How to Have Your Boss's Secret Baby - London Casey Page 0,98
my old bedroom.
“For you,” Connie said. “We’re so excited.”
“Excited?” I asked.
Jen opened the door.
I looked into my old room and I quickly covered my mouth.
They had turned it into a small nursery.
An old, wooden crib against the wall.
A rocking chair in one corner.
A dresser in the other.
There was a yellow blanket draped over the crib.
And an elephant lamp on the dresser.
Above the crib, there were letters hanging.
BABY
“Since you don’t know what you’re having, we stuck with yellow for now,” Connie said.
“You did this for me?” I asked.
“Of course,” Jen said. “The baby needs a room.”
I looked at my mother.
She smiled with glossy eyes.
I hated this house and this town so much… but it was where I ran to when I needed somewhere to be the most.
I took a breath and fanned my cheeks.
“I don’t want to cry here,” I said.
“I do,” Connie said. “I wish I was pregnant again.”
I coughed. “What?”
“Bitch, if you get pregnant again, I will tie your tubes with my bare hands,” Jen said.
Of all people, Mom was the one who laughed first.
Then we all started to laugh.
As we all cried too.
I got as settled as I possibly could, letting day turn into night.
Mom ordered pizza before leaving for a late-night shift at the diner.
It had the eerie feeling of high school since Connie and Jen were still hanging around.
Just that I was the one pregnant now.
I sat on the back steps to the old house and kept looking around, wondering what I was supposed to do next. I couldn’t just live with and mooch off my mother. Not at my age. I could not end up even more of a cliché than I already was.
But what was I going to do?
I was pregnant.
Who was going to hire a pregnant woman?
And in this town… I would have to explain to everyone I saw about the baby. They’d recognize me. They’d be shocked. They’d wonder who in town got me pregnant.
It honestly would have been easier to just let everyone talk about what really happened.
Or…
Cole is rich.
I shut my eyes and hated myself.
I didn’t need him or his money.
Connie and Jen joined me on the steps.
“Just like old times,” Connie said.
“Except we need vodka and cigarettes,” Jen said.
“I can arrange for both,” Connie said, raising her hand.
“And I can sit here and do nothing fun,” I said.
“You’re a mess, Maya,” Jen said.
“What gives it away? The bags in the spare bedroom? Or the baby belly?”
“You’re thinking too much into it,” Connie said.
“What?”
“This town. This house. Your mother. Your life.”
“We know how you are,” Jen said. “You dreamed of leaving here. You hated it here.”
“Don’t you?” I asked.
“This is where we live,” Connie said. “Who cares? Are you really obsessed with being rich? Or famous? Is it really worth your sanity?”
I lowered my head.
Jen put her arm around me. “There’s plenty here. It’s a good little town. But you have to be happy. That comes down to you.”
“I know,” I said.
“What are you afraid of here?” Connie asked.
Becoming you two.
I shook my head.
“She thinks we’re miserable, Connie,” Jen said.
“Of course we are,” Connie said. “Who isn’t?” She smiled and slapped my leg.
“It’s not that,” I said. “I just wanted to do something. I wanted to come back and save everyone.”
“Your mother?” Connie asked.
“Of course.”
“She didn’t ask for that,” Jen said. “And we don’t need to be saved either. This is life, Maya. There’s good and bad mixed together. When I call and vent, it’s not asking for help. It’s talking to my best friends.”
“Same here,” Connie said. “And you did something amazing. You made a life. Is the timing right? No. It’s a mess. Of course it is.”
“I miss him,” I said. “And I love him.”
“Then let it work itself out,” Jen said. “You’re here now. Just be here.”
“Plus, Cole is going to be in your life no matter what,” Connie said. “And what’s the worst that happens? He turns into an asshole? Then you attack. We can show you how.”
“I can make any man cry,” Jen said. “And in your case, your man has money. I’ll make him cry and take his money.”
Jen rubbed her hands together and laughed like an evil person in a movie.
That made me laugh.
“Come on,” Connie said, hitting my leg again. “We can skip the vodka and cigarettes tonight. Let’s make hot chocolate and look up people we graduated with online and make fun of them.”
“Oh, I’m in!” Jen yelled.
Connie helped me to my feet and I went inside the house.