Bellamy reaches for her glass of water. She takes a long drink like she’s trying to steady herself. Her eyes keep darting between her dad and me, still processing. “Okay, wait. So… you don’t even know how far along you are yet?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Just… enough to know I should probably start figuring things out.”
“That’s a terrifying sentence,” Reid says.
“Tell me about it,” I tell him.
Will shifts beside me, his shoulder bumping lightly against mine in a quiet, grounding sort of way. “We’ll figure it out together.”
The simple way he says it makes my chest loosen a little. Like it’s not a catastrophe. Like sitting next to his daughter’s best friend that he knocked up is no big thing, and well, I guess it’s not. Not with a love as big as ours.
Bellamy exhales slowly. “Wow. Okay. This is a lot.”
“You’re telling me,” I say. “I thought I couldn’t have kids, and now, here we are.”
She nods. “But also…” She glances around the room, a smile creeping onto her face now that the shock is wearing off. “Our Rampage family is growing. You, me, and Eden are all pregnant at the same time.”
Reid grins. “Those other losers need to catch up. They’re falling behind.”
Another round of laughter ripples through the room, louder this time, the kind that settles deep and lingers.
And as ridiculous as the whole situation is, as unexpected, messy, and slightly terrifying, it suddenly feels a little less like the world tipping sideways and a little more like something we might actually survive.
Together.
I smile over at Will, and he leans in to kiss the corner of my mouth. “That’s a risky play, Coach,” I tease him—kissing me so openly in front of Bellamy when emotions are still raw.
“There isn’t a play I wouldn’t risk for you, Mandy.” He kisses me again, just because he can.
It settles into my soul that this man gets all my kisses from now on, and I’m so damn lucky that I get to call him mine.
Epilogue Amanda
Amanda
* * *
I knew this day would come. I just didn’t expect it to be this soon. I almost bailed, but Will reminded me that it doesn’t matter what his ex-wife thinks about the life we’re building together.
He’s right, but he’s also kind of wrong. I was close to Candice growing up. In many ways, she’s been my second mom, and now, here I am, in a relationship with her ex-husband. Not just a relationship, we’re having a baby. I was so wrapped up in losing my best friend, I didn’t think about her mom.
I’m ten weeks along, so we’re not announcing to anyone other than Reid and Bellamy. Besides, they planned this Labor Day get-together to announce their pregnancy. It just so happened that the Rampage played Thursday night in Cincinnati, so here we are on Saturday, at their place for a holiday cookout.
And I have to face my best friend’s mom, my boyfriend’s ex-wife. I don’t know if Candice knows Will and I are together, but she’s about to find out. I have to tell her. No more secrets, that’s what we said. Besides, he’s so affectionate now that we don’t have to hide.
I’m not just dating him either. We’re building a life together. A real one. The kind that comes with shared bank accounts, late-night grocery runs, and arguing over what color to paint the spare room. Will asked me to move in with him after we left Reid and Bellamy’s place on Monday, and I didn’t even hesitate to say yes. We’re in this, and I want us to be a family.
The kind that comes with a baby.
My hand drifts unconsciously to my stomach, even though there’s nothing to feel yet. Ten weeks. The doctor says everything looks good, but ten weeks still feels fragile somehow, like saying it out loud might scare the universe into changing its mind. That’s why we’re keeping it quiet for now. No announcements, no big family reactions, no social media posts with tiny shoes or ultrasound photos.
Just Reid and Bellamy.
They’re the only ones who know, and I plan to keep it that way. I refuse to take any of their spotlight from their big reveal.
My stomach knots as I find Will’s eyes across the room. He’s standing with Knox and Landry, talking, I’m sure, about football. My eyes scan the room, and I find Candice sitting on the couch, holding Coral. Coral jumps off her lap and races off, and I know this is my opening.
I force one foot in front of the other until I’m standing next to where she sits on the couch.