Then, I stared some more.

She fidgeted as she waited for me to say something. I couldn't. I was frozen with shock.

"Adam, talk to me, please."

"You're pregnant," I managed to say. Surely, I had heard her wrong. There was no way that I was going to be a dad.

"I'm not asking for anything from you. I know what Hilary did to you, and I would never do that. I understand if you want nothing to do with this child, but Chloe thought you needed to know."

"Chloe thought I needed to know?" I asked, finally breaking from my stupor. "And what about you? Did you think I needed to know?"

She looked away. "I hadn't decided yet, but she made me tell you."

"Jesus Christ!" I exploded. "You're carrying my kid, and you thought I didn't need to know?"

I was livid. How dare she try to keep something like that from me!

That baby was as much mine as it was hers.

"I don't know if it's yours! I would never expect you to take care of me like you did with her. I didn't do this to trap you or whatever it is you're thinking. It was an accident."

That was the last thing on my mind. Amber wasn't the type of girl who would try to trap a man. She was the complete opposite. She usually tried to run the other way.

Then, it hit me.

I don't know if it's his or yours.

That was Hilary all over again.

Surely, God wouldn't be so cruel. He wouldn't hand me another gift and then rip it away.

"I don't give a fuck if it's mine or not! I have a right to know!" I shouted. I wanted to do more than shout. I wanted to throw something.

"I'm sorry. I thought you'd tell me to get lost. I know how much you hate me."

"Goddamn it, Amber! This isn't about you! It's about that baby," I growled. "Have you told the other asshole?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"And?" I asked.

She dropped down onto the bed. "He didn't take it well. He doesn't want anything to do with the baby even if it's his."

My nostrils flared. "Fucker."

How could someone know he might possibly be a dad and not care? It made no sense to me. I wasn't the most responsible man in the world, and I'd made more than my fair share of mistakes, but fucking hell, I knew when to step up and take responsibility. A child wasn't something to run from. It was something to run toward.

"It's not all his fault." She hesitated. "He's married. I doubt his wife would be cool if I moved into their spare room."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "The motherfucker is married, but he decided to sleep with you. Then, he decided he wanted nothing to do with . . ." I ran my hands over my face. "I want to fucking kill him, and I don't even know who he is."

She sighed. "It doesn't matter. I can take care of myself. At least he knows, and now, you do, too. I don't have that on my conscience any longer. I can go back home and figure out where to go from there."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I have to find a doctor, tell my parents, and figure out what the hell I need to raise a baby. Besides the doctor, I have no idea how to go about any of that."

"You're not going back to Morgantown," I said furiously.

There was no way that I would let her leave now, not with my baby. I wouldn't risk something happening while I was too far away to help.

"What?"

"You're not going back. You're staying here with me. That could be my child you're carrying, and I'm not going to just let you walk away with it."

"I . . . you . . ." she sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"You'll stay with me, and we'll figure out all that shit together."

"But you hate me!" she blurted out.

I didn't. God, I didn't. But how could I tell her that right now? I couldn't, not with her telling me all of this. She'd think I was saying it just because of the baby.

"It doesn't matter what I think of you. If that kid's mine, I'm taking care of it. I want to be there for everything-every doctor's appointment, every ultrasound, the first time he kicks . . . all of it."

"He?" she asked.

I grinned, surprising both of us.

"Of course it's a he."

She shook her head. "Adam, this isn't something to just jump into. We'll have to see each other constantly, especially if you expect me to stay with you. How well do you think that's going to go?"

I shrugged. "We'll figure it out as we go."

"And what happens if once he's born, you find out you're not the father?"

"Like I said, we'll figure it out as we go."

With the other guy being a douche, I knew that I would claim this baby whether or not it was biologically mine. I wouldn't let him and Amber fend for themselves. I loved Amber even if she didn't know it, and I already loved this baby.

I saw tears in her eyes.

"You're really going to help me, aren't you?"

I suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Of course I am."

"Thank you," she whispered, her body sagging in relief.

It was as if I'd taken the weight of the world off her shoulders.

"Hey, don't cry." I walked over and knelt down in front of her. "Living with me won't be that bad."

She smiled through her tears. "That's debatable." Her smile disappeared as she stared at me. "Can we try to get along? Can we be . . . friends again? I don't know if I can do this with you if we aren't."

I studied her for a moment. "Yeah, we can be friends."

She wrapped her arms around me, taking both of us by surprise. "Thank you."

I awkwardly patted her on the back. "No problem."

"Adam?" she asked as she pulled away. "Can I ask for one more favor?"

I warily eyed her. "What?"

"I know how you are with . . . women. I don't think I can handle living with you and watching you bring them home. Can you not fuck around while I'm there?"

I frowned. "I can keep it in my pants, Amber."

The thought of not having sex with other women didn't bother me at all. In a way, I felt relieved. After all these years, I finally had a valid excuse not to be a complete dick.

"I know. I just . . ." She trailed off.

I sighed. "I get it. Don't worry. I won't mess around with anyone."

