by Alison Mello
Liam walks back in carrying three steaming mugs of coffee and I mentally shake myself, preparing to tell them both everything about the last day or so.
***
Jason and Liam didn’t judge me for my choices, which makes me feel better. They convince me that looking for a place of my own shouldn’t be an issue I have to contend with right now. Jase said he thinks I need the support of them around me, at least for a while. I’m appreciative of that. Looking at flats has been the last thing on my mind, and I might not admit it to them, but having them around really does help.
I’m sat in the lounge on the recliner chair with my feet up and my eyes closed when the sound of an incoming text disturbs my peace.
Kara: Fancy a night in with me and a tub of chocolate fudge brownie ice-cream?
I quickly tap out my reply.
Reid: Ben & Jerry’s? You really do know the way to my heart! ;)
Kara: The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
Reid: Is it only ice-cream on offer? ;)
It’s a few moments before I get a reply and I feel she’s trying to make me impatient.
Kara: Come over and find out!
I get up and go in search of some clean clothes and a quick shower. I tell the boys I’m off and not to wait up. Liam grins at me.
“Don’t worry, tell her I’ll open up in the morning,” Liam says as I grab my car keys.
“Thanks.”
I give him a one-armed bro-hug and pat him on the back.
“My pleasure. It’s good to see a smile on our girl’s face.”
“Our girl?” I ask inquisitively.
“Yeah, our girl. She’s one of my best friends. If you hurt her, I know where you live.”
“Considering I live with you guys…” I laugh and shake my head at him.
“Exactly, bro, so hurt her and I won’t have to go far to hunt you down!”
He tries for a serious expression but pulls off a mildly amused one instead. I head for the door, still laughing at his protectiveness. He’s like a lion protecting his cub. But he and I both know full well he doesn’t have to worry. I’m never going to hurt Kara. Hurting her would be hurting myself.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kara
2 months later…
Reid and I have been dating for the last couple of months and I couldn’t be any happier. He’s the perfect boyfriend; thoughtful, kind, loving, and he always puts me first. I know his priorities will change once his son is born, but I’m making the most of being his number one while it lasts.
Zoey has asked me to go shopping with her today. Thea is growing so fast that she needs some more clothes. I love to shop, especially for baby stuff because it’s all so darn cute, so I’m catching up with Reid for a meal and drinks tonight after spending the day on my feet.
The doorbell goes and I rush to open it to my best friend and goddaughter.
“Hey beautiful,” I say as I reach to take the baby carrier from Zoey.
“Hey babe,” Zoey says as she kisses my cheek and walks into the hall.
“Are we heading straight out or do you want a coffee first?”
“I thought we’d head out and grab a caffeine fix at Costa while we’re out and about.”
“Great. Let me grab my bag and coat.”
***
We end up loaded down with bags, sat in a booth in Costa. Thea is asleep and I can’t help but wish I was too. My feet are sore and I’m thankful I had the sense to wear flat shoes. Zoey went on a mad spending spree and she isn’t quite finished yet. She wants to hit a couple more shops before we head home. It turned out that she also wanted me to try a dress on for her wedding, seeing as I am her maid of honour. She promised not to dress me in pink taffeta or something equally as hideous and we’ve actually found the perfect dress. Zo wants to lose a little more of her baby weight before being measured for her own dress which her parents are paying to have designed as a bespoke one-off. I think she looks pretty amazing, she’s lost lots of the weight in the last couple of months. But she says she wants everything to be “just so” and there’s no talking her round once she’s set her mind to something.
My dress has a sweetheart neckline, and cinches in at the waist before flaring out a little at the bottom. It is aubergine coloured, and I love the way it ruches over the bodice. The material feels heavenly, a sort of satin texture, and I absolutely love it. I can’t wait to wear it. I wasn’t actually expecting to like what she picked, but I have to admit that Zoey knows her stuff when it comes to dresses and what suits my body type.
After our caffeine fix, we head to the car to put the bags away before we go to the last couple of shops. A designer pram in a window catches Zoey’s eye and she practically drags me to the store. We walk in and Zoey goes to find a member of the staff to ask about the pram. While I’m stood waiting with Thea in her pram—one that I think couldn’t possibly need changing—I spot a familiar face.
Molly doesn’t see me as she’s with a store clerk talking about a pram, from what I can see. I don’t want to call out to her or draw attention to myself, so I turn back to Thea.
Zoey comes back with a store clerk in tow and starts asking all sorts of questions about the pram from the window. The lady gets one from the shop floor and talks her through all of the specifications. The lady leaves Zoey to make up her mind and she asks me what I think of it. To me, a pram is a pram, so what would I know?
Undecided, Zoey decides to look around while she thinks. We’re browsing dresses that could end up being Thea’s dress for the wedding when I see Molly again. She’s bent over the pram she was looking at before.
“Zoey, look,” I whisper quietly as I point subtly at Molly.
I can’t quite believe my eyes and need Zoey to confirm I’m not seeing things.
“What the hell?” she asks in disbelief.
