Caro’s gasp throbbed with sympathy. “Jeez, I can only imagine. I kinda figured they must’ve known? And here I was trying to be cool about being kept out of the loop by you and them.”
“Sorry, sis. I didn’t want you having to keep secrets from Mom and Dad for my sake. I wasn’t ready to tell them. And honestly? I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready.”
“I get that. But really, bro, you handled this all wrong.” She shook her head in what Tyler hoped was mock-despair.
“I’m sorry we hurt you, Caro,” Jay said, sounding so miserable that Tyler jumped in on her behalf.
“It was my choice to keep this a secret,” he told his sister. “Jay wanted to tell you.”
Caro rocked back on the heels of her boots and hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her black denim jeans. The look she gave him was a bizarrely comforting mix of exasperation and the kind of deep-seated understanding he’d only expect from someone who knew him very well. “Jeez, bro. Way to go. Would you’ve even said anything if you hadn’t been caught red-handed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
She turned her gaze to Jay. “You would have told me eventually, right?”
“No, I wouldn’t have.”
Caro’s eyes widened, shocked by the blunt answer. “But why?”
“Because I promised Tyler not to.”
Caro’s lips twitched upward. “Awww. You two are so gosh-darned sweet I could eat you both right up.” She gave Jay a hug, and Tyler another punch in the arm, and he knew they’d been forgiven. He wasn’t worried about himself so much, but Jay thought the world of Caro. She’d be gutted if Caro was pissed at her.
“So, Jay, what do you think of my hair?”
Tyler wished their mom could get over the big stuff and move on as quickly as Caro did. His sister had obviously inherited that trait from their dad. He angled himself so he could watch as Jay scrutinized Caro thoroughly and seriously, while Caro hopped from foot to foot, awaiting the verdict.
“I like the curls and the longer length,” she said. “The style suits you. You look wonderful, Caro.”
Caro beamed at her, and wound one of her new curls around her forefinger. “One of my classmates at Eddings knows this hair stylist who needed some models for a catalog shoot. He took one look at my hair color and went into raptures. And I wanted a change—growing it out was getting boring.”
“What does Matt think of it?” Jay wanted to know.
“He loves it, of course.”
“Wouldn’t dare admit otherwise,” Tyler deadpanned.
Caro snickered. “Right on. C’mon, you two. Mom spotted the car pull up. She’s gonna come looking for you if you don’t get inside.”
Tyler deliberately moved closer to Jay and slung his arm about her waist. He wanted there to be no doubts where his allegiance lay if his mom wanted to harp on about Jay.
“Meant to say,” Caro piped up. “Nice wheels, Jay. Is it a rental?”
“No, it’s mine.”
“Your own car? Awesome! You are sooo lucky. If I never see the inside of another bus it’ll be too soon. Hey, next time you’re in the market for a vehicle, how ’bout something a little less Men In Black and a little more—”
“Shawn?” Tyler couldn’t resist the dig.
Sure enough, Caro flushed as red as her ex’s flashy red Miata. “Low blow, bro,” she muttered.
Tyler grinned. “Figured I’d get in first.”
“Oh, here’s Mom,” Caro said.
Tyler turned to greet her and the words choked off in his throat.
Oh. My. Fricking. God. His mom was pregnant. Really, really, floral maternity dress stretched over a huge bump pregnant.
~~~
Chapter Nine
Tyler stared at his mother. Heat crawled up his neck and pressure built behind his eyes, turning the world ever so slightly hazy. What he felt right now was a hot mess of anger and betrayal. Man, she’d chosen the perfect way to punish him for keeping secrets. And yeah, maybe he deserved it. But it was still like she’d walked up and kicked him in the gut.
Caro’s gasp was so epic, Tyler figured it was a freaking miracle his sister didn’t immediately pass out from excess oxygen intake or something. “Omigod,” she said. “I just presumed they’d— They didn’t tell you?”
The words were still hampered by the lump in his throat so all he could do was shake his head.
His sister’s eyes were enormous orbs of disbelief. “Jesus,” she muttered. “What the eff were they thinking?”
