The Secret Baby

by Harper, Leddy

  Fred glanced up while Kelsey turned in her seat, her shocked eyes meeting mine.

  “Good morning, everyone. I hope I’m not too late.” I made sure to direct that last part at Kelsey, ensuring she’d picked up on the meaning. “Sorry for intruding, but I really wanted to be here for this.”

  Kelsey stood and placed both hands against my chest, pushing me away slightly while whispering, “Why are you here?”

  With a downy touch along her lower back, I dropped my lips to her ear, not once caring if the signals I was giving her were mixed. “If you think I’m going to let you make me the bad guy with your family, you might want to think again.”

  Her breath hitched in her throat as she pulled away, turning to face her parents.

  Diane clapped, eyes wide and bright as if expecting good news. “Oh, are you two dating? Is that what you wanted to tell us? This is just . . . ah, so amazing.”

  “No, Mom. That’s not it. In fact, Aaron has decided to stay somewhere else until he closes on his house in two weeks.”

  Oh, hell no. I wasn’t about to let her throw me under the bus like that, knowing the next thing she would tell them was that she was having my baby. That’d make me look like a piece of shit, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. “It wasn’t by choice, and you know it. So please, don’t make it sound like I ran out on you. I’m here, am I not?”

  While I spoke low so that my words were aimed at Kelsey, I didn’t bother to keep her parents from overhearing. It was important to me that they understand more about the situation than I knew she’d let on. Because the last thing I wanted to do was defend myself after the fact; that would only make me look like more of a piece of shit by pointing a finger at their daughter right after they learned that I had knocked up their little girl. Yeah . . . not happening.

  Kelsey cleared her throat and resumed her seat in the chair, leaving me to stand next to her. I didn’t bother to move or step away, only rested my hand against the back of the seat and waited for her to share the news.

  “I’m sure this will come as a shock to you, but I can assure you that it was just as much—if not more—of a shock to me.” Her voice quivered, and I had to fight against my desire to touch her, comfort her, let her know she wasn’t alone. “And I wanted to come here early so that you two were the first to know.”

  It was in that moment that I realized my reason for being here for this wasn’t at all to defend myself. It had nothing to do with ensuring she didn’t bury the blame at my feet. No. My need to be here, to listen to her tell her parents, went beyond that. I had to hear her say it, because I hadn’t heard those words come from her mouth. Even when I’d confronted Kelsey, she hadn’t come out and actually said that she was pregnant. With my baby. I’d asked her, and she’d told me yes; however, she’d still never uttered the one phrase I deserved to hear fall from her lips.

  “I’m pregnant.” She gulped, her throat dipping deep with the harsh swallow. And without glancing at me, she added, “Aaron and I are having a baby.”

  Before I could absorb her words or figure out how I genuinely felt about them, I was caught off guard by Diane’s reaction. Her trembling fingers covered her parted lips, the same thing Kelsey did when she wanted to conceal a gasp or hide her overwhelming emotions. An exploding star had nothing on the blinding elation in her eyes, and even though a tear slipped free, slithering over her cheekbone, it shone with the happiness it’d been born in.

  This was a far cry from the reaction I had expected, as well as the one she’d had on hearing Jason and Tatum’s news. Rather than boisterous excitement, she appeared to be filled with unmistakable pride, overflowing joy, and the purest love rooted in her marrow. Not one ounce of rejection or hesitation registered on her face.

  Fred, on the other hand, had a slightly different reaction. There was no denying the happiness in his eyes, but I had to look past the shock, confusion, and disappointment to see it. Then again, he was her father. I’d almost anticipated that to be his response. If my child was a girl, I’d probably react the same way.

  I had to stop myself for a moment, recognizing how that had been the first time I’d thought those words. My child. It brought up a swelling sensation in my chest and left my body scalding just below my skin.

  No matter how badly I fought it, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching down and placing my hand on Kelsey’s shoulder. Although, I did have enough strength to keep myself from looking into her eyes—but maybe that had more to do with fear than strength.