I’m relieved I’m not seeing things, but I’m not happy at all right now. I need to tell Reid, but I don’t know how to say the words.
“Should we confront her?” Zoey asks quietly.
“Hell no! I don’t want to spook her. She could disappear or…well, I don’t know what she might do, but it seems like if she’s making stuff up, she’ll surely do something.”
“Wait here, I’m going to take a closer look and see if I can capture a picture on my phone.”
“No, Zoey, wait…”
I’m too late, she’s already walked off. I still can’t believe what I’m seeing. I close my eyes and count to five before taking another look. Nope, that didn’t work, it’s still there.
Thea cries, and as I stand to see to her, Molly straightens and looks directly over to me. Great. I didn’t really want her knowing I was here. It’s even more awkward knowing what I know now.
“Hi,” Molly says as she offers a little wave. She walks in my direction and dread pools in the pit of my stomach.
“Hi Molly.”
“Who’s this little beauty?” she asks as she peers at Thea in her pram.
“This is my goddaughter, or will be once she’s christened. Her name is Thea. She’s Zoey’s daughter.”
“She’s a little darling,” she coos as she reaches out a hand to her.
“Hi,” Zoey says from behind Molly.
“Oh, hi,” Molly replies, startled.
Zoey smiles politely whilst manoeuvring herself between Molly and Thea. I don’t blame her in light of things.
“Are you here getting everything ready for your little one?” Zoey asks.
“Yeah, I’m getting a pram and a few other little bits while I’m here.”
“That’s great. I was pretty anal about having everything in place before Thea came along.”
“I know what you mean. I have pretty much everything sorted. Just a few last things to get.”
I know Reid gave her some money for baby things a while ago. He’d told her he’d help in any way he could. What he’s going to do now though is anybody’s guess.
We make small talk
with Molly for a few more minutes before making our excuses and saying our goodbyes. Zoey all but drags me out of the shop, all thoughts of the new pram seemingly forgotten. Once we get outside I take a few deep breaths. I know I have to go home and talk to Reid, but I really don’t want to do this.
“I got a couple of photos,” Zoey says as we get back to her car.
“Good, can you send them to me? Or better yet, could you come with me to tell Reid?”
“I don’t think I can, honey. I promised to meet Brock at Madison Avenue for a bite to eat.”
“Can you call him and tell him you’ll be a little later than expected? Please?” I all but beg.
“Oh honey.” She wraps her arms around me and I bury my head in the crook of her neck. “I’ll ring Brock now. We can have a meal anytime. Reid needs to know about this, and the sooner, the better. I’m sorry, I didn’t stop to think it would be this upsetting for you.”
I cry into her shoulder. I weep for Reid. I weep for what could have been, but what won’t be. My eyes are stinging from the amount of tears I didn’t realise I would shed.
***
Zoey drove me to Reid’s place and now we’re sat in the driveway because I can’t bring myself to go in and shatter his world.
“Honey, you don’t have to do this,” Zoey says quietly so as not to wake a sleeping Thea.
“I do. She’s a lying bitch and she doesn’t deserve this kind, loving man to be at her beck and call. She made us think there could have been a problem with the baby, Zoey. You tell me what else I should do?”
“She did what?”
The look on Zoey’s face makes me crumple. I tell her about us looking after Molly the night she told us they were having a son. Her rage is palpable. She may not be with Reid anymore, but she obviously still cares that someone would use him in such a way.
I open my car door and steel myself to do the unthinkable. I just hope this doesn’t break his heart to a point that it can’t be fixed. There’s no going back now that I’m on the doorstep, hand raised to knock.
Chapter Thirty
Reid
There’s a knock at the door and Jason gets up to answer it. We’ve been playing the new Call of Duty game for the last hour or so. It’s rare that we get any time to sit and play games these days, considering I’m spending most of my time with Kara. It’s been good to catch up with the boys but I miss my girl. I whip out my phone to text her but look up at the sound of her voice. A smile spreads across my face but it’s soon replaced by concern when she silently stands looking at me, a frown etched on her face. Zoey is stood next to her. I’m not sure why she’d be here. We might have put the past behind us, but I don’t exactly want her paying a visit.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Can we talk somewhere in private? There’s something you should know.”
I don’t like the pained sound of her voice, and I just want to wrap her in my arms, protecting her from whatever is on her mind.
“Sure, let’s go to my room.”
I stand and lead the way to my bedroom. I wish I’d tidied it instead of being pulled into play COD with the boys. Zoey follows behind us both, and I’m really worried there’s something wrong if she’s here holding Kara’s hand.
“Sit down,” I say, patting the space next to me as I perch at the foot of my bed.
Kara sits next to me but won’t look at me. I reach out to cup her face and gently encourage her to make eye contact. Zoey stands to the side of her, one hand laid on Kara’s shoulder. Her face is solemn, and I don’t think I’m going to like whatever it is they’re here to discuss.
“I’m sorry, Reid. I’m so sorry. I just want you to know that before I say what needs to be said.”
The sadness dripping from her voice breaks my heart. Her words tell me she’s ending things between us, but I don’t get why. And why would she bring her friend—even if she is her best friend—with her if she’s doing this to me? I thought things were so good between us lately. So good in fact, I had been looking at rings.