“You could have clued me in,” Tyler got out. And yep, it sounded like an accusation but he was in no mood to play nice right now.
Caro gulped, her eyes filling with tears. “I would have told you straight out if I’d realized you didn’t know. Jeez. I know we haven’t exactly been keeping in touch lately but— How could this have happened?”
“You tell me,” he muttered and then had an “Aha!” moment and smacked his forehead. “Shit. Now all those baby-obsessed texts I’ve been getting from you make sense. I thought you were doing some off-the-wall design project or something.”
Caro’s groan was heartfelt. “Oh my God. You must have thought I was nuts going on about baby stuff all the time.”
“A little. Mostly I felt sorry for Matt.”
She managed a woebegone smile. “I bet. I just figured you were being a guy, and didn’t want to talk baby-stuff. I’m sooo sorry, Tyler.”
“Don’t be.” He couldn’t be angry at her. It was obvious she hadn’t intentionally kept this news under wraps. Unlike his parents. Unless they’d presumed Caro would clue him in and he was totally over-reacting. But still…. Something this important? They damn well should have told him upfront and in person.
And then he remembered their unexpected visit. The realization smacked him like a cold wet fish. Shit. Bet they’d made the trip to tell him the good news. Only instead of good news and happy vibes, it’d all deteriorated into a drama-fest about Jay.
“Hello, Mrs. Davidson,” Jay said. “You’re looking well.”
She turned to Tyler. “The pregnancy appears to be progressing nicely. Marissa is in her third trimester—thirty-four weeks if I’m not mistaken. The fetus appears healthy and well-formed.”
His mom had been avoiding looking at Jay, but now she stared at her. Her mouth slowly opened and her face froze in an expression Tyler couldn’t quite fathom. The back of his neck prickled. What on earth had provoked this OTT reaction? Surely his mom must know Jay would never harm her or the baby.
“How can you know that?” His mom’s tone was half accusatory, half horror.
“Among other things, I can detect the baby’s heartbeat,” Jay said.
“Cool!” was Caro’s verdict.
Their mom wrapped her arms about her bump and shook her head over and over, like she was trying her utmost to deny something incontrovertible. “Don’t look at me.”
“Mom?” Caro moved toward her, one arm outstretched, but their mom backed off.
“Don’t let her look at me!” she said.
“Who? Me?” Caro sounded as totally confused as Tyler was right now.
“It’s all right, Mrs. Davidson. I’ve got my eyes closed. I’m not looking. I give you my word.”
Tyler turned to grab Jay by the shoulders and give her a little shake. “What the hell is going on?”
“Take your mother inside, Caro,” Jay said. “Her heart-rate is elevated. She needs to sit down, and put her feet up.”
And at that pronouncement, Tyler’s mom gave a little shriek, burst into tears and half-ran toward the house in an ungainly waddle that would have been funny as heck in any other circumstances.
“What the hell?” both Tyler and Caro said together.
“Hormones,” Jay said, as if that explained everything. She still had her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
The garage door creaked open to reveal Tyler’s dad. “You’re here.” He seemed surprised by the fact.”
“Yeah,” Tyler sa
id. “We got an early start and the traffic was light. We made good time.”
“Have you seen your mother?”
“Oh yeah. We’ve seen her all right.”
His sister subjected their dad to her famous Caro-style evils. “Why didn’t you and Mom tell Tyler about the baby? I can’t believe this crap!”
“Didn’t you tell—” He shut up as the expression on Caro’s face sank in. His gaze switched to Tyler. “No? Shit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I wanted to, but— Your mother—” He heaved a sigh. “Can we take this inside? And where is your mother, anyway? Is she okay?”
“Kinda,” Caro said.
“She just burst into tears for, like, no reason,” Tyler said.
“Shit,” his dad his dad said again. “Damn hormones.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s a bit fragile right now and— Uh, why has Jay got her eyes closed?”
