Underestimated

Chapter 28

We didn’t get on the road until later in the afternoon. I wanted to stop and say goodbye to Starlight. I didn’t know when I would see her again. Drew drank coffee and ate a pastry while we chatted in her office. I was surprised that she had known about Dawson and Lauren. She never mentioned it. I had even poured my heart out to her. She had the perfect chance, and she didn’t say a word. I shouldn’t have been surprised. She was Lauren and Dawson’s friend too. She was just that kind of friend. I was going to miss her.

“Why do I get the feeling that something is going on that you’re not telling me?” Drew asked when we were finally on the road.

I didn’t want to talk about it yet. I was sad, and needed time to deal with the fact that I had just said goodbye to a man that I loved dearly, my friends, and my home.

I smiled over at him, and he took my hand. He was learning. He knew that I needed a moment and he let me have it. Well, actually he let me have three hours. I stared out the window thinking about what lay ahead while he conducted business on his Bluetooth. I have no idea what he was talking about and only picked up bits and pieces of his conversation. I knew that he had talked to Celeste several times, some guy named Patrick with security in Chicago, and Felix the pilot.

He answered another call from Celeste two minutes after hanging up from his last call. I didn’t want him to work anymore. I was done feeling sorry for myself, and I wanted his attention.

“Damnit, Celeste. I forgot about that. Can you fly them out to North Carolina? I will go over them there, sign them, and you can get them back to Mr. Richfield.”

I picked up his smartphone resting in the cup holder without him realizing it. I switched off his Bluetooth and picked up the conversation. He looked at me like I had lost my mind when he could no longer hear her, and I took over.

“Hi, Celeste. How are you?” I asked, looking at Drew.

“Why don’t you bring your little guy and Alicia and spend the weekend on the beach?”

I watched Drew’s bottom lip curl a little, amused.

“I’m sure it will be fine with Drew. My mom has a bed and breakfast there. I will see if there are any empty rooms if not there are nearby hotels.”

“Don’t worry about him. I can handle Drew, bring your family and relax for a couple of days.”

“Okay. We will see you tomorrow. I will call and let you know about the room.”

I hung up and tossed the phone to the back seat.

“I need that,” Drew smirked.

“No. You don’t. You need me.”

“I do need you, baby,” he confessed. “How did you know about Celeste’s family? You’re supposed to think that I am doing her.”

I laughed. “You’re not really her type.”

“You’re kind of deviant.”

“I learned from the best.”

He smiled. “Do you want to talk to me now?”

I nodded. “Dawson and I called it off last night.”

“Jesus, Drew!” I screamed when the tires hit the gravel, swerving off of the pavement.

“Sorry. What do you mean, you called it off.”

“Keep your eyes on the road. I mean, I am coming home to you.”

“Are you serious, Morgan?”

“Yes, I am very serious.”

Drew hit the brakes and swerved to the side of the two lane road, causing a horn to blow past us.

“Oh, my God. We’re not even going to have to worry about it. You’re going to get us killed,” I yelled, still holding the dash.

“You’re not fucking with me right now? Please tell me this is real,” he begged.

“It’s real, Drew,” I smiled. I didn’t expect him to be as excited as he was.

He smiled the biggest toothy smile he could muster, not on purpose, I was sure. He couldn’t help it.

“I am going to spend the rest of my life loving you,” he assured me.

“And I am going to spend the rest of my life, loving you back. I am never going to bring up the past, and you can’t go all dark on me if it comes up in my sleep.” I knew it would. I hoped that eventually it wouldn’t but for now, it was inevitable.

“You’re leaving Maine?”

I laughed. “I can’t come home to you if I stay in Maine, now can I?” He was having a hard time believing what I was saying. “I’m not going to sell the house just yet. I need to wait until this baby is born. If he has to go to Maine for visitations, I want to be close to him.”

“He’s not going to any visitations in Maine. He will be at home with his daddy, no doubt in my mind. There never has been.”

I didn’t tell him he could flip a coin. That was his chances on being the father. He was too excited. I didn’t want to ruin that for him.

