"You're too young for a child, Evelyn. Don't you get it?" Jacob's voice thundered. "You can't have that baby."
"Why not?!" I shot back, defiant and trembling. "I have a say in this too! This is my choice. I'm keeping the baby, Jacob, whether you like it or not."
Jacob groaned, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "Evelyn, I really don't have time for this shit. Just... just get rid of that thing. End of discussion."
"'Get rid of it?'" I took a step closer, anger flaring hot. In that moment, I wondered if I'd ever truly known him. "How dare you talk about our child like that? Right now, you sound like a cold, heartless piece of shit. Do you f*****g care about anything in your life, Jacob?"
"Evelyn, that's not what I meant-" he started, but I wasn't about to let him twist his words.
"You called it 'that thing,'" I hissed, my voice thick with anger. "It's not just 'a thing.' It's our child, Jacob. Our blood. A part of us. How can you stand there and dismiss it like it's nothing? How dare you?!"
Jacob sighed, breaking eye contact, his gaze shifting to the night sky outside the balcony as if hoping it held some answer. "Look, Evelyn," he said after a moment, voice weary. "I'm tired of fighting about this every day. You're too young to be a mother. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't make a decision like this on a whim. Think it through. F*****g think!"
"Is that what you're worried about? Or is it just that you're not ready to be a father?" I asked, the question hanging between us like a challenge.
He stilled, his jaw clenched, breathing heavy. For a moment, he was silent, his fists tight by his sides. Then he looked at me, eyes red and hair tousled from running his fingers through it too many times. "Fine," he whispered, raw. "You want the truth? I'm not ready to be a father. I never will be. You need to accept that. The sooner you do, the less it'll hurt."
***
Just when I thought everything was fine, life threw me a curveball.
I was pregnant. But the one person I'd thought would always stand by me was now the one trying to tear me down. He saw our child as a mistake. So what was I supposed to do? I was 'too young' to be a mother, according to everyone else. But I already felt this inexplicable bond with the life growing inside me. What do you do when the person you love most stands against what you want? When your past haunts you just as you're trying to look ahead?
I didn't have all the answers. But I knew one thing.
I had to fight. Because with the storm in my life Tyler Ricci was back-stronger than ever-and this time, he wouldn't let me walk away unscathed.
