I’m not going to lie here and say I never had a problem with hoarding animals, especially the abandoned ones on the side of the road. At one point in time, I was hoarding animals at Jenna's house—two cats, a bird, and three puppies. But this time, it's no dog, and the knowledge of what I now have to face wipes the laughter right off my face.
"You gotta get that thing out of here, Lo." She crosses her arms over her chest. "If housing finds out about that, they'll kick us both out." Oh, I wouldn't say that.
"I can't just get rid of him."
"Why not?" Jenna asks, aggravation in her tone. "It's just a—"
At that moment, I pull the covers back, deciding to rip the band-aid off and get the pain over and done with. The moment the top of Maverick's face is uncovered, I don't miss the way Jenna nearly has a heart attack—her eyes rounding in shock as her mouth fishes open and closed. Her arms fall down to her sides, slack of all emotion.
"I-Is that what I think it is?" she asks, pointing. I can tell by her tone, she's not quite trusting her eyes and wants validation.
I nod. “He just turned two.”
“Is he …?" Her eyes flick between him and me several times.
Tears gather in my eyes, and I fight to swallow the emotion gathering in my throat. “Yeah. He is. That’s why I had to leave my sophomore year.”
I wait for the anger. I wait for the fury of lying to her this entire time because I know it's coming. Jenna just had her entire college experience turned on its head, and it’s all my fault. I’m such a shitty human being. And it’s all because I didn’t want to take the risk of her walking out. Having my son here is amazing, but having another adult here, to have actual conversations with without scrutiny, is just as amazing.
However, none of what I feared happens. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Instead of anger, all I get is quiet and unequivocal understanding. Like she knows the exact reason for my deception without me even telling her. Even though she doesn't know what happened all those years ago, and I'll probably have to explain it all, she understands.
“You poor thing!” she whisper-cries, then tip-toes over to my side of the bed quietly, carefully pulling me out of bed and into a much-needed hug. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry,” I release on a sniffle. “But I couldn’t. The only reason I’m back in Golden Oaks now is because they have a daycare program I got Maverick into starting January. Nowhere else would allow me to have a toddler on campus while being on financial aid.”
Her brows furrow. “Financial aid?” But her mouth rounds in understanding. “Oh, fuck. Hunter doesn’t know, does he?” I shake my head. She licks her lips, eyes flicking to the tufts of dark hair under the covers, then back up to me. “Are you going to tell him?”
“I—Eventually,” I admit.
I expect her to rage at me, but surprisingly, Jenna releases a sigh of repressed exhaustion. “Even though I’m pissed at you for keeping this a secret, I guess I kinda understand why.”
What? My eyes round in shock.
I sputter, "Y-You're not mad?"
She holds me at arm’s length, looking at me like I'm nuts. "Why would I be mad?"
"For ruining your college experience with a toddler hanging around," I murmur, looking down at our feet in embarrassment.
Her gasp echoes off my walls, startling me into looking up at her. She’s so laser-focused it’s scary. "Later, I'll slap you for that. But for now, I guess I can understand why you'd think that."
“So, you’re really not mad?” I hedge, cringing slightly when her stare turns lethal and dark.
We're both quiet for a moment, trying to settle into a new version of normal—with there now being a toddler around—but then, all of a sudden, Jenna takes me off guard when her grip on my biceps change, becoming tighter. Her faraway look puts me off a little, and I’m about to ask her what that’s all about.
She gasps at some realization, and proceeds to hop up and down, whisper-squealing. “This makes me an auntie, doesn’t it?! Oh, my goodness!"
I cover her mouth quickly, glancing down at the bed as Maverick moves underneath the covers, grumbling in his sleep. "Shh! If you wake him up, he's the devil."
She ignores me, releasing a rasping laugh as she pulls my hand off her mouth. "I don’t even care. Just tell me when and where I can babysit because I miss looking after kids. I used to do it all the time when I was in high school. Remember the Jersey triplets?” I did. Thoroughly. It’s a miracle they didn’t kill each other growing up or set Jenna’s hair on fire more than twice. “I babysat them on Fridays. Not a scratch on my track record."
“How about we get through a first meeting first, okay? Maverick is super picky and super verbal, about who he’s around.”
She gives me a knowing look. “Just like you know who, huh?”
I roll my eyes, finally feeling that pressure lift off my shoulders. “You have no idea. Seriously, they’re twins in almost every way. But, if everything goes okay, maybe you can watch him for a few hours later this afternoon?” I ask. “I’ll need to find a job or something that works with my schedule. I have enough money saved up for us to live on if he wasn’t here two months early. But since he is, I need to get some extra money to pay for daycare until financial aid kicks in.”
“Don’t worry about that, I—” She starts to say, but I cut her off with a not going to happen look. Respectfully, she nods, still practically buzzing with infectious happiness. “Sure, I can do that!”
A smile graces my lips. Maybe I should have been more verbal with Maverick's existence. I hate that I kept thinking the worst about Jenna because she didn't deserve that. She may have changed since high school, but that soft heart of hers is still intact. And I should’ve known she would eat up Maverick’s presence around here. Damn, I’m a terrible friend for thinking the worst.
However, it’s hard not thinking the worst when that’s all everyone you’ve associated with has shown you.
Then again, the longer I think about it, the more I know that my silence was the right thing. If Jenna knew about Maverick before today, it would only be a matter of time before Hunter found out. While that may be okay now, since I'm older and smarter than the naive sixteen-year-old with a new baby, it wasn't okay back then. Hunter and his family could have taken us to court for custody—they still can, it will just be harder now—and back then, I didn't have a leg to stand on.
Now, I do. I have my financial savings, a college with a daycare, a babysitter whenever Jenna can swing it, and I’m about to try to find a job to pay for Maverick’s off-campus daycare. I'm prepared, and until it was smack dab in my face, I didn't piece it together. But I'm glad I did now. Things may finally look up from here.
Shifting easily, I say, “When he wakes up, I’ll introduce you two properly.”
She nods at the same time my phone goes off with a text. Shifting forward, I grab it out of my bag and silence it quickly, looking down at the screen. It’s a text from Duncan, and I can’t help but feel a pang in my heart.