“Drive,” I demanded.

He leaned over and kissed me. I placed my hand on the side of his face and let my tongue dance with his.

Down vagina, not now.

Our kiss was interrupted by the ringing of his phone in the back seat.

“You know this will drive me crazy, don’t you?”

“Yes. I am aware of that,” I said but didn’t retrieve the phone for him.

Drew and I drove all the way to Pennsylvania before stopping for the night. We ordered Chinese up to our room, and I let him have his phone while I showered.

He was talking to Celeste when I came out. I shoved him back on the bed and straddled his waist while he talked. He smiled up at me with the eyes full of love. I couldn’t have been happier. It may be crazy, but I was actually even happy for Dawson and Lauren. I think it made it a little easier for me, knowing that he wasn’t alone.

I unbuttoned Drew’s dress pants and slid down the zipper.

“I have to go Celeste. My wife is demanding that I give her some attention.”

He dropped his phone to the bed and raised his hips, helping me to slide them off.

He was already at full mast. I stroked him in my hand while our eyes stayed entranced.

“What are you doing, Mrs. Kelley?” he rasped in a sexy as hell voice.

“I need fucked,” I rasped right back.

I hated my ginormous stomach at the time. I wanted to be wild and kinky with my husband, but I knew that he would be the one to control how far that went, knowing it wasn’t going to be very far. He rolled me over and lifted my shirt, kissing our baby. I hoped it was our baby, anyway.

I moaned when his fingers slid between the elastic around my leg. Only Drew’s fingers could do that. He slid me out of my panties and rolled me to my side a little. I guess he thought that was the easiest way to keep my round stomach out of the way. I didn’t mind, especially when I felt him slide in me. I was almost embarrassed by the fact that I made it all of five strokes before I was grabbing the hotel sheets and calling out in pure ecstasy. That in turn, turned him on even more, and he thrust fast and hard into me.

“Yes, fuck me,” I moaned once I felt the second wave.

That was too much for Drew. He thrust deep inside of me and released himself.

“Damnit, Morgan. You just had to go and say that, didn’t you?”

I laughed and turned to face him. If somebody would have told me a year ago that I was going to love this man as much as I did, I would have deemed them crazy, and possibly shot them in the head.

Drew and I lay naked, tangled in each other’s bodies, talking for a long time before drifting off to sleep. I told him about Dawson and Lauren. I told him about deciding after my heart to heart with Star that I wanted him, and how I had dreaded telling Dawson. I told him that I found out about the two before the serious conversation. I sure am glad that I did. It did make it easier to break his heart. I told him about the conversation with my mom, and let him know that I was proud of him for confessing his sins to my mom. I’m not sure what got into me, but I talked and talked. Drew lay silent beside me caressing my stomach. He would stop me and ask a question here and there, but for the most part, listened.

Drew stood behind me, trapping me in his arms as we floated across the ocean on the ferry. It was Friday, and I promised Caroline that we would be there before she got out of school. We barely made it. Our late night before had caused us to sleep in later than normal. I threatened to throw Drew’s phone away twice already. I knew he was going to work. He couldn’t help it. That stupid phone was a permanent part of his body. At least I would be around my mom and Caroline.

We did luck out and get an empty room, but Celeste wasn’t going to be as lucky. They were booked unless someone didn’t show, which I was hoping. I suddenly liked her and couldn’t wait to meet her little boy.

My mom hugged us both at the door. We had no sooner gotten our things carried upstairs when Caroline came boring around the corner, coming to a screeching stop at our door. I smiled. She ran to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“That baby is getting really big,” she stated.

“He is, and I can’t wait for him to meet his Aunt Caroline.”

“I’m going to be his aunt?”

“You sure are, and he is going to love you.”

“But, I’m only seven and three quarters.”

“That is the perfect age to be an aunt,” Drew offered, smiling at me.

“I’m mad at you,” she stated, cocking her hip and resting her fist on its side. “You said you were coming to hunt sea glass with me, you didn’t show up.”

