Ripe: A Stepbrother Pregnancy Romance (21 page)

“Why?” Deanna teased. “Because you don’t think you’ll be able to stop yourself from climbing back into bed with him the first chance you get?”

“Deanna!” Elise hissed, nodding at Isaiah.

Deanna laughed and held up her hands. “Sorry, sorry. Seriously, though, I thought you said he wouldn’t be there much because of work. That should make avoiding him at least a little easier.”

“Yeah, but I mean…there’s still the weekends.”

“So make a point of being out then,” Deanna reasoned. “Take Isaiah to the beach or something. You know how much he loves that. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesse bought a house on the beach for that exact reason.”

“That’s true,” Elise agreed.

“And another plus?” Deanna added. “You wouldn’t have to make Isaiah change schools.”

That was a
huge
plus. Elise couldn’t deny that. “True, but god. It would be so awkward. I mean, what if Jesse started dating someone? What if
I
started dating someone? That never went over very well when we were growing up…”

“Yeah, that could get weird.” Deanna humored Elise with her comment, but in all actuality, she didn’t believe that either one of them would be dating anyone but each other.

“Not that I plan on dating anytime soon,” Elise clarified, speaking quickly to keep the conversation flowing.

“You never know,” Deanna said, immediately thinking of Isabella. “Falling in love is never convenient. One minute you’re not even thinking about a companion, and the next, you can’t picture your life without them. It’s more common than you’d think.”

“Wait, so is that you saying I
shouldn’t
move in with him?”

Deanna smirked. It was obvious by her friend’s tone that she was looking for someone else to make the decision for her. “Elise, this is your choice,” she reminded her. “What do you think about it?”

“I don’t know,” Elise admitted after a few seconds of mulling it over. “I mean…it would give me the chance to find another job. Maybe even go back to school. And it would certainly be nice to have more help with Isaiah. But…” She shook her head, snapping out of her trance. “Oh my god. I can’t believe what I’m saying. Of course I can’t move in with Jesse.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Deanna agreed, continuing to humor her.

“Really?” Elise glanced over at her skeptically. “You’re not just saying that are you?”

“What I’m saying is that I trust you, and that you should go with whatever feels most right. If you honestly feel like the cons outweigh the pros, than you shouldn’t do it. But if they don’t…then you should really only be asking yourself one question.”

“And what question would that be?”

Deanna stood up to leave the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. “What do you have to lose?”

Chapter Thirty-Three

As Elise drove back to her barren apartment later that evening, it became apparent to her that there was only one person who could answer the many questions her conversation with Deanna had sparked. However, that wasn’t a phone call she was prepared to make.

Isaiah was floating on cloud nine as his mother sat and played with him in the living room. Elise was trying to distract herself from over-analyzing, and he was the one reaping the benefits of that. Still, that didn’t stop her from obsessively glancing down at her cell phone. She wanted so badly to call Jesse and ask him if the offer still stood, but she also didn’t want to sound as desperate as she was.

“Bedtime, Isaiah,” Elise said as she pulled herself to her feet. She had managed to dwindle away about an hour playing with him, and now she was grateful for the chance to go to sleep. It was the only strategy she could come up with to quiet her thoughts.

“Okay,” Isaiah agreed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He got up and padded down the hallway, stopping about halfway to his room. “But can I sleep with you tonight?”

Elise stood up and made her way over to her son with a smile. She couldn’t think of a single person she’d rather snuggle to sleep with. Ever since he was a baby, doing so brought her great joy.

“Of course you can buddy, but go ahead and get your jammies on first. I think your Superman ones are clean.”

When everything was off, Elise entered her bedroom to find Isaiah tucked beneath her sheets. She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the forehead before settling in herself. She eyed her cell phone on the table beside her and sighed. She knew that if she didn’t just get it over with, she wouldn’t be able to get a wink of sleep.

Elise had rehearsed exactly what she wanted to say to Jesse about a dozen times, and she was so focused on her spiel that she began reciting it without even realizing that he was already on the line.

“Um, Elise?”

“Jesse?” Elise spoke up, trying her best to conceal her embarrassment. “I’m sorry I…I thought your voicemail would pick up. It’s late.”

“Oh…” Jesse trailed off. “Is everything okay with Isaiah?”

“He’s fine,” Elise said, glancing over at her son. He was already fast asleep and drooling onto her pillow. “I was just…um…” Just like that, she completely lost her nerve. “The thing is…me and Isaiah are leaving sometime in the next few days, and I wanted to be civil by setting up a time for you to come over and say goodbye.”

“Where are you going?” Jesse questioned, not being able to mask the disappointment in his tone.

“Back to Baltimore.”

“With your dad?”

“Uh, yeah, it looks that way,” Elise said, leaving out the fact that she’d yet to even inform her father about what was going on. “At least until I can find a job.”

“Well, I can’t believe he’s even allowing it. I thought you said he disowned you after what happened between us.”