  Chapter 19

  Kelsey

  “Are you guys going to say anything?” Worry strangled me as I sat there and watched my parents stare at me in shock. If my heart sped up any faster, I’d be in cardiac arrest at any moment. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. And if Aaron thought his touch was calming, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

  While Mom sat there and stared at me with wide, glossy eyes, my dad sat forward, his elbows dug into the tops of his thighs. He glanced between Aaron and me, but I couldn’t quite read his expression. His brows were drawn closer together, yet the lines in his forehead were mere hollows, not yet the valleys they became when he was mad. However, his lips were pressed into a flat line, which generally indicated his unrest.

  “You said he moved out?” Dad’s question might have been directed at me, and his attention might have pinned me to my seat, yet there was no doubt in my mind that this was meant more for Aaron.

  “I did, sir,” Aaron answered from over my shoulder, his strong, unwavering tone nearly begging me to look at him. “I’m not sure how much you both know, but I have recently bought a house.”

  “And do you plan to move Kelsey and the baby in with you?” Dad wouldn’t let up, but at least he had his sights on Aaron this time instead of speaking to him through me. “Or are you going to make her raise this child on her own?”

  At this point, I had to take a stand—literally. I was on my feet in less than a second, positioning myself between Aaron and my dad, though I had no idea why, other than to protect him any way I could. “That’s enough, Dad. This is between Aaron and me, and we haven’t gotten that far yet. Okay? Let us work that part out, and we’ll keep you guys in the loop.”

  Everything fell apart after that.

  The front door opened, and Aunt Lori came in. She was always the first one here, which meant it was only a matter of time before Jason and Tatum would show up. If I had to guess, we had less than ten minutes—five if Marlena and her brood were on their way.

  Mom wrapped me in her arms, hugging me so tightly I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to catch my breath again. And while my mom squeezed me, Dad took Aaron to the side, as if this had all been planned to keep me from defending him to my parents. And then there was Aunt Lori, setting her stuff in the kitchen without a clue what was happening.

  “Oh, congratulations, Kelsey!” Okay, so maybe she did have a clue.

  I planned to kill Tatum and her big fat mouth.

  Mom released me and turned to her sister—their resemblance was uncanny sometimes. Generally speaking, someone might guess they were related, though not sisters. But then there were moments like these when they’d look at each other with complete opposite expressions on their faces, yet they could’ve been twins.

  That was it—Mom’s shock was identical to my aunt’s excitement. Which didn’t say much about either one of them. If anything, it made me want to take a look in the mirror to make sure I didn’t get that gene.

  “You knew?” Mom gaped at Aunt Lori, then swung her betrayed eyes to me. “How did she know before we did?”

  I was just about to open my mouth and explain to her how best friends work—how Tatum and I typically tell each other everything before anyone else—when my aunt cut me off. She flicked her wrist and fluttered her lashes, a rapid eye roll that she reserved for moments of dismissal. “Oh, Diane . . . I didn’t know. But I do now.”

  “So you just guessed she was pregnant and went with it, hoping you we
re right?” Mom propped her fist on her hip, no longer paying any attention to anyone else in the room. If anything, she appeared to be in awe of her sister.

  Then it dawned on me.

  Aunt Lori was sneaky. Her sweet and innocent persona was just that—a facade.

  With a hand on my mom’s shoulder, I carefully turned her just enough to face me. “She didn’t, Mom. All she said was congrats. That could mean so many things. You’re the one who just told her what it was.”

  I wish I could’ve seen the look my mother gave her sister as she peered to the side, but I couldn’t, because right then, my attention was pulled to my dad and Aaron. Technically, it was pulled to Dad’s growly voice, but once I noticed how Aaron had dropped his head forward, almost in shame, I couldn’t look away.

  And again, before I could address that situation, more people came down the hall into the kitchen. Connor, my nephew, ran into the room and latched on to my dad’s leg. “Paw Paw! I got a new truck, Paw Paw! Wanna play it wif me?” And just like that, my dad’s entire demeanor changed.

