[[OLD]] A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Sixty-Five

My eyes felt gritty. I had cried far more than I believed I needed to but when Simon hugged me I felt like I simply fell apart, unable to hold myself together anymore. So much had happened and I couldn't process it. I told the Hunters things I knew I never should have told them, the pack was now in trouble, massive trouble. I knew the Alpha and the rest of the ranks would want to kill me for it. I knew how the Alpha felt about the Hunters and I brought that down on the pack.

I let out a shuddering breath as I looked down at the baby clothes. I was taking Maeve away from her daddy again and it made my stomach sour and churn unpleasantly. That was what had caused the whole thing to begin with and now I was going to walk out of the pack with Maeve. A part of me detested that, that I was going to do that all over again but deliberately this time and another part, a much bigger part of me, was so fucking excited to see her.

I swallowed hard and Simon made a low sound in his throat as he rubbed my back. "It's going to be okay, Menza." The words were low and comforting and they made me sniffle worse. I was going to be leaving without him, I knew that deep down but I wanted him there. We had made a plan to run away together and I wanted to follow it.

"That won't work, a lot has happened and she's got pregnancy emotions right now." Duffy's voice was even and Simon made a small humming sound in his throat before he pulled out some of the clothes.

"Miss Mayberry is going to be happy to see you." He said it low and that was nearly enough to make me start crying again and I turned, pressing myself into his side as I gulped in air to keep from bursting into tears. Simon wrapped an arm around me and shushed me softly. I hated it. I wanted to feel normal but I couldn't.

I felt torn right in two about the entire thing. I wanted Brochan there because he didn't seem mad at me anymore but he had said no, passing me off to Duffy. I loved Duffy, I did. She was a wonderful female but I felt utterly rejected and a touch humiliated that I had even asked. I should have expected him to say no, I really should have but I hadn't and now I was nursing hurt feelings about it. I never knew why I hoped above my station, it always hurt when I was slapped down but I still did it. He said he was sorry, told me it wasn't my fault about our little girl but... I let out a heavy sigh. He didn't want to be with me.

I swallowed hard and blinked away the wetness in my eyes. "Do you think he doesn't want the baby?" It came out of me croaked. He didn't want to be there with me and I wondered, if deep down he didn't like the baby. I knew he said it had nothing to do with me or the baby, that he wasn't right for me but that wasn't exactly true. I was what was wrong and that meant my baby was wrong too. A faint tugging in my chest told me that was nonsense, it crooned to me that I was all that was good in the world and my baby was much loved. I brushed it off, unwilling to listen to it.

Simon stiffened for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. "Menza..." He pushed me away slightly and crouched down a bit, looking me in the eyes. "I have no clue what is going on in that fucker's head right now. However he looks like he's been cracked upside the head by a baseball bat called reality. Which is good. He deserves it and I want to do that physically and not stop until he stops twitching." His voice had a hard edge to it, his blue eyes going a bit flinty before he shook it off. "But what he wants or doesn't want does not matter. This is your baby, your precious little girl." He swallowed hard, his eyes going a bit glassy before he reached down and pressed a hand to my slight bump that I had been so disgruntled over this morning.

"This, right here, is my niece, Ellie's niece, your little female. Even if that shit head doesn't want her, wants nothing to do with her, she has her family and we are going to love her so much she is going to be sick of it." His voice was sincere and his expression was serious, despite the glassy eyes he had. "We're going to help you raise her, help you take care of her, and we're going to take care of you."