The sound of people arguing wakes me. Confused, I look around to find where the voices are coming from and where I am. A heart monitor beeps to the left of me. Am I in the hospital? I pull the curtains surrounding the bed I'm in open to see who else is there and why they're arguing.

The scene I'm greeted with only confuses me more. "Dad?" I say, shocked to see him here.

"Lilah, you're finally up," Dad says, relief in his voice as he rushes over to me.

"How are you feeling?" Beau asks, coming to stand on the other side of the bed. I open my mouth to reply, but Dad cuts me off.

"You're still here?" Dad barks, glaring at Beau. Yikes. If looks could kill, then Beau would definitely be dead right now.

"I know you don't want me here," Beau bites out, "but it's my baby she's carrying."

My eyes widen. Oh my God, Dad knows? How did he find out? This is bad. He's going to kill Beau.

"A baby that you put in her without her permission," Dad snaps.

"Just because we aren't together doesn't mean I would force myself on your daughter. You can trust me on that, at least."

Dad shoots another glare across the bed. "Unfortunately, your word means nothing."

Dad and Beau continue to argue, and my heart rate begins to increase, the monitor beeping erratically. This is not how I planned for Dad to find out, and Beau only seems to be making things worse. I try to intervene but neither of them bats an eye at my efforts to get their attention. I attempt to calm myself down, because I know getting myself worked up won't do the baby any good. But their bickering combined with my spiraling thoughts is making that very difficult. I don't even know what they're arguing about anymore. My eyes drift close as I feel a headache coming on. I start to massage my temples and am only able to open my eyes once I hear a different voice enter the conversation.

"Hey, hey, hey!" A doctor interrupts, snapping her fingers to get their attention. "What is wrong with you two? Can't you see you're stressing her out?" she scolds.

Beau and Dad both turn to face me and the expressions on their faces change immediately once they realize how their bickering has affected me.

"I am so sorry, mon amour. I didn't mean to make this worse." Beau wipes away a drop of sweat from my forehead.

"I'm sorry too, dear." Dad strokes my hair and gives me a peck on the cheek.

The doctor looks over at the heart monitor as it resumes a steady rhythm. "That's better." She gives a pointed look to Beau and my dad. "Now, I'm sure, regardless of your differences, you both want the mother and child to be healthy, so I would advise no more arguments—at least not in front of her." The doctor looks back to me before checking the medical chart in her hand.

"Doctor, is something wrong with the baby?" That's the only reason I can think of as to why I fainted.

"No, you and the baby are both fine. But I would advise you to stay away from things that could exhaust your energy. You're still in your first trimester, and this is a very delicate stage in pregnancy. Any little mistake can result in a possible miscarriage. Try to avoid stress as much as possible. It's not good for you or the baby."

I nod, my hand drifting over my stomach. "I'll be more careful from now on."

"Glad to hear it. All your tests look good, so you are free to go home."

"Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day," she says, walking away.

Beau looks at me, a smile on his face. "I knew you weren't serious about wanting an abortion. You wouldn't have been worried about the baby if you were."

"You wanted to get an abortion?" Dad asks, wide-eyed.

"Yes—I mean, no..." I try to answer both of them at the same time. Shutting my eyes, I think about how to handle this. I don't want Dad to think I want to get rid of his grandchild, but I don't want to give Beau the satisfaction of knowing that his plan to use me can still work.

I decide there's only one thing to do. Ignore them both. Pressing my lips together to keep my whirling thoughts to myself, I begin to prepare to leave. I drop my feet to the side of the bed and look around for my shoes. I don't have to search long because Beau realizes what I'm looking for and gets my sneakers, even kneeling to help me put them on. I thank him and use his shoulders to stand up. I'm still a little weak, but I think that's to be expected.

"I can take it from here." Dad walks over and puts an arm around my shoulders. I wrap my arms around his waist, leaning against him. Beau glares at Dad but keeps any comments to himself. He walks over to the table and picks up my handbag.

