Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Sixty-Nine: My Person

Christian barely said a word to me as we walked to his car. It was always something with us. We couldn't just be happy for a little bit. "What's wrong?" I questioned him softly. I tried to reach for his hand, but he brushed it off. It hurt. I had no idea what I did to deserve this.

We got in his car. Once he started it, he turned and looked at me. "I want a paternity test," he said plainly.

I nodded my head firmly and just said, "Okay. Fair enough, I guess."

"Fair enough? Are you fucking kidding me? How many dudes have you been with lately? How many possible fathers are there?" His tone was so angry and unkind.

I was immediately furious he took my comment to mean that I had hooked up with a bunch of other men.

I didn't even want to justify his nonsense with a response, but I knew I had to for the sake of our daughter. "You are the only person I've slept with since I met you." I left it at that. He didn't deserve more.

"Then why are you so cool with me demanding a paternity test?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think it was an unreasonable request. Offensive? A little. An indicator of trust issues? Sure. But not unreasonable. I want you to feel confident in us and this." I pointed at my stomach before placing my hands on my baby bump. Tears were pouring out of my eyes now. Christian, who had started to drive, made the decision to pull his car to the side of the road and put it in park. "Any bit of doubt on your part isn't fair to her," I finished.

Christian sighed. "Asher got in touch with me today."

"I am going to be super pissed if Asher Michels is the reason you're springing this on me."

"He said you two fucked the night of the Golden Globes, and I know you were drunk that night. You texted me. It was only a few days after we . . . You know."

"You're joking, right? You don't actually think I slept with him, of all people, do you?"

Christian tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel. "I don't know," he whispered.

"Can you please take me to my parents' house?" I asked. My hands were nervously rubbing my stomach now.

"Annie, stop."

"I can't do this tonight. I don't know if I can do this at all. This is one hundred percent your baby. I'll set up an appointment for a paternity test, and the results won't change anything for you. The fact you trust my ex-fiancé over me says all I need to know about us."

"Goddamnit, Annie!" he shouted, pounding his fists on the steering wheel. "God fucking damnit!" he repeated, pressing his head against the steering wheel and covering his head with his arms. "I love you," he murmured.

"Then show me that," I said, my voice softening. "Did you doubt this baby was yours before Asher got in touch with you?" I asked.

"Not even once," he muttered.

"And why do you think he'd only reach out to you regarding this situation? Because he definitely hasn't mentioned being the secret father of my child to me. That's for sure."

Christian sighed and lifted his head up. "To fuck with me and to drive a wedge between us." I knew he knew he had made a mistake.

"There you go, dummy. Christian, if there was even an outside chance someone else was the father, I would have made you aware of it. I'm sometimes a bit anxious and whiny, but I'm not  a terrible person. Why do you think I'd want to trap you like that?"

"I couldn't think of a good reason when I considered it," he revealed. "But Asher just knows all the right things to say to get under my skin."

"You need to just ignore him from this point forward, okay? And maybe trust me a little
more? And we can still do a paternity test. I just don't want the reason you want one to be because Asher Michels is pretending he's the dad."

Christian chuckled a little bit. "I don't think I need one."

"You can also just ask Hannah what happened that night. Publicists don't let their clients fuck their emotionally abusive exes at the Golden Globes, you know? It's not the night for that."

Christian smiled at me, and it seemed genuine. "I'm going to drive us home now."

"Good. That's where I want to be."

***

Christian placed kisses all over my bare stomach as we cuddled in bed. "Hey, baby Yeli," he whispered. "I love you. Your beautiful, kind, perfect momma loves you too."

I giggled as he continued his commentary. "Daddy was a dumbass today, and I'm so lucky momma is even letting me touch her right now."

He placed one more kiss on my tummy before coming back up to the top of the bed and kissing my lips. "I love you. And I'm sorry," he murmured, his lips just an inch from mine.

"Let's just stop needing to be sorry all the time and just be together — really be together, you know? I'm so ready."

"Me too," he breathed. "That's all I want."

He kissed my forehead, lips, and neck before pulling me against his body. "You're my person too," he whispered before we both drifted to sleep.