"Thank you."

I gave her a small smile before my eyes dropped down to her stomach. "Can I . . . can I touch you?"

She nodded. I reached out and pressed my hand on her lower stomach. It was still flat, but I knew that she would start showing in no time at all. I couldn't feel it yet, but my baby was inside of her.

Mine.

"A baby." I chuckled. "I'm going to be a dad."

Amber just smiled.

I stood and held out a hand to her. "Come on, let's go home."

Those words just felt right-Amber, home. Suddenly, they were the same thing to me, in more than just one way.

Present December "Are you nervous?" Drake asked as he buttoned up his dark green shirt.

I shook my head and stared at myself in the mirror. My shirt was identical to Drake's, except that mine was red. Amber really had stuck to the Christmas theme for our wedding. The girls were all wearing green dresses. The men were all in khakis and green shirts. I had a feeling that Amber's dress would have at least a little red on it.

"Nah, I'm good."

"You sure? I'd be nervous as fuck if it were me," Drake said.

I shrugged. "I thought I would be, but I'm not. This is the final step in my new life, you know? I'm not scared or nervous. I'm excited."

He clapped me on the back as Logan and Eric walked into the room.

"Good. Let's get this party started then."

"We're ready out there if you are," Eric said.

"Let's do this." I walked past them and out the door.

None of us spoke as we walked out of my house and down the path leading to the beach. When the beach came into view, I smiled. Amber had really outdone herself with the decorations. Even though we were getting married on the beach, she'd made sure to keep the Christmas theme out here. The archway we would stand under was decorated with white lights and mistletoes. The combination had sounded ridiculous, especially out on the beach, but Amber had insisted that she could make it look good. And she had. In addition to that, two fully decorated miniature Christmas trees were on both sides of the archway.

The only thing I'd put my foot down on was the fact that she wanted to have only Christmas music playing in the background. I couldn't handle that. We'd finally agreed to meet in the middle, mixing Christmas carols with some of our favorite bands. The poor DJ I'd hired probably thought we were all on crack. But what did he care? He was getting paid double to work on Christmas Day.

Our wedding cake was interesting as well. She'd gone with a traditional three-tier cake, but she'd added gingerbread men around the edges. Each tier was decorated with holly and a red or green bow. Again, I hadn't thought it would look right, but she'd described exactly how she wanted it to the decorator, and the cake had come out perfect.

She'd wanted to set up a table out on the beach for the cake, but I'd talked her into keeping it in the house. I didn't really want to eat sand with my cake.

The guys followed me down the beach to the archway. They sat down in the chairs we'd put out as we waited for the call saying that Amber and the girls were ready. Amber and I had wanted a small wedding, and that was what we'd gotten. Besides the band, Chloe, Bethaney, and Logan, the only other guests were Amber's mom and dad. Since there were so few of us, we'd decided that once everyone walked down, the only two to remain standing would be Drake and Chloe. Everyone else would sit in the chairs.

The preacher was already waiting, and I walked over to him. We shook hands and briefly greeted each other. He seemed like a good guy, especially since he'd agreed to marry us on Christmas. Most people would have said no.

Drake's phone chirped, and he looked down at it. "The girls are ready. Let's do this."

The guys nodded at me before walking back to where the trail ended and the beach began. Once they were situated, the preacher and I took our positions. The DJ started playing the music.

I took a deep breath as Eric and Bethaney slowly made their way down the beach. When they were halfway across the beach, Logan and Jade started walking. Eric and Bethaney reached me and parted ways. Soon after, Logan and Jade did the same. Next came Drake and Chloe.

Once they were situated, Amber's mother started walking toward us with Gabby in her arms. My beautiful baby girl was in a green dress, just like the rest of the girls. When Gabby neared me, she held out her hands for me to take her. Amber's mother would have none of that. Instead, she stopped long enough for me to kiss Gabby on the forehead before sitting down. Gabby played with the bottom of her dress with a huge grin on her face.

Drake cleared his throat, and I looked up. I stilled as I caught sight of Amber for the first time in her wedding dress. She walked alongside her father with her arm tucked into his. As she moved closer, the whole world stopped. Our eyes locked, and for a few precious seconds, it felt like we were the only two people in the world.

She looked beautiful in the floor-length white dress. It was strapless and had a sweetheart neckline. I was right about her dress. A strip of red was around the waist. The skirt of the dress was slit, and I could see the underneath layer was red.

Her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls. A few strands hung loosely around her face. Her makeup was soft and natural-looking. I'd never seen her look more beautiful.

Her father walked her down to where I was standing and stopped. Amber smiled at me.

The preacher finally spoke, "Who gives this bride away today?"

"Her mother and I do," her father said.

I looked at him, surprised to see tears in his eyes.

He stepped forward and placed Amber's hand in mine. I gently squeezed it. I was surprised when I felt her hand shaking a bit.

"You okay?" I whispered.

Her father and everyone else but Chloe and Drake took their seats.