Chapter Sixteen

TAYLOR*

"Alright, you ready to head back to our apartment, or would you like to go back to your place instead. Wade and I could swing by and pick you up later when it's time to head to your parent's house," Connor asked me as he opened the door for me and we walked to his truck.

I gave Connor a surprised look. I figured we would wait until after Wade's eye had healed. Apparently, I was wrong; Connor and Wade still wanted to go through with telling my parents I was pregnant and that Wade and I were getting married.

"I thought maybe you both had changed your minds; we can wait and go another time. Is Wade going to feel up to going?"

"Most definitely, Wade has been through worse; believe me, he and I both. He'll make it just fine, don't worry," Connor said as he helped me up into his truck.

Being only 5'2 makes it hard to climb up into these huge Dully trucks Wade and Connor have; my goodness. They needed to get some side steps on their trucks to help me out. I laughed as I imagined getting into their trucks when I was seven months pregnant. There was no way that was going to work.

"What's so funny?" Connor asked as he buckled me in.

"This isn't going to work when I get further along; you get that right. I might only weigh 110 pounds now but wait until I gain 50 or more pounds, and it's all belly. I'm sorry but thinking about it cracks me up," I said, and Connor and I laughed hysterically for a minute.

"You are right; we probably need to do something about that soon. As well as finding a place for us all to live, none of our apartments are big enough to accommodate all of us. But we can talk about that later," Connor said as he slammed the door shut and made his way to the driver's side of the truck.

"I think maybe I should go ahead and go over to talk to my mom about everything first. Can you drop me off at my place so I can get my car, please?" I asked Connor once he had climbed into his truck and started the engine.

"Whatever you wish, love,"

***

"Would you like to come in for a moment? I would like to talk to you alone for a moment before we part ways?" I asked Connor as he helped me out of his truck.

"Sure, that would be great,"

Connor and I made our way to my couch and sat down together hand in hand. Connor retracted his hand from mine, put his arm around my shoulders, and pulled me close.

"Are you ok with everything that has happened? I can't help but think that you may be feeling like the odd man out?" I asked Connor as I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'll admit I was a bit jealous at first, but it's for the best that things worked out this way. I'm technically your boss now; it's more feasible for you to marry Wade. Would you be willing to have my child as well after you have healed from having Wade's?" Connor asked.

"Of course, I love being pregnant, and I love you both equally. We can have a whole slew of kids if God wills it. Will you make love to me, Connor? I need you; I want to feel you inside of me," I said, and Connor lifted my chin, his lips softly brushing mine.

"I love you, Taylor," Connor whispered in my ear as he stood up and bent down to pick me up from the couch.

I had forgotten what it felt like to make love without a condom. When we were done, Connor stayed inside of me, spooning me from behind, ran his fingertips along my ribs, and then rested his hand on my belly.

"I know the baby is not mine, but we will all be raising the baby together. You don't know how happy I am that you are pregnant and that we are all truly connected in this way," Connor whispered into my ear.

Connor left, and I jumped into the shower real quick to get cleaned up before heading to my parent's house. I would text Connor after I had gotten done talking to my mother. She had been bugging me to get into a relationship with Wade for over a month now, so I knew she would be pleased. The only thing she may be upset about was the fact that I was pregnant again out of wedlock, but she would get over it.

I hoped my mom would help Connor, Wade, and I tell dad the big news. Perhaps he would be ok with it knowing that Wade and I were to be married. My dad hated the fact that Aaron and I had never gotten married after I had gotten pregnant with Mark. Thank God that hadn't happened, though; it would have been hell getting away from Aaron if we had gotten married.

***

"You are early; I wasn't expecting you for a couple more hours. Your dad has taken Mark to the park; they should be back soon, though," mom said as she put a kettle on a burner to boul some water for tea.

"Oh no, it's ok. I had some stuff come up and left early. I need to talk to you about something, and it's okay that dad and Mark are gone," I said as I sat down at the table, and my mom soon joined me.

"What is it, honey? Aaron isn't causing any problems, is he?" My mom asked with concern.

"Oh no, nothing like that. I haven't heard from him at all, thank goodness. I'm sad for Mark, but I'm happy Aaron is out of my life for good,"

"Ok, so what's going on? You know your dad, and I are here for anything you may need,"

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to let it all out short and sweet. I'm pregnant with Wade's baby, about a month. Wade hasn't proposed yet, but we have talked about getting married," I said as I waved my hands in the air and sighed.