Jay opened her eyes. “Hi, Mr. Davidson. I had my eyes closed because Mrs. Davidson didn’t want me to look at her. I can only presume she believes I possess the ability to x-ray her abdomen. I’m not exactly certain why I kept my eyes closed. It just seemed like the right thing to do. To give you all some privacy.”
“Oh for crying out loud.” His father’s groan was heartfelt.
Tyler grit his teeth. “Will someone please tell me why Mom’s so upset?”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, your mother is pregnant,” his father said, as if that explained everything, and then he disappeared back inside to check on his distraught wife.
~~~
Although she could easily have eavesdropped on Mike and Marissa Davidson’s conversation—if Marissa’s incoherent sobs and Mike’s soothing murmurs could be termed conversation—Jay deliberately tuned out. Her desire to know all the facts was powerful, but the manners instilled in her by her creator were more so.
Caro and Tyler were still staring at each other, transfixed by a horror that seemed quite out of proportion to the fact they would have a new sibling in the near future. So much for pregnancy being a joyous occasion.
Jay grabbed first Tyler’s hand and then Caro’s to tow them both toward the living room. With a twist of her wrists, she yanked them in front of her and turned them to face her. “Sit.” A palm on each chest, and a gentle shove, and they were both seated on the couch.
She surveyed them, hands on hips. “Talking would be good. Perhaps if you open your mouths, some of the thoughts crammed into your poor little human brains will come out and make themselves heard.”
Caro was the first to recover, and she promptly stuck her tongue out at Jay.
“Nice,” Jay said. “Have you been brushing that tongue lately? It seems a little furry to me.”
Caro’s eyes crossed as she tried to get a good look at the offending furry body part.
“I was joking,” Jay said. “Apparently humor relieves tension.”
“Ha ha. I still can’t believe they didn’t tell you.”
“Well, we didn’t tell them about me,” Jay said. “Tit for tat, as the saying goes.”
“Yeah. I guess. Still sucks.”
Tyler snapped out of his funk. “How the hell did it happen?”
“The pregnancy?” Caro asked.
“Duh. Yes, the pregnancy.”
Jay opened her mouth to explain the ins and outs of human reproduction, but stopped herself before she could start. Doubtless Tyler was a little old for that lecture.
Caro snorted. “Birth control epic fail? I reckon they’ve been having ‘make-up sex’ ever since Mom finally decided to forgive him for taking off.”
Tyler slumped back on the couch until he was half-reclining, put his feet up on the coffee table, and flung an arm over his eyes. “I need to go scour my brain with a wire brush right now.”
Jay squeezed in between him and Caro. She lifted his feet off the coffee table, pulled off his sneakers, and hooked his legs over her lap.
Caro screwed up her face and pretended to shuffle over because of her brother’s smelly socks. “His feet don’t smell,” Jay said.
“They used to,” Caro said.
“Did not,” Tyler said.
“Did too.”
“Actually, they did,” Jay said. “But I sprayed his footwear and killed the bacteria that was causing the odor.”
“Ewww!”
Tyler blew a raspberry that Jay presumed was meant for his sister.
“Aren’t you happy you’ll soon have a baby brother or sister?” she asked them.
“Uh, yeah. Of course we are.” Caro threw Tyler a pointed look that was wasted on him considering he was still resting his eyes… or whatever it was he was doing. Attempting to shut out something he didn’t wish to deal with, perhaps? It wasn’t a particularly useful strategy because Tyler possessed no other sensory enhancements to compensate for lack of vision.
“It’s just been a bit of a shock,” Caro said. “What with Mom’s age and all.”
“Due to a combination of increased life expectancy and improvements in reproductive technology, greater numbers of women are having children later in life,” Jay said. “Statistics show a steady increase in births to women ages forty to forty-four.”
Tyler finally deigned to emerge from beneath his arm. “This is our mom, not some random number in some government report on women’s health.”
Caro gnawed her lower lip. “I’ve tried not to let on but I’m a little worried because of Mom’s age.”
