“Actually, yes, you all know him. It’s Jacob, Aria’s twin brother.”
“When did you sleep with him?” Paula asks as Dad walks away and lets her hug me.
“Toby and Sasha’s engagement party.”
“Have you been well? Not too sick?” Paula asks.
“Not too bad now that the first trimester is over.”
My dad looks at my mum. “Perhaps we should rethink selling our house. I mean, we’re only buying the two-bedroom unit for us to move into. Maybe we could help Steph out for a while.”
“No, it’s okay Dad. I’m living with Jake, Toby and Sasha.”
“Jake?” My dad asks.
“Same guy Dad, just his nickname.”
“So, are you going to find out the gender of the baby?” Paula asks.
“I’m not sure. That’s a discussion I’m going to have with Jake. It’s only fair he gets a say in this baby’s life.”
“Mummy, what’s going on?” Hazel asks, pulling on Paula’s arm.
“Auntie Steph is having a baby. It’s growing in her tummy,” Paula replies.
“How did it get in there? Did she swallow it?” Skylar asks.
“Auntie Steph, you should swallow food, not babies,” my niece Hazel says in a very stern tone.
I laugh and look at her. “I’ll try not to in future.”
“I think I have a bunch of clothes for the baby if you want them. Most of it still has tags on, and the girls have never worn them,” Paula offers.
“But what if you have another baby? I don’t want to take all your baby things.”
She shakes her head. “You won’t be. I promise. We have so much stuff; it’s not even funny. Honestly, most of the stuff I’ll give you is the gender-neutral stuff. We got so many cute pink outfits so I just kept it all in hopes if we had another baby it would be a boy, but you can have it all.”
I hug her. “Thanks, you’re the best.”
“I can’t believe you’re having a baby. This is so exciting.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t supposed to happen, but apparently a broken condom and antibiotics don’t mix.”
She bursts into laughter. “Only you could get knocked up after a one-night stand.”
“It’s not funny, and it wasn’t planned either.”
“What, the sex with Jake or the pregnancy?”
“Both.”
“I expect you to bring him home for dinner. The boy needs a grilling from me before you two get any more serious,” my dad jokes.
“I don’t know where we stand right now, Dad, but I will bring him to meet you all once we work through things. He needs to come home first.”
I want to be in a relationship with Jake, of that I have no doubt. I want the boyfriend-girlfriend and all the lovey-dovey stuff.
I just hope I’m not living in a fantasyland.
Chapter Fifteen
Stephanie
I park my car outside Sasha and Toby’s house. Today was a giant waste of my time.
I’d gone out to look at two properties for rent. However, when I arrived at the first one, the landlord never even bothered to show up, and at the second one, the landlord rang me—after I’d been waiting ten minutes—to tell me that he’d already rented the property out. I’ve probably rung about ten listings in the last two weeks, and all of them have already been rented.
At this rate, I’m going to be living with Toby and Sasha forever.
I sigh and glance down at all the items I’d stopped at the store to buy. I’m going to make Jake his favourite dinner and dessert for his return with the hopes that perhaps we can talk.
He’s certainly picked a hell of a time to come home. Toby’s still working on getting the spare room done, and he accidentally shattered the window in the room with the ladder when he was finishing the painting in it yesterday. I can’t move into it for at least another week.
I get out of the car, walk around to the passenger side door, lift the bags out and make my way inside. I drop the items on the ground to unlock the door and open it. I gasp as a figure comes into view; a six-foot-five tall, handsome, unshaven, Army-clad someone.
Jake’s home.
My heart soars, my body temperature rises, and I blink, unable to believe he’s standing before me. He’s leaning on the kitchen bench, reading what appears to be the real estate rental listings I’ve been looking at. He scratches his unshaven chin and lifts the beer bottle that is in his other hand to his lips. His eyes never leave the page before him.
I lift the bags off the ground by my feet and place them just inside the door; then I close it to get his attention. It works. He glances up; his emerald green gaze stares my way as if seeing straight through me. I’m expecting them to light up with excitement, but they don’t. Instead, they’re full of anger and hurt. His facial muscles are tight, his jaw is taut, and his lips are in a hard line while he remains silent.
“Hi,” I say, breaking the silence between us.
“Hey.” He drops his head back down to what he was reading.
“That’s it. That’s all I get after you’ve been away for four months?”
He flicks his head back to me. “What do you want me to say, Steph? Were you hoping I’d come running into your arms and kiss you like I need you to breathe? You’re dreaming if that’s what you think.”
“No, that’s not what I thought, but I expected something more from you, like a hug at least. You haven’t even asked how I’m doing, or how the baby is doing.”
He shrugs. “Don’t need to. I can see you’re clearly fine. As for the baby, how can I be sure the kid is even mine?”
“How can you say that? Jake, I would never lie to you. You are the father.” I wave my hand about my midsection for emphasis. “This is your baby.”
“Again, how can I be sure? You told me you were on the pill. Then there was that other guy at your place the night I showed up to see you. I came over to ask you to be my girl, to wait for me to come home and that I’d romance the shit out of you. What the fuck do you do? You break my heart.”
What the fuck is he talking about? What other guy?
I think back to that night, and it dawns on me. “Oh, you think–” I burst into laughter. “Oh, my God! If you’d hung around, you would’ve found out that the guy that was there is Bryan, my sister’s husband.” I stress the word ‘husband’ as I watch a horrified look wash over his face as he realises he fucked up—big time.
“Jake, I don’t have an interest in anyone but you. I’ve had a crush on you for years. For as long as I can fucking remember, I’ve dreamed of being in love with you. I thought you’d never see me as anything more than another sister to you. As for the pregnancy, it turns out antibiotics and the pill aren’t friends. As a doctor, I’m sure you know this. I’m so sorry I didn’t push harder for us to go to the pharmacy like you wanted.”
He shakes his head. “You did. I didn’t. So, you want to tell me how you’ve come to be living here?”
“That’s a long story.”