Free MINE 2 by Kristina Weaver

days I have trouble remembering his problems, and my husband is a good man. He may not be into emotional sharing and everything the heart entails, but he’s kind and caring and makes me happier than I have any right to be.
    And now I have a baby on the way!
    My heart explodes with happiness all of a sudden, and I jump up, toppling my chair with a whoop and a smile that makes Brit follow suit, clapping her hands like a schoolgirl.
    “Oh, Ash, go on and go tell your guy the good news. Can I start calling the girls, or…?”
    “Give me an hour to tell him, and then you can go batty and tell everyone you want,” I say, kissing her at the door before bolting for my car.
    Good things come to those who work for them, Mom had always said, and know what? I’m finally starting to get that.
    ***
    Luc
    This morning… I can’t even begin to understand what this morning had been about, but I think my baby may have started her period and is feeling the effects of some really bad PMS.
    Benjamin had been laughing his arse off in the car, the whole way to school, even as he turned and walked backward, his eyes still locked on my shell-shocked face.
    “She’s got one mean temper, Luc. I told ya, didn’t I?” he’d said around a few chuckles that had grated on my already stressed nerves.
    Yesterday, after a long afternoon spent thinking, with not a scrap of work getting done, I’d faced a few very bad home truths about myself, my plans, and our past.
    I’ve been wronging her on so many levels since I’d strong-armed my way into her life that I cannot even begin to understand why the woman hasn’t killed me in my sleep.
    I owe her an apology, a few very lengthy explanations, and three very important words that I should have given her a long time ago.
    I’m no good with talking or sharing myself, though, and I bloody well know it, so I’ve decided that showing her will go down a lot better than my terse words and uncomfortable silences ever will.
    “Mr Jasper, your wife is here to see you, sir.”
    “Send her in.”
    I’m surprised and a little put out at her sudden arrival. She’s never shown a scrap of interest in my business and has never come here after leaving that night all those months ago, so I know that whatever has brought her here must be really important.
    “Love, what’s wrong?” I ask as soon as she’s in the door.
    She ignores me totally and flings herself at me, her eyes shining with tears even as she laughs and kisses me to silence.
    “Nothing, Luc, absolutely nothing. Everything is just perfect,” she whispers, kissing me lingeringly before pulling me to the seating area and pushing me down.
    “I need to tell you something. Just don’t freak out, okay?”
    Well, now I’m really feeling anxious as she bites her lips uncertainly and reaches into her bag and hands me a small plastic—
    “When?” I breathe, not moving a muscle when I realize what she’s given me and what this means.
    “This morning, after I upchucked half my stomach and liver,” she says, laughing at my open mouth and startled eyes.
    The shock and elation are so great that I can do nothing but stare at the stick, recalling the fact that she’d been awake and dressed before I’d even woken—something unheard of, since Ashley is not a morning person—and the unhealthy pallor of her skin as she’d cooked breakfast before almost killing me with the scalding hot frying pan.
    It all made sense now. Her mood, the way she’d lit into Benjamin when before she would keep calm no matter what the lad said or did.
    My poor little love is pregnant and ill and…I’m going to be a father, I realize, turning my eyes up to her. My eyes are wet and misty, but I can’t find the will to give a fuck about showing her this weakness, not now, when everything I’ve aimed for has finally slid into place.
    With my child in her, I finally have that insurance that my cold heart needs to feel secure. She’s mine now. Forever. No matter what happens