FORTY-TWO

It's tense in the house.

We've been back home for three days now and in those three days, Miller hasn't left his room once. I've knocked plenty of times asking him if he wanted to talk. I didn't bother asking if he was okay, of course, he isn't. His brother just died. I haven't seen Ev or Nix either, they've been very busy figuring out how to get the 'business' up and running again. The house is eerily quiet, everyone keeping themselves to themselves.

Now I'm sitting on the toilet seat as I wait for the results from the pregnancy test I've just taken. I mean the answer is fucking obvious. I don't want to look at the result on my own, so I grab a tissue and pick up the stick, wrap it up and walk out of the bathroom.

Phoenix and Everest aren't home but the only person that is home is my Miller. As soon as I'm outside his bedroom door I knock once, then twice, then three times. I huff and slowly twist the door handle. To my surprise, the door is unlocked so I poke my head through the dark room. The curtains are closed but a small gap of light shines through, highlighting Miller's sleeping figure on the bed, an open book lying flat on his chest. My eyes water when I read the title of the book 'How to be a dad'. I gently close the door behind me and take small steps towards him.

I run my fingers through his soft brown hair, then his cheek and smile gently as he leans in closer to my touch.

"Mill?" I whisper so gently as the silence surrounds us. His eyebrows twitch but he stays asleep. "Miller," I say a little louder. His eyes begin to flutter open and they're already glazed over as he looks at me.

"Callie?" He croaks and sits up, the book falling onto his lap. He looks down at it with furrowed eyebrows and then blushes.

"I've been really worried about you, Miller. Every time I've come to check on you your door would be locked and I don't want you to suffer alone." I gently grasp hold of his face and brush my thumb along his soft cheeks. "I love you." Miller suddenly pulls me into a tight hug, burying his face in my neck as he cries for the loss of his younger brother.

"Why would he do that, Cal?!" He questions, pulling back with tears running down his face. "He's a fucking idiot!"

"He saved our lives," I whisper. "You know he wouldn't want you grieving like this. The crazy man probably wants you to go out partying for him or something." I lightly joke, my heart fluttering when Miller releases a small laugh.

"I know he was an idiot but he was my brother you know. He didn't need to die." I bite my lip and wipe the tears away from his face. "I'm sorry I've been pushing you away."

"It's fine. You have every reason but I want you to know I'm always here for you. I don't want you to suffer alone. You have me, you have Everest and Phoenix and you might have a baby too." I whisper and his eyes fall to my stomach.

I pull the pregnancy test from my back pocket and take a deep breath.

"The result should be ready now. I wanted us to look together." His face brightens and he takes the stick from my hands and turns it over. Our eyes fall to the two lines and my eyes begin to brim with tears.

"You know it's probably mine." Miller chuckles and I playfully roll my eyes. "I'm sorry, my love." I furrow my eyebrows.

"What for?"

"The argument we had before all of this. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, forgive me." He pleads and I smile tenderly. "So much was going on and that's no excuse, I just want you to know I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven. Let's just forget about that argument but don't ever speak to me like that again, okay?" He nods his head and I stand up from the bed and look back down at the pregnancy test. "I mean this was very unplanned." I place my hands on my hips and release a shaky breath.

"We have time to prepare. I-I've been reading on how to be a good father." Miller grabs hold of my hands and looks up at me with hope filled in his deep brown eyes, that swirl with so much love it has my knees weak. I love this man so much.

"We need to tell the others."

"Tell us what?" I whip my head round to the entrance of the bedroom to see Everest and Phoenix.

"I'm pregnant."

I squeal when Everest rushes over and wraps his arms around me. We both fall back onto the bed. I laugh, throwing my head back and wrapping my arms and legs around him, but Phoenix isn't happy about Everest laying on top of me, so he grabs his t-shirt and yanks him off of me.

"She's fucking pregnant, you idiot!" The two begin to bicker and I look back at Miller to see him looking at me in adoration. He opens his arms up and I immediately step into them.

"I love you." He whispers, resting his cheek on the top of my head.

River

I am absolutely shitting bricks right now. I bite down on my acrylic nail and look around the restaurant anxiously. I've been in life or death situations, I've killed dangerous men and women and never felt scared but right now, as I wait for Poppy, all I feel is fear. Pure fear.

And that fear multiplies when I see the familiar blonde hair. I gulp and stand up from my chair, watching as the beautiful woman makes her way over to me with a warm smile on her face. She's dressed in a cute lavender-coloured sundress which is a huge contrast to the miserable weather outside. She looks like an angel.

"Hi." She beams, wrapping her arms around me. The hug throws me off guard but I find myself melting against her soft body.

I pull back and smirk down at her and say "Hi babe." Poppy blushes and I pull the chair out for her. She quietly thanks me and I go to take the seat opposite her. "Thank you for joining me."

"I wanted to. I really like you, River." She confesses and I watch with wide eyes as she grabs hold of my hands from across the table. "Do you like me too?" She cutely tilts her head looking at me with her doe eyes and my heart begins to race.

"Of course I fucking do." I blurt out and internally scold myself. Poppy giggles and gives a small nod.

"You don't need to be nervous, River." She reassures me and I relax slightly.

"That obvious?" I laugh nervously and avoid her deep blue eyes. I could drown in her sea coloured eyes. "I'm sorry, I've never actually been in a relationship before," I tell her, my face heating in embarrassment.

"How come?"

"My job." I expect her to let go of my hand and stand up. I expect her to say she never wants to see me again and storm out of the restaurant. Only she doesn't.

She stays.

She squeezes my hands and gives me one of her beautiful smiles.

"I don't care about that." A sigh of relief leaves my mouth and I can't help but stand up slightly, grab hold of her face and kiss her.

I sit back down and watch as she stares at me for a minute with shocked eyes before doing the same thing I just did. I mean it's not our first kiss but under the circumstances, this one is better than the one back at the club because back then I was fuelled with anger and frustration.

"You're so beautiful. You know that right?" I question her and she hides her face behind her hands.

"River, stop." She whines and I giggle, pulling her hands away from her face.

"After this, as much as I'd want you in my bed, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to this wake that Callie is hosting for Mason." Poppy nods her head and lifts my hand to place her soft lips along the top.

"You're not having a funeral for him?"

"The building has been compromised, we can't go back to retrieve his body." She gives me a sad smile. "He was a prick but he didn't deserve any of that."

"That's why we should never take life for granted because we never know what could happen."

God this woman is amazing.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" She questions so suddenly I almost fall off of my chair. She wants me to be her girlfriend?

She wants me to be her girlfriend!

Fuck yes!

"I'll be your girlfriend." I wink and she blushes, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"I think we're going to be amazing, River."

A/N
Gonna be sad when this book ends 😔. Thank you for 800k reads💙