"I wasn't aware that you two had started seeing each other. However, you have been spending quite a bit of time with Wade and Connor for a couple of months now. I'm happy for you; I was hoping you two would start seeing each other. I wish you had told me; you normally tell me everything. Well, it looks like we have a wedding to start planning for. Are you and Wade going to get married right away, or will you wait until after the baby is born?" Mom asked as she got up, took a couple of steps towards me, and hugged me.

"I'm not sure; we haven't had a chance to talk about it; we only just found out I was pregnant last night. I'm hoping to get married as soon as possible, and I would like for dad to be our preacher. Connor could walk me down the aisle and still be Wade's best man. Or dad could walk me down the aisle and still marry us—either way, I wanted dad to be the preacher for our wedding. Dad isn't going to be happy, though; he has disliked Wade and Connor both for years. So I was hoping maybe you could talk to dad for me? I could take Mark with me to go pick up Connor and Wade, and then we could be back here for dinner as planned maybe," I trailed off as I got lost in thought.

"Of course, honey, I don't mind talking to your dad. He doesn't like their promiscuous behavior. He hasn't wanted you to get mixed up with them, but you and Wade complement each other you always have. You have both saved each other from each other's past. Everyone deserves a chance to start anew; your father should know that with being a preacher and all. He's human, though, and when it comes to you, he can't help but to be protective and judgemental. I'll convince him that everything will be ok, alright, don't worry," mom said as she poured water into some tea glasses and put a bag of tea in each cup to steep.

***

I had texted Connor to tell him I was on my way to their apartment and gave him the low down of what had happened with my mom. I was nervous about how my dad would react, but with my mom's help, I felt like everything would work out fine.

Wade and Connor came out to my car; Wade sat in the passenger seat next to me, and Connor sat in the back seat with Mark. Mark has grown close to both Connor and Wade over the last month as they were constantly at my parent's house while we awaited court. The way they acted towards each other in the back seat was comical, and I loved it.

Mark gets along better with Connor and Wade than he ever really had with Aaron, which is somewhat crazy considering Aaron was his father. Aaron, however, wasn't around much after Mark was born. We would get back together, he would cheat on me, he would leave for a couple of months, then we would get back together. That had been a continuous cycle for five years now. Aaron hadn't shown much interest in Mark until he proposed, but then it only took him two months to go back into his old habits. Mark has grown so used to Aaron being gone all of the time that he hasn't even so much asked about Aaron. Which is sad, but I'm glad for it at the same time.

I parked in the driveway of my parent's home, and Connor got Mark from the backseat while Wade came around, opened my door, and lent a hand to help me out of my car. We all simultaneously took deep breaths as I turned the doorknob, and we all walked into the house. My mom walked up and gave me a thumbs-up, and hugged each of us as she gestured for us to follow her to the living room.

"Well, it looks like I'm about to have a son and another grandchild soon," my dad said with a smile as he walked up and shook Wade's hand.

"Yes sir, thank you, sir. If you will allow me to have your daughter's hand," Wade said with a smile.

"Yes, of course, you are a fine man. Ive had issues with you in the past, but I have seen some changes in you here lately and in Taylor as well. What happened to your eye, son?" Dad asked Wade once he caught sight of Wade's eye.

"Blaze wasn't as happy about our news as you are, sir," Wade said, and we all laughed in unison.

"That's to be expected, I suppose; let's go eat dinner. My stomach has been growling for over an hour already," dad said as we all turned and made our way towards the kitchen.

"So your mom said you would like for me to be your preacher at your wedding; when should we expect to have this momentous occasion?" Dad asked as we all dug into our food.

"As soon as you are available, sir, I know you are quite busy with other weddings and so on with it being mid-spring and all. I was booing within a month or two. But Taylor and I haven't had a chance to talk about it yet. So it's up to her on whatever she may want," Wade said as he took a bite from the homemade pasta my mom had made.

"I'm with Wade whenever you and the church are available. I want something small, just our families and close family friends,"

"I'll look at my schedule for the next couple of months and get back to you. Anything for my only child and daughter,"

"Thank you, daddy," I said as I got up, walked over to my dad, and hugged him.

It looks as if I will soon be Mrs. Cunningham. I couldn't be more excited. I never in my life ever thought that any of this would be possible.