Bastard (51 page)

“Look, Carter. I’m not going to force you into marrying me just because I’m pregnant. That’s wrong. I want you to marry me because you want to, not because you feel you have to.”

“For fuck sake, Indiana. I want to marry you,” he says raising his voice.

“Eventually maybe, but not now. You only said it because I’m pregnant.”

“We’re getting married, Indiana, and that’s final.” He lets go of my hand and starts the car again before pulling into the traffic. God he’s infuriating sometimes.

“Like hell we are,” I spit. I turn my face to look out the passenger side window when I see his head snap in my direction. This conversation is over.

When we pull up outside the tattoo parlour, I immediately get out of the car and start walking towards the clinic. “Where are you going?” he calls out.

“To work,” I reply without turning around. He made me sit at that damn doctor’s surgery for over two hours. I’m behind now.

••••

My head is all over the place as I try and concentrate on the job. I feel awful about what happened with Carter. I’ve been tempted to go next door for the past few hours, but it’s probably best we both calm down first. We can hash it out tonight. One thing is for sure; he will not be forcing me into marrying him.

When Mrs. Kennedy and her cat, Felix, leave, Meg knocks on my door. “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?” she asks placing her hands on her hips. She’s been trying to get it out of me since I came back from the doctors.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out. She’s going to find out soon enough anyway.

“What? Oh. My. God,” she squeals throwing her arms around me. “Why are you in such a mood then? Aren’t you happy?”

“I’m happy, but shocked. It wasn’t planned.”

“So, who cares? You and Carter love each other. You’ll make great parents. You’ve only gotta look at the way you guys treat LJ to know that.”

“He wants to get married now,” I say sighing.

“No fucking way. He proposed?”

“More like demanded. I’m not marrying him just because I’m pregnant,” I snap.

“Why?” she asks, giving me a strange look.

“Because it’s preposterous.”

“It is not. It makes perfect sense,” she says, rolling her eyes like I’m being ridiculous. “You know why he’s doing this right? The bastard thing.”

“I know,” I reply. “People have children out of wedlock all the time these days. It’s no big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to him. You know how he is, Indi. He’s not going to let you win this.” That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want him to feel like he has to marry me.

When Meg leaves, her words play on my mind. The thought of being married to Carter excites me, but I don’t want to rush into things. I don’t want to get married for all the wrong reasons.

Not even ten minutes pass before she’s knocking on my door again. “A delivery just arrived for you,” she says smirking. I roll my eyes because I can tell by the look on her face it has something to do with Carter.

I follow her out to the reception area where I find an older man holding a huge bouquet of white roses. “Sign here,” he says before passing them to me.

When he leaves, I place them on the counter and remove the card.

To my fiancée, Indiana,

I love you.

I love our baby.

I can’t wait to marry you.

Love your fiancé, Carter.

As sweet as that card is, it pisses me off to no end. I can’t help but laugh at his brazenness. Meg was right; he’s not going to give up without a fight. I pull my phone out of my coat pocket, and send him a text.

Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful. I’m sorry about before. I hate fighting with you. I love you, but I haven’t agreed to marry you, so technically I’m not your fiancée!

A few seconds later he replies.

I love you too, babe. But you’re wrong. You ARE my fiancée, Indiana, and we ARE getting married!!!

I message him straight back.

No we’re not!!!

I stand there waiting for his reply, but it doesn’t come. Just as I turn to head back down the corridor, the front door flies open. It’s him. He grabs hold of my elbow, dragging me towards my room before closing the door and locking us in.

“We are getting married, Indiana,” he snaps. “Look.” He holds up his wedding finger. “This just proves it. You’re mine and you
will
be my wife as soon as I can organise it.” I grab hold of his hand, bringing it towards my face. Ugh! He’s gone and tattooed Indiana on his wedding finger where the band sits.

“That proves nothing,” I reply dropping his hand. Doesn’t he get it? If he’d proposed to me before I found out I was pregnant, I would’ve said yes. I would’ve been over the moon. But now he’s being forced to do it, it doesn’t sit well with me.

