Double The Love (BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel) (7 page)

“I guess this means the two of
you are tolerating each other again?” Diana questioned when Liam was out of
earshot. She might not have been explicably told they had fallen out, but
Liam’s absence in the beginning of Jasmine’s pregnancy spoke for itself.

Jasmine eyed Liam in the
kitchen and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so,” she said without looking away from
him. “At least we’re trying anyway. You know, for the baby’s sake.”

“Well that’s very mature of you
both,” Diana said, grabbing hold of her daughter’s luggage and hauling it
upstairs to her childhood bedroom. She helped Jasmine unpack and went to
prepare some lunch for them once she was done.

Jasmine sat down on her bed and
picked up her maternity bag, reaching inside it for her latest scan
photographs. Most of them were here, but two of them were nestled inside Liam’s
wallet for safekeeping. He took them with him everywhere he went.

“Would you like to see the
baby?” Jasmine asked her parents when she entered the kitchen, causing both of
them to perk up. They nodded and she slid the photographs over to them,
lingering back to study their reactions.

“Wow my grandbaby is big,”
Jasmine’s father, Keith, exclaimed, briefly looking away from the photographs
to meet eyes with his daughter. An entranced smile spread across his face, and
he gripped hold of his wife’s hand as her adoration mimicked his own.

Liam watched the whole thing
unfold from the doorway. He always did love Jasmine’s parents like they were
his own, but now that he saw the nonjudgmental way they were reacting to his
child, he loved them all the more.

Chapter ten

Jasmines younger sister, Jade,
entered her bedroom later that evening. She was seventeen and quite mature for
her age, but she still looked so young in the face. It was hard for Jasmine to
view her as a budding adult.

“What’s up?” Jasmine
questioned, looking up from the maternity book she was reading. “Girl, don’t
just stand there. Come in. I feel like I’ve barely seen you since I’ve gotten
home.”

Jade obeyed, timidly making her
way over to her older sister’s bed and taking a seat on the end of it. “What's
it like?” she questioned as she eyed Jasmine’s stomach. “Having a baby inside
you, I mean.”

Jasmine shrugged and set down
her book. “It’s a little uncomfortable, I can’t act like it's not, but it’s
more amazing than anything else.”

Jade was silent as she thought
it over.

Jasmine frowned. “What’s
wrong?” she questioned, giving her sister a soft nudge in the side. “Come on,
you know there’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

Jade sighed and straightened
her posture. “It’s just…what happened to the whole
‘when I have kids it’ll be with someone I
really love long after I’ve established myself as a performer’
thing?”

Jasmine tensed at the remark.
“Plans have a way of changing,” she managed, clearing her throat. “That’s life
I guess.”

“I know…it’s just…when we were
growing up all you and Liam ever did was fight…and now you’re pregnant by him.
I don’t get it.”

Jasmine sighed and rubbed her
temples. “Look, it’s complicated all right? It was just a onetime thing before
I left home and was signed by Century. We were careful, but I still got
pregnant. When things like that happen, you can't sit around contemplating what
you could have done differently. You have to accept reality for what it is and
find a way to move on.”

Jade picked at a piece of lint
on her dress as she contemplated her sister’s words. “I guess I just assumed
you’d wait to have sex until you were married.”

“Yeah, well, so did I,” Jasmine
admitted.

“When did you lose it,
exactly?”

Jasmine shrugged and studied
her hands. “The night I got pregnant,” she said, speaking honestly.

Jade balked at her sister. “You
got pregnant your first time?” she questioned, not bothering to mask her
surprise.

Now it was Jasmine's turn to
feel awkward. “Yeah, just my luck huh?” she muttered. “Just make sure you don’t
make my same mistake. Birth control
and
a condom, got it? Don’t assume only one
form of protection is fail proof.”

“Yeah right, I don’t think I’m
going anywhere near a guy until I’ve graduated college,” Jade announced. “I
don't think mom and dad could handle two pregnant daughters.”

 
“How are they handling it?” Jasmine questioned, suddenly
serious. They seemed excited when she showed them the ultrasound pictures, but
the fact of the matter was, this was never their dream for her. She was doing
things way out of order. It was supposed to be school, singing, marriage,
then
children.

 
“They’re worried about how hard you’ve been working. They
weren’t exactly thrilled about you getting pregnant, but they love you, and
they don’t want anything to happen to their first grandchild.”

“I had no idea they were so
open with you…”

“Are you kidding?” Jazz laughed
and shook her head. “This is mom and dad we’re talking about. They’re not, but
that doesn't mean I don't hear things. Neither one of them understand how this
happened. You were always the more responsible one of the two of us. I mean…you
and Liam hooking up is one thing. Most of us saw that coming. But getting
pregnant by him? It’s...a shock...that’s for sure.”

On the other side of the wall,
Liam rolled onto his back and sighed.
 
He was trying to take a nap in the guest bedroom when he overheard
Jasmine and Jade’s conversation though the air vent the two rooms shared, and
it went without saying that he wasn't happy.

