Our Fault (Culpable Book 3)

Noah was huge. The poor thing had always been thin and small in stature, and I sometimes worried her belly would weigh her down and she’d end up stumbling forward.

There was still another month left, and I was scared of what would happen as the baby kept growing. Noah’s mood was a roller coaster too. She could be happy and relaxed one minute and crying over nothing the next.

When her birthday came, we had a combination birthday party/baby shower at Dad’s house. Jenna invited everyone and their mother. Noah was sitting in the garden on a plush chair someone had brought out for her and opening presents with a smile.

My sister kept shouting at the sight of all those gifts. She was like Noah’s little helper. From the moment we arrived, Maddie couldn’t leave her alone.

Jenna had organized things to a T, with blue balloons everywhere, a big cake with a baby in the middle of it, and all sorts of toys and gifts.

A lot of my friends were there, too, and I was happy for the opportunity to escape to play Xbox with them for a while. All those women gathering to talk about babies was cramping my style.

A few hours later, I went to the kitchen to ask if Noah’s chocolate cake was ready. I was grateful to Jenna for handling the baby shower part, but this was about Noah, too, and she deserved a big cake with a twenty in the middle. When I took it out to the yard, everyone was surprised and sang “Happy Birthday.” Noah blew out the candles.

A while later, when everyone was distracted, I walked with her toward the pool. She smiled, remembering old times.

“Did you bring me here to do something dirty, Nick?”

I laughed. “It wouldn’t be your birthday if I didn’t do something dirty, Freckles,” I said, kissing her full lips and feeling her warmth in my arms. Eventually we stopped, and I took a small box out of my pocket.

“Your present,” I said.

When she opened it, her eyes grew wide with surprise. I thought she might cry.

“You’ve got it… I thought… I thought you’d thrown it away. I thought…”

I silenced her with a kiss and wiped away her tears. “I could never have thrown away that pendant, Noah. I gave you my heart two years ago. Now I’m giving it to you again…”

She stroked the silver heart that I’d given her when she turned eighteen.

“I sent it to a jeweler so they could embed a little blue diamond in it. Because, you know… Andrew’s going to be a part of this too now, right?”

“It’s the best gift you could ever have given me. I’ve missed this pendant. I’ve missed all it meant for you and me.”

“I know… It should never have come off, Noah. It was wrong of me to take it.”

She shook her head. “You did what you felt in the moment, Nick… I hurt you. I didn’t deserve to wear it.”

I took it out of the box.

“Now nothing and no one will ever move it from where it belongs,” I said, carefully putting it around her neck and kissing her bare shoulder.

“If you’re tired and you want to go back home, just tell me and we’ll leave.”

She shook her head. She looked happy. “I want to enjoy this day. It’s perfect in every sense of the word.”