Jay noted her friend’s overly pale complexion and anxious eyes. Yes, Caro was extremely concerned about her mother. Unfortunately, pregnancy was not without its risks, even for women half Marissa’s age. Conscious of Caro’s anxiety she tempered the information she’d been about to impart. “With the vast improvements that have been made in prenatal care, and advances in technology such as genetic screening, many issues are diagnosed early and risks minimized.”
Caro gulped. “What issues, exactly?”
Perhaps this was one of the times humans would prefer to know all the risks. Jay hoped so. She did not wish to cause her friend any further distress. “Compared to a woman in her twenties, the risk of miscarriage increases to around forty percent, as opposed to fifteen percent. The likelihood of Down Syndrome is ten times higher. There is a higher chance of a premature birth, low birth weight, ectopic pregnancy, hypertension and gestational diabetes.”
Caro’s complexion paled even more, making her auburn hair stand out like a fiery corona. Jay realized she’d erred, and only contributed to Caro’s worries. She hurried to make amends. “Your mother is healthy. She has a normal body weight, her blood pressure is fine, and she’s does not have diabetes or any chronic illnesses that I can detect. There is no reason to presume she was, is, or will be, at risk.”
“Thanks,” Caro whispered.
“I should not have said anything. I do not personally subscribe to the belief that ignorance is blissful but—”
“Don’t sweat it,” Caro said. “It’s weird but I kinda do feel better now I know the deal.”
Jay focused her attention on Tyler. “And you?”
“Yeah. Me, too. But promise me you won’t bring any of this up in front of my parents. Mom is a worrier.”
Jay nodded. “And doubtless she prefers information to come from her chosen medical professional.”
“Yeah.” He heaved his feet from her lap, then sat up to squeeze her hand. Jay’s stomach swooped in a wholly pleasant way, and her breathing rate quickened. She squeezed back… Would he keep his hand in hers? She hoped so.
He did. And her breath released in on a sigh.
Caro had picked up on the subtext. She always had been astute.
She scrunched her brows, pinning them both with her “you two better come clean” look. “So what’s the deal with Mom and Jay?”
“Marissa is not happy about our relationship,” Jay said.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Tyler muttered.
“Oh.” Caro pursed her lips, mulling t
his information. “What did she say?”
Tyler shook his head at Jay, cautioning her not to repeat Marissa’s words verbatim for Caro’s benefit. He was probably correct in this instance. It was bad enough that Tyler was at odds with his mother. Best not to put Caro in a similar position of having to choose sides, or having to tiptoe around both her brother and her mother for fear of upsetting either.
“Well?” Caro said.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Tyler said, and even though he’d kept his tone light, Jay could feel the tension thrumming through his body.
“That bad, huh?” Caro’s tone oozed sympathy.
“Yeah.”
“Probably hormones, right, Jay?”
“Yes.” Jay doubted either Caro or Tyler were convinced.
Caro wrinkled her nose. “Change of subject?”
“Would be good,” Tyler agreed.
“So, Jay.”
Jay caught a “Wait for it—” sideways glance from Tyler and suppressed a smile. They both knew Caro too well.
“I’m dying to know if your super-cyborg-vision can detect whether the baby’s gonna be a boy or a girl.”
“Sheesh, even I didn’t see that one coming.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “But… That would be kinda cool. So can you?”
“My optics don’t work like that,” Jay said, opting for simplicity over a lengthy and complicated explanation neither of them would comprehend. Of course to be one hundred percent certain she would require a sample of Marissa’s blood to check for fragments of DNA floating in her bloodstream. If the fetus were male, analysis of the blood sample would show minute fragments of a Y chromosome that would not be present if the fetus were female.
“Shame.” Caro mock-pouted. “Then I wouldn’t have to keep to neutral colors for the baby outfits I’m making. I’d be able to do the whole pink or blue thing.”
Jay accessed her databanks to ensure she understood Caro’s reference. “Pink is for girls. Blue is for boys.”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t understand why it should make a difference. Blue is a perfectly nice color for both boys and girls. I’m female. I wear blue jeans and blue t-shirts.”
Freaks in the City Page 13