We all leave the hospital together, which is just as awkward as it sounds. But I'm happy neither of them asks me again about the abortion. Dad helps me into the backseat of his car before walking over to the driver's side. He must have rushed over here and didn't bother to wait for his driver. I'm about to lie back against the seat when the door opens. I look up to see Beau.

"What is it, Beau?" I don't have the strength to argue with him right now, and I also don't want to talk about anything in front of my dad.

"We haven't finished our discussion. If you go to work tomorrow, let me know and I'll come by."

"I have nothing to discuss with you, Beau. Goodbye." I grab the door handle and slam it shut. "Let's go home, Dad." I ignore Beau still standing next to the car and lie down, closing my eyes.

***

I walk down the stairs, my heart pounding. Dad asked me to talk once I woke up from my nap. The thought of avoiding him entered my mind, but I know better than that. The sooner we address my situation, the better it will be for both of us. Taking a seat across from Dad in the living room, I play with my fingers and stare at the floor as I wait for the storm to arrive.

Finally, he speaks. "How could you?" Disappointment drips from his tone.

"I'm sorry." My shoulders drop under the shame of his question. This isn't something that I want. That I'm proud of. I never meant for this to happen.

"Your mother's family will never let me hear the end of this."

"I know, and I am sorry, Dad." Tears sting the back of my eyes as I imagine how disappointed my mother would also be if she was alive.

"No need to say sorry. The deed has already been done." He sighs. "Now, let's talk about your plans for the baby. Do you really wish to have an abortion?"

"No," I quickly answer.

"Then why did that thug say you wanted one?" he asks. I guess he's found a new insult for Beau.

"He thinks I want one, but I don't. I hope you don't mind me keeping the baby. That's what I really want." I look at my dad with hopeful eyes, praying he doesn't ask me to abort the baby or give it up for adoption.

"I would never ask you to kill or give away my grandchild. The baby in your womb has my blood running in its veins."

"Thank you, Dad." I smile softly.

Despite his disappointment, he smiles back. "You're welcome, sweetheart." He stands, leaning over to kiss my forehead as he walks by. "It's going to be okay."

A sigh of relief whooshes out of me as he goes into the other room. My hand rests on my stomach. I hope he's right.

***

I took a few days off from work, deciding to take both the doctor's and dad's advice and get some rest. I've also decided that I won't be visiting any building sites during my first trimester. I don't want to over work myself or risk running into Beau.

The time off was nice, but I'm ready for life to get back to normal. Stepping off the elevator, I walk to my office with a thermos of tea and my handbag. I really miss coffee. It's so difficult to function during the day without it, and the fact that being pregnant makes you sleepy doesn't help. The tea almost slips out of my hands when I open the door to my office.

"Beau?" I say, shocked to see him here. How did he get pass security? "Who let you in?" I ask, walking towards my desk and placing my things on its surface.

"You'd be surprised by what a few hundred bucks can do."

"Get out," I snap, sitting in my chair and turning on my computer so I can send a very strongly worded email to my so-called security.

Beau ignores my clipped tone. "I need to speak with you."

"Does it look like I want to listen to anything you have to say?" I fetch my phone out of my purse and dial my assistant's number. She needs to get security in here so they can kick Beau out.

"I need to speak with you, and you will listen to me." Beau grabs the phone out of my hand. I look at him, shocked at his behavior.

"Give me back my phone." I stand, trying to reach for it, but it's impossible with our height difference.

"Are you keeping the baby or not?" he asks, continuing to hold the phone out of reach.

"I am not keeping it." My hands drop to my sides.

"Why?" Beau sounds disappointed, maybe even a little angry.

"Are you really asking me that? I didn't plan to have a baby right now. You've completely upended my life, on purpose." I might have agreed to keep the baby, but some things haven't changed. This is Beau's fault, and now I have to deal with the consequences of his choices. Regardless of the fact that I'm keeping the baby, I'm angry with Beau for what he did.

