Page 33 of The Secrets We Keep (Sovereign Sons MC: North Carolina #1)

EVERLY

I roll onto my side with a groan, finding the opposite side of my bed empty. I frown and drag myself to a sitting position. Where the hell is Travis? I wipe the sleep from my eyes and grab my phone from the nightstand to check the time. It’s ten, which means I slept for twelve hours.

I can’t believe how tired I’ve been lately.

Travis has been so understanding, though.

I’ve been going to bed early every night this week and haven’t been up to send him off to work every morning, which I usually do.

Apparently, today was no different. Thankfully, it’s the weekend, so I didn’t have to be up for school.

Travis is my fiancé. He’s a lawyer at his dad’s law firm in Charlotte.

We live in a town forty minutes south. Silver Springs, North Carolina is one of the most beautiful towns I’ve ever seen.

The rolling hills in the area give the town an old time feel and we’re close to the South Carolina border.

Silver Springs is a small town with only ten thousand residents.

We moved here a couple of weeks ago to escape the city.

We plan on raising a family here and building a life here.

I lucked out in getting a job teaching at the Silver Springs Elementary School, otherwise we might not have found such a nice town to move to.

We’re due to be married in a couple of months after being engaged for two years and being together for five years.

We met when we were in college and hit it off instantly.

At the time, my best friend Nicole was dating his best friend, Keith.

They set us up and I couldn’t be more thankful to them for that.

They’re no longer together, though, which is for the best because Keith ended up being a royal asshole.

I drag myself from the bed and walk into our bathroom, making my way to the toilet.

I halt in my tracks when I see the box of tampons waiting for me.

When is my cycle supposed to start? I immediately go to my vanity and find my birth control packet.

I gasp at the sight. I’m already on the last day of my inactive pills.

How did I miss that? My period never showed up.

I wrack my brain, trying to figure out if I’ve ever missed my cycle on birth control before, but can’t remember a time where that has happened.

I rip open another drawer and find an old pregnancy test. We’re not trying to get pregnant, but I’m an anxious person and have convinced myself I was pregnant before.

I open up the test and rush to the toilet, my bladder about to burst. I quickly pee on the test and put it back in the packet, setting a timer on my phone.

What the hell is Travis going to think if I’m pregnant?

Will he think I planned it? Will he think I lied about being on birth control?

Ugh, this is not what we need right now.

I wash my hands and brush my teeth to kill some time. Before I know it, the timer goes off, so I rush back to the vanity and fumble with the test. I take a deep breath and flip it over, reading the results. Positive.

My eyes go wide. I’m pregnant? Fuck me. I quickly get dressed and rush out the door, grabbing my keys from the hook as I go.

I get in my car and back out of the garage, heading to the local drug store for some more tests.

That test was old. It was probably a false negative.

Yeah, it had to be a false negative. Right?

There’s no way I’m pregnant. I take my birth control at the same time every day and I never miss a pill. This can’t be happening.

My trip to the store and back is a blur with my nerves at an all-time high. I scramble out of my car and back inside, setting out multiple tests to take and then guzzle a couple of bottles of water.

Thirty minutes later, five positive pregnancy tests stare back at me, along with the old test that apparently didn’t give me a false positive. I’m pregnant and I think I’m in shock.

I don’t know how long I stand there, but when I hear Travis call out for me, I panic.

I start to try to hide the tests, not wanting this to be the way he finds out, but I’m too late.

Travis enters our bathroom, his eyes going wide as he takes in the tests in my hands.

He opens and closes his mouth, trying to find words.

“You’re pregnant,” he whispers.

“I can explain,” I rush out.

He doesn’t let me, though. His large frame rushes me, swooping me up into his arms and swirling me around. “We’re going to be parents!” He cheers as he squeezes me tight. Tears spring to my eyes at his excitement.

I should have known that Travis wouldn’t have been upset with me, it’s not in his nature. We already have a future ahead of us and starting a family was always going to be a part of that.

“Hey,” he murmurs as he places me back on my feet and pulls back, his dark blonde eyebrows furrowing. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t know how you were going to react,” I tell him honestly. “This changes things for us.”

“The only thing it might change is our wedding date, we can either push it back or move it forward, but kids were always in the cards for us, sweetheart. It’s just happening for us sooner than we thought it would,” he smiles down at me as he pushes the black hair away from my face.

“We’re going to be parents,” I whisper.

“We’re going to be parents,” he says with a big smile. “I can’t wait.”

“What are we going to tell our parents?” I ask with a wince.

Both of our parents are super religious and weren’t very fond of us moving in together before we got married. Having a baby out of wedlock is going to throw them for a loop.

“I think they’ll handle it better than you think they will,” he says with a laugh. “My parents asked if we could get together for dinner tonight, why don’t you invite your parents to tag along, and we’ll tell them?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little soon for that? We don’t even know how far along I am.”

“I think that the sooner we tell them, the sooner you’ll be at ease. I don’t want you or the baby to be stressed right now,” he says as his hand reaches out and splays over my stomach.

I bite my lip and nod. “Okay. I’ll text my parents. Let yours know that they’re joining us. I’m going to take a shower and get ready.”

