Page 33 of Surgeon's Surprise Baby
“Chicken fried steak.”
“Sounds good,” Ryan said.They both ordered the special and a couple of beers.
“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“Thanks, Hermione,” Connor said.
After she left Ryan asked, “Hermione?Is that really her name?”
“I have no idea, but it’s the name she goes by.”
Ryan just shook his head.
“It’s not the baby, is it?”Connor asked.
“No.Sophie is fine.”
“Then it must be Aria.Come on, spill it.”
“I don’t know when you got all touchy-feely.”Part of him wanted to talk to Connor but he really wished he could get drunk and forget all about what Aria had said.
Hermione came back with their beers.“Food will be ready shortly.”
“Well?”Connor said as she left.
Ryan glared at his friend.He didn’t feel like talking but maybe Connor could help him.Probably not, but still.“I thought Aria and I were getting closer.I thought she was starting to trust me.”
Connor took a drink before he said, “I take it she’s not.”
“No.Basically she wants me for to be a father to Sophie.Which is fine since that’s what I want too.”
“So what’s the problem?If that’s what you want too?”
“That’s not all I want.I want Aria.I want the baby.I want to be a family.”
Connor raised his eyebrows.“What about your habit of never staying long in one place?”
Hermione brought their food and they both ate some before Ryan spoke again.“It’s not exactly a habit.Moving around, that is.”
“You’ve sure done enough of it.”
“And you know why.”He had to admit talking to Connor and telling him the truth about Casey and how Ryan had felt about her had helped him.Especially since Connor said he’d done the right thing and that he had no reason to think what he’d said to Casey had anything to do with her death.As for not being able to save her, he’d done the best he could but her injuries had been too severe.He’d known that all along, but Connor had helped him accept it.He would always regret how things had turned out, regret that he hadn’t been able to save Casey, but he’d been a surgeon long enough to know he couldn’t save everyone.People died.Especially in a war.That was a fact.However, that didn’t mean he wanted to spill his guts all the time.
“I want to change.I want to stay here.Which I told her.”He still didn’t think he deserved Aria and Sophie.But Sophie did deserve to have a mother and a father.
“How’s that going for you?”
He snorted.“She doesn’t believe it.She asked me to come over and have dinner.We put the baby to bed and for once she didn’t kick me out right after that.I thought she might finally want to get back together.Which is what I wanted from the first.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah.That wasn’t it.”
“Well, what does she want?Other than for you to be a father to Sophie?”
“She wants a casual relationship.We can have sex, but she doesn’t want it to be more than that.”
Connor’s eyebrows winged up.“Whoa.I take it that’s not what you want.”
