figure things out too,” she said. “This baby won’t even be here for another seven months.”
“Six,” I automatically corrected. “Pregnancies last nine months and we were together three months ago.”
“It’s actually closer to ten months.”
I frowned. “That’s not what television and movies have taught me.”
“Well, if you saw it on television.” This time the smile she graced me with was placid. She almost seemed serene in her acceptance of what was happening. “Take your time and really think about it, Rex. The only thing I ask is that if you decide you want to be involved, that you stick to it. I don’t want this baby growing attached to you if you’re going to take off in three years.”
I was offended. “Like I would really do that.”
“The reverse is also true,” she continued, not acknowledging what I said either way. “If you decide now that you don’t want to be involved—which is fine, I’m not going to hold it against you—don’t come back in three years and decide you want to be a dad. Just make a firm decision.”
“No pressure, though,” I muttered.
“You have time,” she reminded me. “I just want you to really think about what you want.”
I sighed like a teenager who was having his favorite game system taken away from him. “This is unbelievable. I totally want to know who invented that shot, because I’m going to personally track him down and beat his ass.”
She laughed. “Won’t that be fun?”
6
SIX
Rex wasn’t wrong. I had settled into my new reality faster than I would’ve thought possible. The second the doctor confirmed that I was pregnant, however, a weird sort of calm settled over me.
I had pictured myself as a mother through various phases of my life. I always knew I wanted a child—at least one—and somehow the picture had faded into the background over the years. My father’s insistence that I marry as part of a business arrangement rather than love played a part in that. Somehow my dreams became as small as me.
I’d panicked upon seeing the home pregnancy tests. By the time I left the doctor’s office, I knew what I was going to do. That didn’t mean I wanted to force Rex into parenthood against his will. Just because I wanted to be a mother, that didn’t mean he was ready to be a father. He had to make that choice for himself.
Now, not only was I pregnant, but I was also easing into the second trimester. That meant I would have to tell my family before they started biting their tongues because my wardrobe was about to shrink.
I’d already ripped off the bandage with Rex. It made sense to do it with my family as well. If I dragged things out, it would get harder and harder to tell them. It was best to blurt out the truth, then let them deal for the next few weeks. Eventually, they would come to accept it. Some of them might even be excited.
That was the thought that propelled me to the boardroom for the second time in the same day. My father wasn’t there this time—thankfully—but my mother, brother, and sisters were seated at the table riffling through binders.
“Ruby?” Mom jerked up her chin when I walked through the door. “This is a surprise. I thought you were down for the count.”
“I feel much better,” I assured her. Because I was nervous, I headed straight for the drink cart. In a Vegas casino, it wasn’t unheard of to sip cocktails throughout your afternoon meetings. I only remembered I couldn’t drink when my hand was already on the vodka bottle. I immediately abandoned it and grabbed a bottle of water.
My hands shook as I cracked the cap on the bottle. I then proceeded to guzzle half of it, to the point where I was gasping for air when I sat at the opposite end of the table from my mother. I thought it would be easy to drop the bomb on them. Now that I was here, the closest people in my life surrounding me, I wasn’t so certain.