“Yeah, well I’m not eighteen and pregnant anymore, and you’re no longer my stepbrother. I guess he feels like I’m less of a disgrace.”

Jesse grew quiet on the other end of the line, and Elise sat listening to him breathe as she tried to muster up the courage to bring up the real reason for her call. “So, what time works for you?” she questioned, steering the conversation back on topic.

“Oh, uh, right. Would this Saturday work?”

“Actually...I have to be out of my apartment by then…so, maybe Friday?”

“Elise.” Jesse sighed audibly, unable to continue the charade. There was no way he could just blindly accept this. “I really wish you would reconsider.”

“Reconsider what?” Elise questioned, trying her best to sound like she had no idea what he was referring to.

“Moving in with me,” Jesse elaborated.

“Come on. How exactly would that even work?” Elise asked, grateful to get out the first of many questions she had burning on the tip of her tongue.

“What do you mean? It’s really not that difficult. You’d live here. Isaiah could have his own room. He could play on the beach everyday. He wouldn’t have to switch schools. Come on. You can’t honestly believe that moving back to Baltimore is what’s best from him.”

“Okay, fine, you have a point there, but what about
us
Jesse? You remember what it was like last time we lived under the same roof. What’s going to happen when we get into an argument? Or when the day comes when you inevitably get sick of us? I’m sure you’ll have no problem with us living with my father then.”

Jesse exhaled a deep sigh. “Is that honestly the kind of man you think I am, Elise?”

“That’s just it. I don’t know what kind of man you are, Jesse. Not really. That’s the entire problem here.”

Isaiah awoke from a dead sleep at the sound of Jesse’s name. “I wanna talk to Jesse!” he announced as he rubbed his eyes, grabbing for the phone.

“Isaiah, go back to sleep,” Elise urged him, covering the mouthpiece with her hand. “I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll go out into the living room.”

“He wants to talk to me?” Jesse spoke up, clearing his throat.

“Uh…yeah,” Elise sighed and rubbed her temples. She didn’t want to stop the flow of their conversation, but the longing in his tone was impossible to ignore. It was also pretty clear that Isaiah wasn’t about to go back to sleep until he got what he wanted.

“Could I tell him goodnight?”

Elise relented, holding out the phone to her son. “Just tell him goodnight, okay buddy? Then it’s back to bed you go.”

Isaiah eagerly took hold of the phone and smiled against it. After talking to Jesse for a few minutes, he handed it back to his mother before turning back over onto his side and allowing his eyes to flutter shut again.

“What did you say to him?” Elise whispered, returning on the line. “He’s smiling from ear to ear.”

“Oh nothing,” Jesse said. “Just that I have a surprise for him.”

“Ah,” Elise stated. “Mind if I ask what?”

“That won’t make it a surprise, now will it?”

Elise smirked, and with that, the conversation fell flat. It didn’t come as a surprise that Jesse wasn’t rushing to pick up where they’d left off. She wanted his assurance that he wouldn’t eventually leave her stranded again, but even if he gave her it, they both knew she’d always have her doubts.

“So…” Jesse began, breaking through the barrier of silence that settled over them.

“Jesse,” Elise said, exhaling a deep sigh. “I have to be honest with you. I really don’t know what to do.”

“Well then allow me to make it very easy for you. Move in with me. If you end up hating it, I’ll find you and Isaiah an apartment somewhere close to his school. You gave me a trial period before, didn’t you? All I’m asking is for you to give me another one.”

Elise’s heart raced. “Alright,” she said, so quietly that she barely even heard herself

“Alright?” Jesse’s voice lifted. “As in you’ll move in?”

“Yes,” Elise agreed. “But only until I get on my feet again.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jesse took the following day off work to move Elise and Isaiah in. Shortly after noon, he pulled up to their apartment complex in the biggest U-haul money could buy. It didn’t seem to matter that their things would only fill it up about halfway. Better safe than sorry, that was his reasoning.

Because of the short period of time between Elise’s lease ending and her decision to move in with Jesse, she had yet to actually
see
where she and Isaiah would be living, and she was more than a little anxious. While Jesse worked at maneuvering the moving truck into his driveway, Elise sat in her car and stared at the house, hardly even believing her eyes. It was hard for her to imagine herself living in a place so…regal.

Not only was the house huge, but it was also the perfect embodiment of everything a perfectly suburban beach house should be—fit with a wraparound porch and white picket fence. Across the street, a father and son were in their front yard playing catch, and a couple were seen taking an afternoon jog along the water with a golden retriever running in close proximity alongside them.

“What am I doing here?” Elise asked herself, speaking aloud. It was the type of environment she only ever dreamed about raising Isaiah in, and now here she was. It didn’t feel real yet, and she wasn’t so sure it ever would.

“Is this our new house, mommy?” Isaiah spoke up from the backseat. The excitement in his tone was obvious.

“Looks like it,” Elise said with a nod, barely registering her words.

“Wow!” Isaiah looked around, taking everything in and appearing just as enthralled as his mother.