“Perfect,” Travis murmurs before planting a gentle kiss on my lips. “Everything is going to be fine.”

****

I’m finally ready to go about two hours later. I spent extra time on my hair and makeup, smoothing out my long black hair with a flat iron and doing my best makeup. This feels like a really important moment in my life, so I want to look my best .

I walk into our closet and pick out a red off the shoulder sundress and pair it with sandals.

I look in my full-length mirror and rub my hand over my still flat stomach, thinking of how this dress will look in a few months when I start to show.

A smile crosses my face. This baby wasn’t planned, but I know that we’re going to love him or her to pieces . I just hope I’ll be a good mom.

The smile leaves my face at that thought. My mom isn’t my biggest supporter. To her, I’ve always been too heavy, too curvy, too loud. She didn’t want me to work and thought that I should take on the role of a traditional wife.

Well, it’s too bad for her, because I can’t control my weight or curves, I have no desire to stay quiet, and I love my job as a teacher. That doesn’t make things any easier on us, though. Maybe this baby can be a bridge between us. Either that, or this is going to tear us apart even further.

Travis walks into the closet and smiles when he sees me. “You ready for this?”

He looks so handsome. His dark blonde hair is combed to the side and a little damp; his blue eyes are shining with happiness. He’s wearing a pair of khakis and a black polo shirt.

“As I’ll ever be,” I mutter before taking his hand.

He leads me out to his car and opens the door for me, waiting for me to slide inside before he closes the door and walks around to his side. The drive to the restaurant is quiet with both of us lost in thought, but Travis’ hand never leaves mine.

When we get to the country club, Travis helps me out of the car and hands the valet the keys before leading me inside.

We see our parents at a large table in the middle of the restaurant and head in that direction.

This isn’t exactly the secluded area that I’d like to tell everyone about us being pregnant, but I guess it’s going to have to work.

“Hi guys!” Travis’ mom Carrie calls out.

Her son inherited her dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s tall and slender, the total opposite of me. I’m not super short, but standing next to all of them makes me feel that way. I’m five foot six, but even Carrie is five foot eleven.

Russel, Travis’ dad, stands from his seat to welcome us. He has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a similar build to his son. Tall and slender. Both he and Travis are six foot two.

They give us hugs and then we turn to my parents.

Laura Kincaid is my height but slender. She has petite curves and short black hair.

Her hazel eyes are the same color as mine, but that’s where our similarities end.

She barely touches me during our hug and then turns to Travis with a warm smile.

My father though? Edward Kincaid is one of my favorite people.

He stands at about five foot ten and has an athletic build.

He has dark brown hair and green eyes. He gives me a huge hug and pulls out my chair for me. My parents are night and day.

We make small talk through dinner, but I’m not sure I hear most of it because of my nerves. When we finish dessert and Travis grabs my hand, I know that it’s time. I sit up and push back my shoulders.

“We actually wanted to talk to you guys about something big,” Travis begins.

“Oh gosh, don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” my mother mutters under her breath.

The air rushes from my lungs in a woosh. I stare at her, my mouth agape. Travis gently clasps my hand and shoots my mother a glare. It’s enough of a tell for her to know that she’s right.

“You’re kidding,” she spits. “You couldn’t even wait until you got married? It’s bad enough that we had to tell our family and friends that you were living together, but now we have to tell them that you’re knocked up? What are they going to think?”

“What are they going to think?” I screech.

“What does it matter, mother? We are already engaged; we’re getting married in a few months and we love each other.

We’re in this for the long haul. So, what does it matter if we have a baby before our marriage is official?

We’re happy about this, so it doesn’t really matter what you, or anyone else thinks! ”

I wince when I realize I just had that outburst in the middle of the country club dining room and everyone is watching us. Everyone at the table is wearing shocked expressions. Well, everyone except my dad, who has a small smile on his face. Like he’s proud of me.

I scoot my chair back and get up from the table. Travis follows after me, telling the valet to get his keys. We’re silent as we wait for his vehicle and for most of the forty-minute drive.

We’re about five minutes away from our house when Travis’ phone goes off. I figured it would be his parents or one of mine calling, but the contact just says “DK.”

“Who is that?” I ask softly.

He ignores the call with a wince. “Just a client.”

His phone rings again and once again, he silences it.

“You can answer it if you need to,” I tell him as I look out the window.

“It’s fine. It’s nothing that can’t wait until the morning.”

Multiple headlights capture my attention in the side mirror of the car. The headlights are approaching fast and driving erratically. My heart sinks to my stomach because something feels wrong.

“Look out for the people coming up behind us,” I warn Travis.

His face drops when he looks in the rearview mirror. “Tighten your seatbelt,” he orders.

“What?” I ask .

“Tighten it!” He barks as he tightens his grip on the steering wheel.

I do as he says, my eyes wide in fear. “What’s happening?”

“I’m so sorry, Ev,” he rushes out. “This never should have touched you.”

I don’t have time to ask any more questions because three motorcycles surround us and force us off the road. My body feels weightless as the vehicle flies through the air. The last thing I see before everything goes black is the vehicle flipping before we hit the ground.