Jasmine’s words wouldn’t stop
replaying in his head. He hadn't realized that he had taken her virginity that
night. Nothing about the way she behaved gave him any indication, and though he
knew that there wasn’t always some dramatic declaration of the fact, he
couldn’t help but feel taken aback. If it wasn’t bad enough that he’d gotten her
pregnant, he’d also taken something precious from her without even realizing
it.

Jasmine was a self-respecting
girl. This was never supposed to be her life. She deserved to experience these
sacred moments with someone she loved.

Not him.

Chapter eleven

Liam went downstairs to catch
the end of a basketball game on TV, but his thoughts were elsewhere and he
ended up just staring off into space instead.

Jasmine made her way downstairs
and lowered herself onto the couch beside him. Her parents had taken off to
some back-to-school orientation at Jade’s private school, and that left them
completely alone in each other’s presence.

“Oh great, basketball,” Jasmine
remarked, not bothering to disguise her distaste for the sport.

“Don’t you dare,” Liam said,
snatching up the remote before she could change the channel. He kept his gaze
steadied on the screen even though he wasn’t really watching, not wanting to
make eye contact with her. “It’s almost over. Then you can watch whatever your heart
desires.”

Jasmine laughed and stood up,
making her way into the kitchen. “You want anything to drink?” she called out
to him. “I think I saw some beers in the fridge.”

Liam turned to look at her for
the first time since she came downstairs. She looked beautiful. She had her
curls pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head, and a few strands had
snuck free and were loosely framing her face. Liam always thought she looked
best like this—in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top without a drop of
make-up on her face. The only difference was her pregnant glow and the round
belly that accompanied it. Just looking at her made him understand how some men
could get off on having sex with a pregnant woman.

“Uh, yeah,” Liam spoke up,
swallowing hard and regaining his composure. “A beer would be good. Thanks.”

Jasmine gave him a funny look
before turning around and rifling through the fridge. She bent over to open her
father's pack of beer, and Liam couldn’t help but stare at her ass as she did.
Pregnancy had only done her favors.

It was in that moment that a
light bulb went off in Liam's head. He got up and approached Jasmine from
behind, clearing his throat and forcing the words out. “I think we should get
married,” he said, opting on the direct approach instead of beating around the
bush.

“Haha,” Jasmine retorted,
pulling a beer from the pack and handing it to him. She met his gaze and rolled
her eyes. “Very funny.”

“I'm serious.”

Jasmine frowned and studied
Liam’s face for any sign that he was kidding before letting out a strained
laugh. “Are you feeling alright?” she questioned, pressing her palm against his
forehead. “Because you’ve said some pretty crazy things to me over the years,
but this definitely takes the cake.”

“Jazz, just hear me out,” Liam pleaded.
“You and I both know you aren’t the unmarried mother type. You deserve to
experience all of this within the confines of a marriage.”

Jasmine stared at Liam at a
loss for words. “I can’t believe this,” she said after awhile. “God…I
really
should have listened to my instincts when you gave me this ring. I knew this
wouldn’t end well. We were doing just fine and now you’re talking crazy.”

Liam looked hurt. “Is it really
so crazy?” he questioned, taking a step towards her.

Jasmine backed up and steadied
herself against the counter. “Liam, we’re only just starting to become
friends,” she said through clenched teeth. “What would make you think I’d be
jumping at the opportunity to dive headfirst into a marriage of convenience
with you? When I get married, I want it to be to someone who loves me. Not
someone who pities me. Do you honestly think it would be good for our child to
have two parents who got married out of practicality instead of love?”

“I do love you,” Liam said with
ease, genuinely meaning it.

Jasmine shook her head. “Yeah,
but you’re not in love with me,” she corrected. “There’s a big difference.
Look, Liam, I appreciate you offering, but it won't work. This path leads
nowhere good and you know it. It’s exactly what happened with your parents,
isn’t it? They rushed into getting married when they had you, and now look at
them. Married or not, it's obvious that they resent each other.”

Liam was silent. He couldn’t
deny the fact that she had a point. The only thing she was dead wrong about was
him not being in love with her. He was. He just didn’t want to rock the boat
any further by admitting it.

“Liam,” Jasmine whispered,
taking a step towards him and grasping for his hands. “You’ve stepped up in a
way I never thought you would, and you’re going to be an amazing father. That's
all the commitment I need.”

“I just feel like I’ve robbed
you of so much. Your career, your social life, your virginity…” Liam tried to
make that last part seem nonchalant, but it was a lot easier said than done.

 
“How did you know about that?” Jasmine questioned, narrowing
her eyes at him. “You weren’t listening in on my
private
conversation, were you?”

 
“I was trying to take a nap when I heard you through the air
vent. What was I supposed to do, plug my ears?”

Jasmine was seething. “Yeah,
that would have worked,” she shot back. “What I discuss with my sister is none
of your business.”

“Do you regret it?” Liam
questioned, ignoring her anger. “Losing it to me, I mean.”