Page 46

Harlow

Three months later…

“Are you nervous?” I ask Corey, whose fingers are incessantly fiddling with the underground ticket in his hands.

“Um …”

“Why? I’ve spoken to your mom countless times on the phone.”

“I know that. I’ve just … I’ve never brought a girl home before.”

Lacing my fingers through his, I rest my head on his shoulder. “You’re cute.”

“I’m anything but cute, Harlow.”

I shrug, my own butterflies fluttering around in my belly.

I’d be lying if I said I was calm about this.

Corey’s mom is the sweetest, but knowing I’m about to meet her in person does have nerves racing through me.

He might have never brought a girl home before, but I’ve never done the whole meet-the-parents thing either—and not just because I don’t have any.

The past three months have been nothing short of amazing. As we both came to terms with the fact that we’d be parents in the not-so-distant future, we set to work on getting the house ready.

I moved in with Corey, seeing as it was all paid for, while we made plans and set decorators to work.

I might have wanted our baby to grow up in that house, but I wasn’t overly fond of some of the wallpaper Mom chose all those years ago.

Letting go was hard, but I knew it was time to start a new chapter.

That house holds so many memories for me; how it’s decorated doesn’t change any of that, and I wanted it to reflect us as a couple, as a new family, not my old one.

We officially moved in two weeks ago. It was a bit of a shock to the system after living in Corey’s small apartment, but we soon found our feet.

We’ve turned one of the bedrooms into a den for him to work in when he’s not at the studio; it’s his man cave for when things get too much.

He keeps warning me that at some point he’s probably going to freak out, but so far, he’s been nothing short of incredible.

We’ve both started therapy, just to help us work through our thoughts and fears, and so far, it’s working well for both of us.

He came with me to my first doctor and midwife appointment, and he held my hand tightly as we went to our first scan and got our first glimpse at our baby.

The look of awe in his eyes as he stared at the screen is something I’ll never forget.

He never got to do any of this when Carla was pregnant.

He might not have said much more about what happened since the night at the hotel, but he’s mentioned his old friend a few times.

I see the pain in his features as he does, and I know it’s not because he doesn’t want to tell me about his daughter, more that the pain is still just too raw to find the words.

I get it, and I’ll give him all the time he needs.

His mother, though … she was less patient, and the second we confessed that we were officially together, she demanded we visit.

To her disappointment, we didn’t jump straight on a plane. We both had busy schedules, plus I was still spending my mornings throwing up, and the prospect of doing so in the air didn’t appeal. We agreed to wait until we’d had our first scan, and then we’d visit and give them our news in person.

It’s only Brooke, Reese and Fletch who know thus far. It was important to both of us that his family were the next to find out that there was going to be a new arrival.

“It’s this stop,” Corey says, looking out at the underground sign.

I allow him to pull me from the seat and off the train.

It took quite a bit of convincing, because he is a man of pride and stubborn as hell, but eventually he conceded and allowed me to help out his family.

I invested in a nice house in a decent part of the city, and his mom and sisters moved in soon after. I knew it was the right decision, because the tension that had been pulling at his shoulders since the first night I met him began to loosen.

Without the stress of his family to worry about, Corey is like a new man.

He gives me his incredible smile so much more often.

It’s amazing to see. And although I still miss my family with every day that passes, I’m grateful that they were able to help him and those he loves.

It means everything to me to make their lives so much easier after they’ve been thrown into chaos.

“Fucking hell,” Corey mutters the second we emerge from the underground station.

I’m about to ask what’s wrong when a loud squeal hits my ears and three familiar women come racing at us.

They engulf us in a group hug as laughter rumbles up my throat.

It’s one hell of a welcome.

“I thought you were waiting at home?” Corey asks his emotional mom when she eventually pulls away from holding him tight.

“We couldn’t wait any longer.” She turns her eyes from her son to me. “Harlow,” she breathes, holding her arms out for me.

I immediately step into them and follow her lead. I’ve been hugged by Brooke’s mom countless times in the past, but there’s something about this one that reminds me of my own mom.

“Oh sweetie,” Helen breathes when she pulls back and finds my cheeks wet with tears. Lifting her hands, she wipes them away.

I sniffle. “It’s so good to finally meet you in person.”

“You too. It’s been a long time coming.”

