SHAPES UNSPOKEN

-34-

Happy Reading 🥰

Sean & Annabelle

A Few Days Earlier

Annabelle sat at the edge of the bed, twisting the hem of Sean’s shirt between her fingers. She had borrowed it earlier that evening, and it hung loosely on her small frame.

Sean stood by the window with his arms folded across his chest. The room was quiet except for the faint sounds of Steph laughing downstairs with Miss Sarah.

He had been silent for nearly ten minutes.

Annabelle shifted nervously.

“Sean…” she said softly.

He didn’t turn around.

“That’s the problem,” he muttered. “You only want to talk when it’s already too late.”

Her chest tightened.

“I didn’t mean for it to be like that.”

He turned then, his dark eyes fixed on her.

“Then how did you mean for it to be, Annabelle?” he asked, his voice controlled but heavy with frustration. “Were you just going to keep it from me forever?”

Her eyes dropped to the floor.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Sean let out a sharp breath.

“You didn’t know how to tell me I’m having a child?”

“It wasn’t like that,” she whispered.

“Then explain it to me.”

She swallowed hard.

“I was scared.”

His jaw tightened.

“Scared of what? Me?”

Annabelle hesitated before nodding slightly.

Sean ran a hand over his face, pacing across the room.

“That’s what hurts the most,” he said quietly. “You thought I’d run? Or that I wouldn’t want my own child?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I know you love Steph. I see how you are with him.”

“Then what?”

Her voice shook a little when she spoke again.

“I thought you’d think I trapped you.”

Sean stopped walking.

“What?”

She lifted her eyes to him now, vulnerable.

“Our relationship moved fast,” she said softly. “We barely started building something together and suddenly… a baby?”

Her fingers pressed lightly against her stomach.

“I didn’t want you to feel like you were stuck with me.”

For a moment, Sean just stared at her.

Then he laughed softly—but there was no humor in it.

“You think I’d stay with you because of a baby?”

Her silence was answer enough.

Sean walked toward her slowly until he stood right in front of her.

He tilted her chin upward so she had to look at him.

“Annabelle,” he said firmly, “if I didn’t want you, you wouldn’t be sitting in my bed wearing my shirt right now.”

Her lips parted slightly.