What Do You Want?

Brennan

I groaned as I popped two Tylenols before swallowing a big gulp of water. I couldn’t believe that I was awake. I thought the alcohol I had consumed would have been enough to allow me to sleep undisturbed, but all it did was leave me with a headache when I woke up. I was absolutely miserable. I closed my eyes tightly as I laid my head on my desk. I had been plagued all night by dreams of Diana and what she could possibly want. And now I couldn’t quite get Joey’s words out of my head. All of my siblings had doubts about my triplets’ paternity, but I knew they were mine. A paternity test wouldn’t lie. It was 99.99% accurate.

I groaned as the realization that I really needed to speak to Diana and get to the bottom of this hit me. Maybe if I offered a couple grand, she would leave me alone. At this point, I was almost willing to do anything to get her to leave me alone. I just wanted to live my life with Leah. We had come so far in a short time, and I was not willing to let something as stupid as a supposed secret from the past destroy us.

“Brennan?” Leah called softly, making my head shoot up.

“Yeah, baby?” 

“Are you okay?”

I blinked in confusion. “Yes, I’m okay. Are you?”

“Uhmmm…” She whispered, making me stand up to hurry around the desk.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“When I was taking a shower, there was semen inside of me,” she told me, looking down at the floor.

“I—I’m sorry?” I told her, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest in panic.

She shifted nervously. “I wasn’t sure if you remembered…”

I nodded. “I did. If you don’t want to risk it, I can get you some Plan B while I’m out today.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you want me to take Plan B?”

I hesitated before responding. If I said no, would she feel compelled to not take one? If I said yes, would she feel compelled to take one? I sighed as I went back to my desk to get a piece of paper and a pen. I handed them to her before taking another paper and pen for myself.

“Go into the room and write yes or no on the paper. Yes, if you want to take Plan B. And no, if you don’t want to take Plan B. I will do the same out here. Yes, for if I want you to take Plan B. And no, for if I don’t want you to take Plan B. How does that sound?” I inquired softly.

She looked down at her paper before meeting my eyes. “Why?”

“This way we can answer freely without feeling we have to protect each other by changing what we want to fit with what they say,” I said softly. “We can talk about it after.”

She nodded. “That’s actually a really good idea. I’ll be right back.”

As she hurried out of the room, I quickly scrawled my answer on the paper before folding it in half. When she walked back out, she was clutching a folded piece of paper in her hands. We exchanged our papers before I met her eyes.

“On the count of 3?” She nodded. “1.”

“2,” she continued.

“3,” we said at the same time.

I quickly unfolded the paper, reading the word ‘no.’ I sank down into my office chair while Leah started sniffling.

“Is this for real?” She asked.

“Yes, baby.”

She hurried around the desk to throw her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad that we are on the same page. I was so scared. I didn’t want to fight over this.”

I tugged her down onto my lap. “I don’t want you to take Plan B, but I did mean what I said about marrying you first.” When she went to speak, I kissed her to keep her silent. “Listen to me, Leah. I know that we were both in agreement last night about me cumming in you, but I don’t want to rush anything. If you get pregnant, then you get pregnant. And for as happy as that would make me, we still have to be careful.”

She sighed. “Okay.”

I kissed her lips. “I don’t plan on letting you go, princess.” 

She nuzzled into my neck. “Good, because I don’t want you to let me go.” She kissed my neck. “Where are you going?”

“I needed to go run some errands for Eden,” I answered.

“Do you want me to go?”

“Do you want to go?” I chuckled.

“Not really. I was really anxious at the restaurant. It made me uncomfortable to have people looking at me. I need a break from the real world,” she confided quietly.

I kissed her forehead. “You can stay here, baby. I promise you that it’s going to be okay. You have your cell phone, right?”

“Yes. I promise to call you if I need anything.”

“Good.” I laid my head on the top of hers, holding her for a moment. “I always miss you when I’m gone.”

“I miss you too, Brennan.”

“Good. You know, Leah, I am a man.”

She tilted her head back to look up at me. “I know you are,” she said, confused.

“I might text you some naughty things while I’m out. Would that be okay with you?” I asked.

Her eyes widened as a blush spread across her cheeks. “You want to text sexual stuff to me while you’re out?”

“Yes. I want you to know all the things that I want to do with you when I get back,” I answered.

“Okay. I think that would be okay.”

I pecked her lips again. “Perfect. I should go so I can get back to you sooner.” I helped her stand up before getting up myself. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

She touched my face as she stared into my eyes. “I’ll probably be at the other house when you get home. I need to pack up the rest of my stuff so we can make it official.”

“Make what official?”

She beamed at me. “Me living with you, of course! Is it really living together if most of my things are at the other house?”

“Hmmm, you might be right. You pack, and when I get home, I will bring all of your stuff to the office,” I told her.

“Thank you. Be safe out there, Brennan.”

I smiled at her. “Of course I will. I have to come home. You’re here.”

I pecked her lips once more as her eyes softened. I was so in love with this woman that there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I walked down to the gate, where I had left the car we took out the night before, knowing that I was going to have to go to the city to do some shopping for Eden. I glanced back over my shoulder at the office building, wanting nothing more than to go back inside and spend the day enjoying my woman. As I drove the twenty minutes to the nearest city, I resumed my thoughts of the conversation I had with Joey the night before. I didn’t want to talk to her, but it might be the only way to protect my family. When I pulled up in front of the pharmacy, I sat in the car for a moment before climbing out to go inside to pick up my order. Before I went up to the register to tell the cashier that I was there to pick up the order, I wandered through the aisles, looking for a present for Leah. I knew she wasn’t big on gifts, but I was. I just hoped she would be okay with the gift, considering that I had been working so hard to give her the verbal affirmations that she wanted. I stopped in front of a section of notebooks and journals, eyeing one that had a sky scene printed on the cover. I knew that looking up at the sky was one of her favorite things. Maybe she would like the journal. I picked it up before walking down the aisle to the pens and pencils, taking my time to look at all of the writing utensils. As soon as I saw the gel pens, I knew that Leah would love them. I picked them up, smiling with the anticipation of seeing her face when I gave her the pens.

“Brennan?”

I froze as the familiar voice washed over me. How did she find me? I hadn’t told anyone where I was, and I knew that my family wouldn’t have either. I slowly turned around to look at her, while my worry over what she was going to say made my chest tighten. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Diana! How did you find me? And more importantly, what do you want?”