Pushing a phone in my direction, Zoey swipes the screen to unlock it, and I don’t know what it is I’m supposed to be seeing. It looks like a woman bending over a pram.
“Kara, what is this? I don’t get what I’m supposed to be seeing. Help me connect the dots.”
I choose not to address Zoey, even though it’s her phone. It seems that Kara is pretty upset by whatever it is, and I want to ease her concerns, erase the frown that’s marring her beautiful features.
“It’s Molly. She’s been faking this whole time.”
At her words, I take the phone from her and look more closely. It really is Molly. But I still don’t get what the photo is about.
“Enlarge the image, like this,” Zoey says as she enlarges the shot of Molly.
“I still don’t get it. This is Molly looking at a pram. So what?”
I’m so confused. What has this got to do with anything?
“Look at this line, Reid. Follow it to the strap,” Kara says, her voice laced with sadness.
I scratch my head in confusion, but do as she says. There’s a line along Molly’s baby bump and then there’s a wide strap. Zoey swipes to another image, this one taken at a slightly different angle. What the hell is going on? I can see a large white strap around Molly’s back where her top rides up as she bends over.
“What on earth am I looking at here?”
Kara looks at me, her gaze tinged with sadness. Her eyes look red and slightly puffy. I don’t know how I didn’t notice when she came in.
“She’s not pregnant, Reid. She’s wearing a fake baby bump.”
“What?”
Now I’m even more confused. A fake bump? I can’t make head nor tail of what she’s saying.
“Reid,” she says softly as she takes my hand in hers, “Molly is faking being pregnant. This here in the photo, it’s a fake bump, obviously worn so we don’t question why she isn’t showing this far into her pregnancy.”
“How is that even possible, Kara?”
“Trust me, I didn’t want to believe it either. Zoey and I had to Google it to make sense of it ourselves after we saw her. You can get a fake bump on eBay for as little as thirty pounds.”
“But I’ve seen her bump grow.”
“There are different size bumps. She must have more than one. I looked it up to be sure. I wanted to know what I was talking about before coming to you. Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing this to you if I didn’t know in my heart that I’m right.”
My heart plummets into my stomach. I can’t make sense of what I’m hearing, what I’m seeing. I take the phone from Zoey’s hand and Google fake baby bumps. As I scroll through images, I see that they look exactly like what I saw in the photos of Molly. I look at a result for eBay and find that you can indeed buy them in different sizes. I don’t understand why Molly would do this, but I do know that Kara isn’t lying. I think in my heart I knew she was speaking the truth from the moment she first opened her mouth, but my mind refused to register what it was being told.
I look at Kara and see she’s silently crying. I reach out to comfort her and she wraps her arms around me. Pulling her into my lap, I let her tears soak into my t-shirt, and I bury my face in her hair, crying red hot tears of my own. We sit in the same position for who knows how long before I cradle her chin in my hand and draw her face up to mine. I place a chaste kiss on her lips and taste the salt of her tears.
“I need to confront her, don’t I?”
My words come out more like a question than a statement. I know what needs to be done but it doesn’t mean I want to do it.
“Yes, Reid, and the sooner, the better,” Zoey says.
“Will you come with me, Kara?”
I probably have no right to ask her to do that, considering how it’s hurt her already, but I don’t want to confront this on my own.
“If you want me to, of course I will.”
We rise to our feet and I look for my shoes. I take Kara’s
hand as we leave my room and lead the girls back to the lounge.
“Boys, there’s something I need to do. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, so get a takeaway like we planned, just don’t worry about ordering for me, I have no appetite anyway.”
Liam and Jason look up at me in confusion. I can’t have this discussion with them right now.
“Everything’s okay, I’m just popping out with Kara for a little while to take care of something.”
“Are you okay, bro?” Jase asks.
“Yeah, man, I’m good. Just need to do something is all. Don’t worry about me.”
“If you’re sure?” he asks.
I just nod in reply before taking Kara’s hand and walking to the front door.
Once outside, Zoey heads for her car.
“How come you two came to me together about this?”
“We were shopping together for Thea when we saw Molly in the store. Zo got close enough to take photos. I’m sorry, I should have explained earlier.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I don’t know what to say, so I stand there and wait for Zoey to get in her car and pull out of my driveway.
“Can you send these pictures to me, Zo?” Kara asks as Zoey starts the engine.
I don’t hear her reply, but I assume she agrees because Kara thanks her and tells her to go home. Zoey begins to back out of my driveway and Kara walks over to my car.
We get in and I look at Kara with a small smile. She returns the gesture, but there’s no light shining in her eyes like normal.
On the drive to Molly’s house, Kara explains exactly what happened in the baby store. I can feel a simmering rage inside me, and I feel the need to punch the hell out of something. I hit the steering wheel, causing Kara to jump. I apologise and lay my hand over hers, which she’s placed on my thigh.
“This shit is just like out of a movie, not real life,” I say as I turn onto Molly’s road a few minutes later.