Page 71 of Christmas with Brother's Best Friends

Chapter thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-Two: Emma

Day by day, I get closer to settling on what decision I should make for my future.

Truthfully, the future still looks pretty blurry to me, but I know that I don’t want to raise the baby alone away from New York City. It’s not a feasible or an attractive option, so I’ll keep my work remote or in the city.

But that leaves me with the most difficult part.

I have to tell people that I’m pregnant, starting with the guys. Who knows how they’ll take the news, especially since I don’t know who the father is? They might be excited. They might be spooked or upset.

And that won’t even be the end of that craziness because I’ll have to figure out how to tell my family how this baby came to be.

All I can see is a domino effect of chaos, and I don’t know who will be happy or if anyone will be at all. What if I end up alone regardless?

“Em?”

I snap out of my thoughts and look over the top of my laptop. Max sits across from me at a small table in a local coffee shop. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I was asking how your work is coming along,” Max replies as he lowers the screen of his laptop a little to get a better look at me.

I take a breath and nod, forcing myself to tune back into my work. That’s the reason I’m here. I needed a little bit of normalcy, so when Max offered a work session here at Cozy Grind, I agreed.

It’s just work with company, and I feel fine being around Max because we’re out in public focusing on work. We’re not talking about our feelings or our desires or our worries. Just work.

“Fine. Just deciding on what color scheme works best,” I tell him.

Max nods with a small smile. “I’m glad you came out with me today.”

His words make a fluttering sensation fill my stomach. They’ve all been so kind and caring to me, which is sweet, but they’remaking it harder for me to figure out the best way to tell them the truth. There have been moments when I was prepared to blurt it out, but my fear stopped me.

I don’t know what to do, and the pregnancy symptoms haven’t been kind to me in the slightest on top of it all.

“I almost cancelled,” I admit as I subtly rub my upper stomach under the table, trying to soothe the vortex of nausea wanting to work its way upward. “I wasn’t feeling too good this morning.”

Max frowns. “Is that why you’re drinking tea instead of coffee? I’ve never seen you order tea before.”

My heartbeat stutters for a moment. Did he really notice that? What else might he notice before I have the chance to tell them all the truth?

“Oh, uh, yes. It’s easier on my stomach,” I reply with a casual shrug. “Definitely doesn’t beat the taste of coffee, though.”

“And the four pumps of caramel syrup that you like in it,” Max says with a wry look on his face.

I hold up a finger. “That’s only for a big coffee, thank you.”

Max laughs as he leans back in his chair, his shirt stretching across his chest.

My eyes linger where I can see the lines of his muscles until my stomach suddenly churns, the sour sensation within it growing more prominent. This morning sickness is going to be the death of me.

I grimace as I lower my head, pressing my hand against my stomach.

Max’s laughter immediately dies out. “Are you okay?”

I breathe in and out slowly, fighting the nausea as bile tries to rise up my throat. This is driving me insane! It’s bad enough that I have to deal with pregnancy symptoms, but on top of that, I can’t tell anyone that they’re pregnancy symptoms.

“I don’t feel well,” I tell him as I press my hand against my forehead, shielding my eyes.

Max shuts his laptop and stands up. “Maybe you need to lay down for a little while. My apartment is around the corner. Let me take you there.”