  He picked up Connor and swooped him into the kitchen, leaving Aaron behind with his chin tucked to his chest. I desperately wanted to go to him, make this right, but I wasn’t sure if he even wanted me to. It wasn’t a secret that he was angry with me, but that didn’t mean I felt the same. Truthfully, I felt the complete opposite. I hated how I’d hurt him, and anytime he set his betrayed eyes on me, it only made the knot in my stomach tighten. The ache in my chest deepen.

  I wanted to go to him, but I couldn’t, because Marlena chose that instant to shout, “Oh my God, you’re pregnant? How far along are you?”

  “Two months,” Aaron answered for me, suddenly finding his voice.

  “Are you kidding me? Two months? Why would you keep that from me?” My sister could be perceptive when she wanted to be. “Wait. This is the first time you’ve told anyone?”

  Aaron stepped up, and the thought of what he’d say terrified me. “Technically Friday was the first time she told anyone, and that was me.”

  “What about Tatum?” I had no idea who’d asked that, but whoever it was had impeccable timing, because just then, my best friend appeared in the kitchen and froze in shock at the sound of her name.

  Her eyes shifted between everyone in the room while she stood frozen, like a deer caught in headlights. “What about me?”

  “Did you know she’s two months pregnant?” Marlena turned to my best friend. “Oh, why am I wasting my breath? Of course you did. I bet you knew from the beginning, didn’t you?”

  Tatum said, “I’m not sure if I should answer that,” at the same time Jason turned his bugged eyes to me and asked, “You’re pregnant?”

  This couldn’t have been better scripted for a comedy show.

  “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Tatum clapped her hands and moved farther into the kitchen, feigned confidence straightening her posture. “And I gotta say . . . it’s about time.”

  “So you’ve known all along?” Jason pinned her with a stare.

  “Well, yes, but only because she needed someone to read the stick for her. I’ve been trying to get her to announce it, but she didn’t want to do that until she told the father, and for some reason, that’s taken forever and a day.”

  And when Tatum was nervous, she didn’t stop talking.

  “Then again, I don’t really blame her. She developed feelings for him, but then he kinda smashed those dreams when she caught him—”

  “Tatum, that’s enough.” I needed her to shut up. Now.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make him out to be a bad person or anything; I haven’t even met him. So he could be a really great guy for all I know. I guess only time will tell.”

  “Wait.” My mom finally spoke up, moving toward the center of the circle created by the members of my obnoxious family, arms out at her sides like she was warding off a brawl. “I thought you said you and Aaron were having a baby. Is he not the father?”

  “What?” Tatum shrieked—I’m pretty sure Marlena harmonized with her, too. “Aaron Baucus? That Aaron? The one standing right there?”

  “Yes. Aaron’s the father. This Aaron.”

  Before anyone could say or do anything else, Jason turned cold eyes on his best friend, who refused to look at him. “You knocked up my baby cousin? The one thing I told you before I even asked if you could stay at her place was that you didn’t touch her.”

  Silence fell over the entire room. Seconds later, my dad carried Connor to the back patio while my mom followed with my niece in her arms. Aunt Lori wasn’t far behind, leaving the four of us—plus my sister—in the room alone. Marlena stuck out like a sore thumb, yet there was no way she would’ve missed this opportunity. She wasn’t one who enjoyed drama in her life, but she sure as hell ate up everyone else’s anytime she could.

  “It’s not what you think.” Aaron finally spoke, his hands up as if surrendering. “She was already pregnant when I moved in.”

  That was all it took to drag Jason around the breakfast bar into the living room, closer to where we stood. “And you didn’t bother to mention that when I suggested you stay with her for a few months?”

  “I didn’t know, man. I swear. She just told me two days ago. Trust me . . . this is as much of a shock to me as it is to you.”

  “If she was already pregnant by the time you moved in, and you two hadn’t met until the night before the wedding . . . how could you be the father?”