“It proves everything,” he says, pulling me into his arms and covering his mouth with mine before I have a chance to respond. I try to push him away for all of a second, but my body melts into him and I deepen the kiss. I hate fighting with him. Eventually pulling back, he cups my face in his hands. “I love you, babe, and you love me. Why shouldn’t we get married? It makes perfect sense.” When I try to respond, he places his finger on my lips. “Just think about it.”

That’s exactly what I do for the next hour before I finally relent and call Justine. She manages to shuffle Carter’s appointments around for me, so when it’s time, I head over to see him. “Come in,” he says when I knock on his door. His face lights up when he sees it’s me. It instantly brings a smile to my face. I love how he always does that. “Indi.” He stands and makes his way towards me. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m your next appointment,” I tell him and he wraps me in his arms.

“You are?” he asks pulling back to look at me, surprised.

“Yes. I want to get my fiancé’s name tattooed on my wedding finger.”

“Then you’re going to marry me?” he asks beaming.

“Yes, I’m going to marry you.” He exhales before pulling me into a crushing hug.

“Thank fuck,” he breathes.

After he seats me in the chair, he prepares my finger, wiping it over with an alcohol strip. “Is it safe to get a tattoo while you’re pregnant?” I ask suddenly.

“It is if you use sterilised equipment and a new needle. I researched it a few years ago when a heavily pregnant lady asked me for a tattoo. You know I’d never do anything that would jeopardise you or our child.” He leans forward, brushing his lips against mine. “I love you both too much.” His words not only make me smile, they melt my heart. He’s going to make a wonderful husband, and father.

••••

Christmas morning comes around fast. We sit in the lounge room and exchange gifts. There’s been no more talk of weddings, but we have agreed to get married before the baby comes along. I hate that he feels our child would be tainted if it was born out of wedlock, but if this is all I need to do to make him not feel that way, than I’d be selfish not to marry him.

Smiling over at my sexy-as-hell fiancé, I pass him his present. I had a diecast replica car made for him. It’s identical to his Monaro. I sent the guy who made it, photos of the exterior and interior of his car, and he copied it from that. It turned out great. It wasn’t cheap to have it custom-made, but I knew Carter would love it. He loves that car just as much, if not more than he loves me. Okay, not as much as me, but a lot.

Boys and their toys.

“Fuck me,” he says beaming when he opens it. “How?”

“I found a guy online. I sent him photos and he made it from them.”

“I love it, babe.” I smile as I watch him look over it. The doors, hood and trunk all open. He’s even matched the motor and interior of the car identical to Carter’s. It took months for him to order all the parts and put it together, but thankfully it was ready in time.

Ten minutes later he’s still holding it in his hand, opening and closing the doors whilst smiling like a little boy. It’s very amusing to watch. I’m glad he loves it as much as I thought he would.

“Umm … can I get my present now?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him. He chuckles before finally putting the car down and grabbing the box I’ve been dying to open from under the tree. I’m all smiles when he passes it to me. I’ve been shaking it when he’s not around, trying to figure out what it is, but I have no clue. All I know is it rattles and it’s light.

Undoing the bow, I peel off the card that’s taped to the box. I know I should really open the card first, but I’m dying to see what’s inside. Opening the lid, I find a smaller box inside. That explains the rattling. He played me. My eyes move up to him. He’s smiling as he watches me.

Pulling the smaller box out, I unwrap it to find a black velvet jewellery box inside. I gasp when I open the lid. Inside sits a ring. An exquisite, large, princess cut diamond engagement ring. My eyes move back to his again. I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open. “Open the card,” is all he says. So I do just that.

