Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
He was going to have to learn that social niceties no longer existed between them.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was bad.
Worse than Gideon had expected it to be. Cat and Cam had invited only him and Beth to dinner and there’d been huge dead spots in the conversation all evening. Where before they would probably have sniped and griped at each other moodily, now Beth refused to look at Gideon and she didn’t direct a single comment at him.
He had tried to get a rise out of her. Had made stupid, blatantly wrong assumptions about trivial shit, hoping she would correct him. Nothing. He’d changed tactics and told everyone about the approved spin off to Quilla’s Quest—Greta’s Ghastly Game—but she had exhibited nary a flicker of interest.
Cat and Cam were giving him sympathetic glances and he knew that he must seem desperate and pitiful to them, but he didn’t fucking care. This was the first time he’d been in the same space with Beth for longer than two minutes since Franschhoek and he was going to get a reaction from her if it killed him.
“So, we wanted you guys to be the first to hear our news,” Cat said, with a forced smile, as she leaned into Cam, on the couch after dinner. He was giving her a back rub. “I figured the emojis in my message would have given it away, but maybe it was too subtle?”
“Oh my God,” Beth suddenly squealed, and Cat grinned at her reaction. Gideon, happy to see the animated spark back in Beth’s eyes, smiled as he watched her, even though he didn’t have a clue what the hell was going on. “Twins? It’s twins right? That’s why you sent two baby emojis!”
Cat laughed and nodded. “Yes. It’s twins. It shocked the hell out of us, they’re monochorionic monoamniotic twins. I know, it’s a mouthful…in essence they share an amniotic sac and the second baby was stealthy as fuck, hiding behind their sibling during the first ultrasound. Can you believe that?”
Gideon half-listened to Cat’s giddy explanation, too distracted trying to figure out how the hell Beth had guessed about the twins? Okay, in hindsight the double emojis were kind of a giveaway, but Cat habitually double emojied her messages to emphasize a point, so Gideon wouldn’t have automatically gone to twins.
Beth was so sharp, one of the many things Gideon had come to love and appreciate about her.
“And that means you guys are off the hook,” Cam said lazily. Beth and Gideon both stared at him in confusion. “About the guardianship thing. Thank God, because this shit between you guys has reached epically stupid proportions.”
“I don’t understand,” Gideon admitted.
“Well, you’re not even talking to each other now and I must say it’s been—”
“I mean,” Gideon interrupted his friend impatiently. “I don’t understand how it lets us off the hook.”
“Two babies, one guardian per kid. It’s not ideal, but it works.”
“We’ve decided that, after tonight, we’re going to have to make extreme changes to the way we do things,” Cat said. “Before, people could deal. We knew you didn’t get along, we coped. Hell, we were even entertained by your ridiculous feud. But this is… it’s untenable. You’ve put us in an awkward spot. We can’t continue like this. You have to sit down and work out a schedule. That onus is no longer on us. This is your fuck-up and it’s up to you guys to figure out how to make it work with the rest of the group.”
“I think,” Gideon said slowly, the words weighing him down as he kept his eyes on Beth’s downcast head. She needed this group of friends, she felt confident and strong in this group. They were her family. He couldn’t take any part of that from her. “This is all my fault and Beth shouldn’t be punished for that.”
Her head swung up and finally her eyes met his.
Sharp, questioning, confused.
“I’ve been considering moving back to Scotland. My dad and Niall, we’ve been talking more. I think maybe—with some real effort—we could properly reconcile. And I can work anywhere.”
He fought to keep his voice steady, reassuring Beth with his eyes that this was for the best, this was for her. He didn’t want to lose her. But he feared—no, he knew—he already had. And the only person he had to blame for that was himself.
“Gideon,” Cat sounded horrified. “No, that’s not what—”
“I would be honored to be godparent and guardian to one of your babies. Thank you. I hope never to assume that guardianship role, of course, but if I ever have to, that kid will be loved.”
“You think this is the solution?” Beth suddenly spoke, her voice low and filled with venom. “Really? Depriving everyone of their precious Gideon? Who do you think will get blamed for that in the end? Me, of course! Good old Gideon, always taking the high road. Such a great guy.”