“As fun as this is, I didn’t intend to spend the day on the path catching up. Shall we?” Corey says, pointing down the street with amusement dancing in his eyes. He might be acting cooler about this right now, but I see the emotion he’s trying hard to cover at seeing his family again.

“We thought we could go for breakfast—if you’re not too tired, that is.”

“Fry-up?” Corey asks.

“Whatever you want.”

“Lead the way.”

Helen chuckles as Sadie and Natalie flank Corey’s sides, taking an arm each. Love and adoration for their big brother oozes from both of them.

“They’ve really missed him,” Helen muses, coming to stand beside me as we head down the street.

“He misses you all terribly.”

“I know. It was the right thing for him to do, though. I know he’s felt guilty about leaving us, but he needed the new start. He needed to find you.”

Emotion clogs my throat once again. Damn pregnancy hormones.

“It’s so good to be here. I’ve always wanted to visit.”

“Well, we can do all the sights. It’s been years since I did any of the tourist things.”

“Sounds perfect.”

We turn into an English-looking pub and find an empty table.

“So, what’s good here?”

“Leave it with me, baby.” Corey winks and I push the menu away, trusting him wholeheartedly. He’s made me a few full English breakfasts since living together, but each time he tells me that it’s not quite the real thing.

He orders for us all, and we sit chatting about everything we’ve been up to before Corey places his hand on my thigh.

Racing to pull our scan photo from my purse, I hand it to him under the table.

“We’ve actually got something to tell you,” Corey says, causing all conversation to immediately halt. Helen’s eyes sparkle as they drop to my ring finger. She quickly covers her disappointment when she finds it bare.

“Well, go on. Don’t keep us waiting.”

A wide smile splits Corey’s face a beat before he reveals our secret by sliding the picture toward her. He’s been excited to tell his mom that she’s going to have a second chance at being a grandmother. She hardly spent any time with Layla, seeing as she was almost always abroad with his dad.

“Oh my God,” Helen cries, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Really?” Tears fill her eyes, as do mine at her happiness.

“Really. Sixteen weeks in.”

She quickly takes the scan and stares down at our little fuzzy baby.

Helen jumps up as if her chair just bit her ass and lunges for me. I manage to stand just in time for her to pull me into her arms.

“Thank you, Harlow. Thank you so much,” she whispers in a shaky voice. “You’ve brought him back to life.”

Once I’ve eaten the biggest English breakfast I’ve ever seen in my life, we head back to their house so that I can have a nap.

Corey has agreed to go out with his friends tonight. Now he’s got over his apprehension of me meeting his family, he wants to introduce me to everyone.

“Are you nearly ready? The Uber will be here in two minutes,” he calls as he walks through to the guest room at his mom’s house. “Whoa,” he says, stopping in the doorway, his eyes locked on my chest. “Second thoughts, we’ll just get a hotel for the night.”

“So yeah, my dress doesn’t really fit anymore,” I sulk. It’s one of my favorites, but seeing as my breasts have practically quadrupled in size in the past few weeks, it’s almost obscene.

“It looks fucking perfect to me.”

“You say that now; wait until you’re introducing me to your friends.”

He pales slightly. “Yeah, we’re definitely going to a hotel.”

Swatting his hand away, I step into my shoes and grab my shawl in the hope it might cover my cleavage. “Come on, they’ll be waiting.”

“They can wait until another night,” he sulks but reluctantly follows me from the room and down the stairs.

“Harlow, you look gorgeous,” Helen gushes when she comes to say goodbye.

“Thank you.”

“Careful with this one, Corey. Someone might want to steal her.”

“She won’t be leaving my sight,” he mutters, making us both laugh.

“Have a great night.”

She waves us off, and we find the Uber waiting for us.

Corey confirms our destination and the car sets off, giving me my first glimpse of London by night. I keep my nose practically against the window the entire time, taking everything in, much to Corey’s amusement.

“You adding more to that must-see list you’re hiding in your purse?”

I turn to look at him. “I’m not hiding it, I was just planning out loud.”

“Right. You weren’t that loud about it, because I had no idea.”

“Well, you do now. The most important thing is spending time with your family and friends, but if we get time, I’d like to see a few places.”

“Your wish is my command, baby.”

I smile at him before turning back to the window.