“I’m here now. Let’s go.”

“Wait for Vincent,” I told Drew, wanting Celeste’s little boy to have fun too.

“Who’s Vincent?” Caroline wanted to know.

“His mom works for Drew. He’s seven too,” I explained.

“I better go get my homework done,” she stated and started off.

“Wait. It’s Friday. You do homework on Friday?” Drew asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes. “My dad, he won’t let me put off till tomorrow what I can do today,” she said mimicking her dad’s tone. We laughed at her and followed her out.

We sat in the guest dining room and drank coffee while Caroline did her homework. My mom smiled at me as we both observed Drew calling out spelling words to Caroline. He was going to be a good daddy, maybe not as cautious as Dawson would have been, but none the less, he was going to be fine.

“Dinner,” Drew said.

“D i n e r,” Caroline called out.

“Almost, that is diner like in a restaurant. This is dinner, like what’s for dinner, Mom? Just remember you need two plates for dinner. That will help you remember you need two N’s as well.”

“Oh,” Caroline relied, liking his instructions.

“I have good news,” Jason called, walking in to join us.

“Our newlywed couple just got into a fight and left. It looks like your friends just got a room for the weekend.”

“It’s good news that someone had a fight, Dad?” Caroline asked.

“No, simple Simon. It’s good news that we have an extra room for Morgan and Drew’s friends.”

“Oh,” she smiled.

We were just sitting down to eat when Celeste, Alicia and Vincent arrived. I swear I have never seen such a cute kid in all my life. I was surprised to see Celeste in jeans. I had never seen her in anything but expensive pant suits and fancy skirts. Her girlfriend, Alicia, was just as beautiful, but with light brown hair, also in jeans. I assumed that Celeste had been the one to give birth to Vincent by the blonde hair, but he could have been adopted. I found myself curious about the couple, and wanted to ask Celeste about their relationship.

Vincent was shy at first, but my busy little sister didn’t let that last too long. She insisted on him coming out of his shell. She was explaining sea glass to him, and they were both scarfing their plates, ready to head to the beach.

“Can I go now, Mom?” Vincent asked, leaving a little on his plate.

Celeste told him to let Drew eat first. Alicia told him to eat two more bites.

“Wait, which one is your mom?” nosey little Caroline asked.

“I have two moms,” he replied proudly.

“Oh,” she replied.

I just knew she was going to have a million questions with that one. I did. I had never had a gay friend. She didn’t though. I was more inquisitive about it than she was. I was under the assumption that one always played the male role. That wasn’t the case at all. Alicia was just as feminine as Celeste was. Her hair was perfect, her nails were manicured, and she was just as pretty as Celeste.

“My friend, Marissa has two moms too,” Caroline explained.

“Let’s go munchkins,” Drew said, probably wanting to stop the conversation, as well.

We all made our way out to the massive deck once Drew, and Jason took off with the two little ones.

It was nice in North Carolina, not summer nice, but a lot warmer than it was when we had left Maine. We all had on thin jackets or sweatshirts. I smiled when I watched Vincent reach up and take Drew’s hand.

“Mom, come here,” I exclaimed.

I placed her hand right on the side of my belly. Her face lit up. Of course Celeste and Alicia had to feel it too.

“It seems like so long ago when Vincent was doing this,” Alicia remarked. I couldn’t help it. I had to ask.

“Did you carry him?”

“No. Celeste did. Can’t you tell by the blonde hair?” she added. “She was not the most pleasant person to be around when she was pregnant. I swear I have never seen anyone cry as much as she did. I was ready to kill her.”

I laughed. I couldn’t see Celeste crying over anything. She was too, strong, powerful and full of herself.

“Alicia gets to carry the next one,” Celeste assured us.

“Are you trying?” I asked a little too excited.

“We’re always trying,” Celeste teased. They really were just like a normal couple.

“Shut up,” Alicia badgered back.

Celeste laughed. “She starts her first round of in vitro the week after Thanksgiving.”

