Into Your Arms

15. where I can't follow

listening to the expensive knives scratch along the china, he watched as every sat almost robotically at the dining room table. He hated meals like this. When it was just his family, meaning his mom, dad, and Raine, it was fine. Everyone laughed and joked and had a fun time. But you throw Gina in the mix everyone sat silently. Well other than Raine, who at one point was talking excitedly about her day at school, but with many throat clearings from Gina, Carrie told her little girl that maybe they should save their conversation for mommy and her time.

With a confused glance, Colton just sent his little girl a wink and a whispered promise of ice cream later and she just decided to continue eating silently.

"So," Gina swallowed her final bite of food and ran her napkin across her thin lips. Folding it perfectly, the room held their breath as they waited for her to continue. "Is there a reason behind this dinner?" her thin gray brow arched and the room heard someone swallow hard. Who no one was sure, but someone did. "Not that I don't always love your cooking, Carrie."

"Thank you," Carrie held her glass up to the older woman and took a sip of her water. Glancing at the blonde in front of her, she held the gaze of her oldest who seemed to be calm, but in his pale blue eyes she saw he was scared.

"You're shaking," Colton commented as he pulled on his shirt and started to play with his watch.

"How do you know?" she flipped her trapped hair from under her shirt out and turned to face him. "You aren't even looking at me..."

"Think I have to be looking at you to know what's going on with you?" he challenged. Her brow arching to challenge him on that and he grinned as he shifted his eyes to look at her. "I can feel it from here..."

"Sorry," she mumbled as she eased down to sit on his bed. Placing her hands in her lap and he watched her leg start to shake. "I'm not trying to be like this," she promised, feeling so dumb about being so nervous.

"Ten..." he sat his watch down on the dresser and slowly turned on his feet to move toward her. "Pretty Girl," he eased on his knees before her and she bit hard on her lower lip. "Don't be nervous..."

"My dad, Colton," she squeezed her eyes tight and wanted to completely erase the look he had given her. "He loves me and looked like that. I don't want your mom looking at me like that."

"She won't," he promised and slowly lifted her chin to look at him. "I promise. She...she will react; I'm sure, just like yours did. A little shocked, yes, we have to allow her to be like that. But it changes nothing. We will feel much better once it's all out. I promise."

"I know," she pulled in a long breath and rolled her eyes at how dumb she was being. Thanking Colton was being so calm and chill during this whole situation. "Guess I better find my underwear," she looked at the boxers of his she put on and glanced around the room. "Don't know if your mom will frown at us telling her I'm pregnant and then clearly showing what we had been doing last night...in her home..."

"Yeah," he agreed, toying with the bottom of the boxers. "I guess I'll allow it," his hand slid up under the leg of them as he pushed up to give her a sweet kiss. "Relax...just breathe for me..." he instructed and she pulled in a long breath. "Nothing bad will happen."

"Ok...but, I want to be the one to tell her," she told him and his brows creased. "Please? Let me tell her...I want you there, but I want to talk."

"If that's what you want. But if at some point you change your mind, you give me the word and I'll do it..."

"Ok..." she pulled in a long breath and snapped her head to the door when she heard the side kitchen door shut and the laugh of Raine.