To my dearest Indiana,

Once upon a time, right in the middle of my fucked up life, love gave me a fairy-tale. You. A second chance. You’re my fairy-tale, Indi. My sunshine. My air. The reason I look forward to waking up every morning. My life, without you in it, would be meaningless. I don’t want what we have to ever end. This is our first Christmas together, and I wanted to make it a memorable one that neither of us will ever forget. I love you completely, babe. With every fibre of my being. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. Please say you’ll marry me!

Merry first Christmas.

Love Carter.

P.S. Please say yes!!!

Tears cloud my eyes when I close the card and make eye contact with him. He was right. He did want to marry me before we found out about the baby. This present has been sitting under the tree for weeks. I clutch the card to my chest as he crawls across the floor towards me. “Well, I’m waiting,” he says smirking. Saying yes is kind of mute now since I’ve already agreed to marry him. Nevertheless, I throw my arms around his neck.

“Of course I’ll marry you. Nothing would make me happier.” I cry into his chest when he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into him. These damn baby hormones are making me so emotional.

He pulls back, cupping my face in his hands and wiping my tears away with the pads of his thumbs. “I love you so much, Indiana,” he says exhaling a large breath. “So fucking much.”

“I love you too, Carter.” Letting go of my face, he picks up the jewellery box off my lap and pulls out the ring, slipping it onto my finger. It covers my Carter tattoo, but I don’t care. I’m inked for life. Looking down at the ring on my finger, I smile.

I love it. I love him.

“You have one more present to open,” he says, crawling back over to the tree and picking up a long white box wrapped in a red ribbon. I didn’t see that present there before. He must’ve put it under the tree last night. He smiles when he hands it to me. Untying the ribbon, I remove the lid. When I lift the tissue paper I find a white silk dress inside. It’s simple, but very elegant. “I want you to wear this today when we go out for lunch with our parents.”

“Okay. It’s beautiful. Thank you,” I reply, smiling as I hold the dress up in front of me. Our parents and Carter’s grandmother are coming up to have Christmas lunch with us today. Carter has booked the restaurant on Merewether Beach. The one we took Meg to after our day of pampering. Carter and I have been back a few times since that day. It’s kind of become our place.

“Oh, I almost forgot. There’s one more present.” Once he retrieves it he passes it to me. The package is tiny. I squeeze it between my fingers. Whatever is inside is soft. I tear open the wrapping. Inside I find a tiny white baby jumpsuit. Tears rise to my eyes. “Hold it up,” he says. When I do, I start laughing. It has
‘My daddy is seriously hot’
embroidered on it.

“Yes he is hot,” I say in agreement. Fisting my hand in the front of his T-shirt, I pull him into me so I can kiss his lips. His hand moves behind my knees as he scoops me into his arms before standing.

“We have a few hours until our parents arrive, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to take my fiancée back to bed so I can show her how much I love her.”

“I don’t mind at all,” I reply.

“Merry Christmas, Indiana.”

“Merry Christmas, Carter.”

••••

Turning the blow dryer off, I run the brush through my hair. When I look up I find Carter standing in the doorway of the bathroom, watching me. He smiles at me through the mirror. He’s already dressed in a white button up shirt and a pair of grey slacks. He looks delicious.

“You look nice,” I say turning and walking towards him.

“So do you.” His comment makes me laugh.

“I’m wrapped in a towel,” I reply dryly.

“You’re still beautiful,” he says, pulling me into his arms and brushing his lips against mine. “Even more so without the towel.” I roll my eyes. Of course he’d say that.

“I just got a call from the Surfhouse. There’s a problem with our reservation. I’m gonna head over there now, but our parents are going to swing past here and pick you up on the way. I’ll meet you guys there.”

“Oh really?” I ask in a disappointed tone.

“It’s nothing I can’t fix. I’ll call you if there’s a problem,” he says reassuring me as he kisses my forehead. I hope so. I love that place.

After he leaves I slip into the dress he bought me. It fits like a glove. He has wonderful taste. I had my first ultrasound last week. I’m only seven weeks pregnant, so I’m not showing yet. I’ve had a few off mornings, but basically I’ve been pretty lucky with the morning sickness.