Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 255: Make Sure She's Happy

All week long Keeley dreaded telling her dad the truth. She didn't want him to be disappointed in her, or worse, ask her if she truly loved Aaron. He would definitely catch onto the fact that they were only getting married because of the baby if he asked her that.

She didn't want to face him alone so in the end she asked Aaron to come with her. It was the right choice. To her utter shock, her dad took everything in stride. They chatted casually about wedding plans as if they didn't have a care in the world.

Aaron's arm was around her on the back of the couch and she sat there in a stupor as they went on, not believing what she was hearing. He didn't ask any probing questions at all!

Was it just because Aaron was here? Did she have to bring him with her every time she saw her dad now for the rest of their lives to use as a shield?

The oddest image appeared in her mind of her wearing medieval-style armor holding up a shield that had Aaron's face on it instead of a coat of arms. The stress was definitely making her crack; her imagination usually wasn't this wild!

Keeley finally zoned back into the conversation when she heard her dad ask, "I know it's early but have you started talking about baby names?"

"We haven't but if it ends up being a boy I think we should name him Kaleb," Aaron said.

Tears shimmered in her eyes as she caught sight of a picture of her grinning little brother on a bookshelf. When he was in kindergarten he named a goldfish he won at a school carnival after himself, calling it Kaleb Junior. He would probably love having a nephew named after him.

"I think that's a great idea," she said thickly as she leaned further into his embrace. He knew her better than she gave him credit for.

Robert nodded. "I do too. But what if it's a girl?"

Keeley thought about it. Monica was a bit outdated. Maybe she could keep the letter M for a middle name or something. After all, both of her mother's children had been given K names because her maiden name was Krelman.

"I like plant names. Something like Lily or Violet or Rose." She turned towards her fiancé. "What do you think?"

"Violet is a nice name," he said mildly.

Violet or Kaleb. She wondered which name they would end up using. The ultrasound that would determine gender wasn't available for another three months. She already met with Valentina's teacher for a short consultation during the week she was waiting to tell Aaron and everything seemed fine so far.

Aaron wanted to go with her to her appointment next month. Keeley didn't think it was necessary since it would just be a routine visit but he insisted.

She didn't have the power to dissuade him. He was just as worried about this baby making it healthily into the world as she was. Their last pregnancy experience had scarred them both.

What exactly was he going to do when Alistair inevitably found out? Did he really intend on hiding the fact that he had a wife and child forever? Could he even get away with that?

Keeley was worried but she was also exhausted so she drifted off into an uneasy sleep curled into Aaron's side.

===

"Poor thing really is tuckered out," Robert clucked as he saw his daughter snoozing against her fiancé's chest.

Aaron sighed. She had been like that a lot lately. He looked it up—it was perfectly normal to be fatigued during early pregnancy—but it didn't make it any easier to see. She had so much to do still too.

Keeley had been exhausted last semester without being pregnant. How much worse was it going to be now? He might have to see if she could reduce her hours at the lab or straight up quit once she was finished with her own research.

He really hoped she wouldn't fight him on this. She was going to be his wife; she didn't need to work herself to death. With any luck, using the baby as an argument would convince her to see sense.

It was going to be hard enough for her to finish her PhD program as is. She didn't need anything else making it more difficult.

"She pushes herself too hard," Aaron said unhappily.

"Oh, she's always been like that. You should have seen her as a toddler; such a tenacious little thing. She insisted on doing everything herself even though she struggled with her tiny fingers."

He could easily imagine a miniature version of Keeley doing that. "Could you show me pictures? I've never seen any and it would be nice to have a reference for comparison once our baby is born."

Aaron was positive she would never let him look at her baby pictures while she was awake.

Robert happily obliged and pulled out an ancient scrapbook. In the beginning there were only pictures of him and his wife, a petite blonde woman who had the same smile as her daughter. He had a sad sort of smile on his face when he saw them. After all this time he still missed her.

His heart went out to the man. He had been in Robert's shoes but he was lucky; he got another chance to see his wife again. And marry her again. Over the past week Aaron had wondered more than once if this was all a dream.

The pictures of newborn Keeley showed her as wrinkly and red, like most brand new infants. She developed into a very cute baby over the following months though.

Eventually she became a cherubic toddler with blonde pigtails sticking out like tufts on top of her head. Seeing those pictures instantly had him hoping if they had a daughter she would look exactly like her mother.

As Aaron continued perusing the Hall family album, Robert spoke up seriously.

"Son…I've known how much you care about Keeley for a long time now. Even though she's always smiling, she's been through a lot so can you promise to take care of her for me and make sure she's happy?"

He looked him straight in the eye and nodded. Robert didn't even know the half of what his daughter had been through. Aaron would dedicate the rest of his life solely to making her life better.

"She's more important to me than anything in the world," he said softly as he glanced down at her sleeping face. "Of course I will."

Robert's smile was relieved and they continued looking through old pictures as if nothing had happened while Keeley continued to nap. Aaron wanted to be the kind of father that Robert Hall was someday.

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