Page 79 of Torch

Chapter Twenty-Eight

BRITTNEY

It had been five days since Christian was released from the hospital. He was there for a total of three days. Things were somewhat returning to normal. There was only one lingering issue.

Morgan.

She had gone completely off-grid. My mom and Myron claimed they didn’t know where she was. This was after they called asking me to get Christian to drop the charges against Morgan.

I was livid. Once again, they weren’t holding Morgan accountable. I had to explain to them Christian hadn’t pressed charges against her. The state had picked it up on its own. At the hospital, a nurse reported it when we had to explain that he had been drugged. With Sofia giving Doc the container of the leftover beer plus my statement, she had been charged with administering a harmful substance, aggravated battery, and attempted sexual assault.

Christian had already told me what would happen if Cara crossed paths with Morgan. I tried to convince my mom to turn her in, but she wasn’t trying to hear it. She made a thousand excuses, saying Morgan just needed therapy. That much I agreed with, but she could get that therapy from behind prison walls.

After I hung up with my mom, I washed my hands of the situation. If something happened to Morgan, I could say I tried. I also wasn’t upset with Cara. She had every right to seek vengeance for what Morgan had done. I know in some people’s eyes they would expect me to no longer care after everything Morgan had done. But I wasn’t going to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. At the end of the day, she was still my sister. I would never lie and say I would be unbothered if she died.

More than anything, I was worried about my grandmother. This would crush her if we had to bury Morgan. Especially since she still had a heavy heart after losing my grandfather. I didn’t want her to take another loss like this so close together. But I couldn’t control this situation. Morgan was the only one who could do the right thing by turning herself in.

Christian plopped down on the sofa beside me, breaking my thoughts. We were currently at his parents' place with the rest of the family. The kids were in the playroom while all the adults sat on the custom-made sectional in the living room. Even though Crystal remained strong while Christian was in the hospital, we could all tell the entire ordeal had taken a toll on her. So everyone decided to come over to ease her tension.

My nose scrunched up in protest at the smell of the shrimp on Christian’s plate. Crystal had made Cajun seafood pasta. It was loaded with chicken, shrimp, and sausage.

Just as he was about to take a bite, I covered my nose, leaning away from him. “Babe, can you eat that over there, please? That shrimp is about to make me puke.”

His brows dipped. “The shrimp is making you nauseous?”

I nodded vigorously, scooting away from him. “Yes.” I looked around and noticed that everyone had stopped talking and was staring at us. “What?”

Sara grinned. “Are you pregnant?”

Crystal came running from the kitchen. “Did somebody say pregnant?” she asked, bouncing on her feet.

Everyone roared with laughter except me. “Nobody is pregnant, Crystal. At least I’m not. I’m on birth control.”

Cara scoffed as she kept laughing. “Girl, that means absolutely nothing to our family curse.”

“Family curse?” I questioned in confusion. My head ping-ponged from Cara to Christian. He was quiet and looked a little panicked.

Cara smirked at Christian before turning her gaze to me. “Brit, how many identical people are in this house right now?”

I swallowed as I thought about it. “A lot.” This elicited more laughter in the room. “But what does that have to do with me getting pregnant on birth control?”

“Because that curse is relentless. Twins, triplets, and multiples run in my father’s family. I've gotten pregnant twice on birth control, and so did my mom.”

“What?” My heart was beating a mile a minute. As I thought about it, I had been having some weird symptoms lately. I was always sleepy. Plus, I couldn’t get full to save my life. I was always hungry. I couldn’t really judge things off of having my cycle because it was irregular. It had been that way ever since I got on birth control. Something else Cara said had me panicking. “What do you mean by twins and triplets running in your family?”

Cara opened her mouth, but Christian cut her off. “Cara, chill. You’re going to scare her.”

I pointed a shaky finger at him. “You hush it up! Now, what were you saying, Cara?”

She stared at me with a hint of shock and humor. “In our generation, there are six sets of twins, three sets of triplets, and a set of quads.”

“Quads?!” I spat. “I know you don’t mean quadruplets!”

For some reason, everyone thought this was hilarious as they laughed like a bunch of damn hyenas. I was freaking out. Christian and I had never discussed kids. I knew I wanted to have children one day, but I wanted to focus on my career first. The salon was set to open in two weeks. How was I going to run things with a newborn baby? Let alone multiple babies.

Christian was still silent. “Say something,” I urged him.

When he looked up at my worried face, he set his plate down. “Not going to lie to you, baby. After seeing parenthood up close from watching my siblings, it scared the shit out of me. But if you’re carrying my baby, I would be through the roof. It might not have been planned, but we can handle it. I promise you we can.”