Just a Positive Pregnancy Test - London Casey Page 0,23
realize why he’s like that, right?”
It felt like a smack to the face when Crosby became the most rational one as he stood there with a serious look on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He looked around the same way Olivia had done before talking about Dad.
“Think about it,” Crosby whispered. “He’s a lucky man right now for everything he has. He’s got a beautiful fiancée.”
“Thank you for that,” Olivia said.
“He’s got a wonderful daughter. He owns the family business. He does a lot. I think we all forget that Tyler went through a lot of shit too. I know we’ve put the Kate nightmare behind us but there’s two things to think about here. First off, someday Lucy is going to find out Olivia isn’t her birth mother. That means this new baby has Mom and Dad at home, right? How’s that going to work for Lucy?”
“I love her,” Olivia said.
“Of course you do,” Crosby said. “But put yourself in Lucy’s shoes.”
“Damn,” I whispered. “He’s right.”
“Anything she wants, I’ll make happen,” Olivia said. “No secrets ever.”
“I have no doubt about that,” Crosby said. “It’s still going to happen though. You know how Tyler is. He thinks about that stuff. And then there’s the big thing.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“He lost a baby,” Crosby whispered.
It felt like someone punched me in the heart.
I looked at Olivia and we both touched our stomachs at the same time.
Olivia obviously wasn’t around for that time.
I was.
I remembered very clearly being in the hospital when Kate went into labor with sweet Emma. How my family went from excited to worried to just pure grief.
As I lowered my head, Crosby touched my shoulder.
“That’s not going to happen again,” he said. “I can feel it. I know I’m not a religious guy at all but I will give everything I own to whatever is above us to make sure you both have healthy babies. I didn’t mean to bring it up…”
“It makes sense,” Olivia said. “It didn’t even occur to me. What kind of person does that make me?”
I reached for Olivia’s hand.
A stray tear fell down her cheek.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Ma asked.
I looked at Ma and wanted to burst into tears.
“Crosby, what did you do?” Ma asked.
“We’re trying to find the right way to tell Tyler that the baby isn’t his,” Crosby said. “It’s mine.”
“You’re disgusting,” Olivia said, laughing and crying at the same time.
Ma rushed around the counter to slap Crosby on the arm and then to hug both Olivia and me.
“Come here, my beautiful girls,” she said.
That made Olivia cry harder. Being called one of Ma’s girls… that had never happened before. Ma only had one girl. That was me.
I was honored though to share the moment with Olivia.
We held hands while Ma rocked us as she hugged us.
“This is going to be one hell of a ride here,” Ma said as she stepped back. “And we’re going to get through it all as a family. Just like we always do.”
“We know,” I said. “I think Olivia is coming to grips that she’s stuck with the Justa family forever now.”
“Well, no offense,” Ma said, “but that’s your fault, Olivia. Should have kept those legs shut.”
I laughed.
“Can’t help it near Tyler,” Olivia said. “He knows all the buttons to press.”
Ma waved her hands. “No more of this talk.”
Ma then turned and pointed at Crosby.
“What?” Crosby yelled.
“And don’t you ever make a dirty joke like that again. Got it? That’s my grandchild you were talking about.”
“Sorry, Ma,” Crosby said.
She put the tip of her pointer finger to the tip of Crosby’s nose.
Then she walked off with purpose.
“Nice job, Crosby,” I said.
“I was trying to lighten the mood,” he said. “I didn’t want Ma to hear what we were talking about.”
“She’s already thought about it,” I said. “It’s Ma. She went through it. Tyler went through it. It’s just…”
“Okay, new topic here,” Olivia said.
“Like what?” I asked. “We covered the morning sickness. We covered urinating yourself. What about your boobs? Do they hurt yet?”
“I can feel something there,” Olivia said.
“Ahhh,” Crosby groaned. “This is unfair.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t want to hear about this as much as I do,” he said. “I don’t want to hear my sister talk about this stuff with her body…”
“But you want to hear Olivia talk about it,” I said. “You’re so gross, Crosby.”
Crosby hung his head.
Ma came walking by again and stopped. She pointed at me. “Now that Silas is back in town, when do we get to see him?”