"You are keeping the baby," Beau says through gritted teeth.

I scoff. "I am not."

"You are."

My jaw clenches. " I said, I am not."

"You are fucking keeping the baby!" Beau roars. I step back and look at Beau, confused by his sudden outburst. He rubs a palm across his face and takes a deep breath. Is something wrong?

"Do you know how important this baby is?" He asks after several moments.

"To you, yes. That's why I'm not keeping it."

"You see that's where you're wrong Delilah. This baby, our baby, is important to both of us." He walks back over to me and places his hands on my arms. I stare up at him. Could I have been wrong about the reason he got me pregnant?

"Why?"

Beau is about to speak but is cut off by his phone ringing. He retrieves it from his pocket and his whole demeanor changes once he answers. I tune out Beau's voice as he speaks, walking over to the window I look down at the city below. My head spins with thoughts about the past few weeks. I'm starting to doubt why Beau got me pregnant in the first place. I snap out of it once I hear Beau saying goodbye to whoever had called him. Turning away from the window, I face him. He really needs to explain things, because I have no clue what's going on.

"Delilah, unfortunately, I'll have to explain myself another time. I just got a call that Nana isn't doing so well. I need to fly home to see her immediately." Beau turns toward the door.

"Nana is sick?" I ask, worried. Victoria is a lovely old lady. I only met her once, but we bonded immediately. Sometimes I still wonder how someone as amazing as her is Jenny's mother. They're complete opposites.

"Yes." Beau doesn't elaborate, but I can tell he's worried.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry, is it serious?"

Beau releases a sigh before speaking "Unfortunately..." It seems as if he's having a hard time getting the words out. I look at his eyes and see tears swimming in them. Oh my God! I can't even imagine how he feels right now. His grandmother means the world to him. Without thinking, I pull him into a hug. Beau wraps his arms tightly around my waist and buries his face in my neck.

"If you need anything, I'm here for you," I say, rubbing his back. The next words that leave Beau's mouth stun me.

"Come with me."

"Huh?" I pull away to look up at him.

"Come with me to see her. If her days are truly numbered, I'll need you beside me if that happens while I'm there."

"You want me to come with you to your hometown?" I'm shocked he asked me to come with him. Beau and I's relationship isn't exactly a stable one. I won't lie, I do care for him—as much as I hate to admit it—but I don't think it's a good idea to go with him.

"Please, Delilah," he whispers. "I beg of you."

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Please, I need your support," he pleads.

I open my mouth to refuse again but one look at him has me quickly closing it. I can see how worried he is about Nana. She means a lot to Beau. I even believe she is the real reason he puts up with his mother.

"I want to come with you," I admit. "But your grandfather and mother will be there. And they will definitely not be happy to see me."

"If you can handle my mother, then you can handle my grandfather. Trust me."

"You really think so? The man kidnapped Tamara."

"I do."

"What about me being pregnant? Have you thought about how they will react to that?"

"You're not showing, and I doubt they will say anything you wouldn't already expect."

"I can see your mom offering me money to give you full custody of the baby or worse dragging me to court."

"I could see her doing that, too," Beau chuckles softly. "But at the end of the day, this child is half mine. And nothing matters more to my family than their own blood, so they'll have no choice but to accept it."

I consider his words. "I guess so," I say, still not completely convinced. I'd learned Jenny was capable of anything.

"So, will you come with me?" Beau asks, taking my hand and gently rubbing it. He looks at me, trying to win me over by using those beautiful gray eyes of his.

I still have my doubts about going, but I know how important this is to Beau. And despite my better judgement, a part of me wants to be there for him during this time as well. "Okay, fine," I say, reluctantly. "I'll come with you." Hopefully his confidence in my ability to handle his family isn't misplaced.

Beau's face lights up, and he pulls me into a hug. "Thank you so much, mon amour." He places a kiss on my forehead.

"You'rewelcome," I say with a forced smile, praying this isn't a huge mistake.