  With this, Marlena sat on a barstool to witness it all, no doubt planning to use this to fill Mom in on what she’d missed. My life was seriously becoming the next episode of Jerry Springer.

  Aaron turned his attention to me, silently asking me to step in and explain the parts he couldn’t—considering this likely wasn’t the most comfortable thing to discuss with my cousin, best friend of his or not.

  “We met at Boots the night of Tatum’s bachelorette party.” I took a deep breath and lifted my gaze to the ceiling, unable to look at anyone as I gave as much information as I could without dirtying my image. “I didn’t know who he was, and he had no idea I was your cousin. So while we technically met a few weeks before your wedding, we didn’t realize who the other was until the night of the rehearsal. When we ran into each other at the elevators.”

  “Back up a second . . . I think I’m missing something.” Marlena couldn’t just sit there and listen. No. She had to get all the details, even when it had nothing to do with her. “How did you two not know who the other was? I guess you both have rather common names, but come on. It was a bachelorette party—one I now wish I’d gone to. Did you not once stop and think of the coincidences? You know . . . like how you had a friend who was about to get married, whose cousin’s name is Kelsey, who also happens to be the bride’s best friend? None of that came to mind?”

  Again, Aaron refused to answer, only regarded me with pleading eyes, begging me to save him. I couldn’t deny him that, especially after all I’d already put him through, so I huffed, shoulders dropped in resignation, and filled in the missing pieces as best as I could. “It’s not like we stopped to think about much, Mar. We were both in somewhat of a shitty place that night and found a way to get each other through it.”

  “Oh my God.” Jason cringed, disgust dripping from every pore on his face. “The necktie?”

  I whipped my head to the side to regard Aaron. “You told him about that?”

  “Don’t pretend like you didn’t give details to Tatum.”

  “Hey, don’t bring me into this,” Tatum called from the other side of the breakfast bar, too worried to come much closer, likely out of fear of getting burned. “I’m an innocent bystander here. I had no idea you were the stripper.”

  “Stripper?” Dammit, Marlena.

  “He only pretended to be one that night. It’s a long story. No point in rehashing it now.” I just wanted this to be over already. “Can we maybe finish this conversation another time? It seems we’re all caught up on the impo
rtant stuff—I’m pregnant; Aaron’s the father; I kept it a secret from everyone for two months. Oh, and apparently, I’m a slut.”

  I turned to make my way back to the chair I’d been in before all this had fallen apart, needing a moment to myself, even though I’d still technically be around everyone—I just wouldn’t have to see the judgment in their eyes. But I never made it to the recliner. Aaron caught me before I could take two steps, his large hand wrapped around my upper arm.

  “Don’t ever say that again.” His hushed voice flooded my ear with heat, fueled by what I could only describe as aggression. The rawness of his words was enough to make me pause and look at him, but his eyes were what made me listen. “Regardless of the situation or how we got to this place, none of that makes you a slut, and hearing you say that about yourself pisses me off. You’re not even close to one. I never want to hear you degrade yourself like that again.”

  My thighs clenched together as his demand filled my body with intense arousal. And once again, I hated the fact that he was angry with me, because I wanted nothing more than to haul him into one of the back rooms and let him have his way with me.

  Oddly enough, all I could say was, “I’m sorry.”

  He released his hold on me and took a step back, though he kept his voice just as low as when his lips had been against my ear. “Don’t apologize to me. I wasn’t the one talking shit about you just now . . . that was you.” And then he walked away.

  I was in too much of a mental fog to grasp everything as it happened, but he apparently left. Jason followed him out to the driveway while Tatum made her way to me. Marlena voiced a few questions, none of which I responded to, yet Tatum answered what she could—which wasn’t much, considering I’d left her out of the loop as much as everyone else.

  And before I knew it, my parents and aunt were back inside, the kids running around as if nothing had happened. Jason headed down to the dock to help my dad with the grill, Marlena took Connor and Lizzie to the patio with Mom, and Aunt Diane helped Tatum in the kitchen. All in all, this was a normal Sunday.