“We are still talking about that,” Alicia stated with a stern look right to her mate. “Celeste seems to want to do nothing but work all the time now. I’m not interested in doing this alone.”

“I have a feeling my husband has something to do with that,” I confessed. “But don’t you worry, I will make sure you are spending the time with your family that you should be. You start the process Alicia. I promise she will be home more.”

“Yeah because he fired me,” Celeste said not entirely joking.

“He would never fire you. You should hear how he talks about you. He is overly impressed.”

“He is?” Celeste asked, hopeful.

“Absolutely, but I’m not going to let you neglect your family to please Drew,” I assured her.

My mom and Alicia got to talking about crocheting of all things. Before we knew it Celeste and I were alone on the deck while they were off looking at the new baby blanket that my mom was working on for the baby.

“I can’t thank you enough for this, Morgan,” Celeste said, sipping her hot tea.

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad you’re here, and I love Alicia.”

“Me too,” she smiled. “We really did need this.”

“How long have you two been together?”

“Nine years in March. How long have you been with Drew?”

“On and off for about ten years, on again for a day,” I smiled.

“You are coming back to Vegas for good?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “We never really talked about it, but I am sure that is his plan. I told him that I needed to live by the beach, but he went and did all the new remodeling and the baby’s room and all. I hate to disappoint him now.”

Celeste laughed. “You should have seen him trying to do all of that. I couldn’t help but be amused by him. He handpicked every piece of clothing in that room.”

“He did?” I asked surprised. “I figured he had you do all of that.”

“He had me going in every store in New York City with him, but he did all of the shopping.”

I smiled out at the four figures, searching through sand and pebbles.

“I hope you know how much he loves you, Morgan,” Celeste said.

I turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. “What has he told you?” I asked. I would be so embarrassed if she knew everything.

“He doesn’t have to say anything. Nothing exists in his eyes when you are around. He will walk out of an important meeting to answer your call, and I have never seen any man more excited about this baby than he is.”

“Are you aware that he might not be this baby’s father?” I asked. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did.

She smiled at me. “He never told me, but I had a feeling something was up.”

“It’s going to make things a lot more difficult if he turns out to be another man’s child. Please don’t tell him that I told you,” I begged.

“Not a chance,” she smiled as my mother and Alicia joined us again.

Jason was the only one to find any treasure, and of course he gave it to Caroline to put in her lighted bottle. We watched a movie with the two little ones on the big screen with a few other guests. Drew and I slipped off and went to our room around nine. We both showered and lay down in the, oh so comfortable bed. I hadn’t realized I was as tired as I was.

“Drew,” I whispered, lying in his arms.

“What, baby?”

“I’m very happy right now.”

I felt Drew smile on my ear. “That makes me very happy. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

My mother walked out to the deck to a full blown argument the following morning.

“No, Morgan. I want you home with me.”

I didn’t reply when I saw my mother; instead I brought her in the middle.

“Would you tell my husband how important it is to me for you to be there when this baby is born and that I should just stay here and get established with a doctor?”

“No. I can’t tell him that. I think you need to be home with him. This is your first baby. I have time to fly out there.”

“I love you,” Drew said, kissing my mother smack on the lips.

I crossed my arms, pouting. She was supposed to take my side.

“You will be here in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas. I think you should be with Drew,” my mother informed me while standing behind me, playing with my hair.

Was I afraid of that? Was that I why I was so insistent on only being with him for short periods of time? We had never lived together as a couple, other than when I didn’t know who I was.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” Drew said with a big smile, rubbing in his victory. “I have a date with two little kids. We’re going on a treasure hunt.”

“We’re going shopping,” I stated.

Drew and Jason kept the kids occupied hunting for sea glass for the biggest part of the day. My mom, Celeste, Alicia, and I spent the day shopping. We were home by four and everyone dressed to go out for dinner. We had seafood by the ocean and then visited an aquarium. Drew and I couldn’t keep our hands or eyes off of each other. I had fallen asleep on him the night before, and we spent the evening flirting, and undressing each other with our eyes. I had the best time ever with my family, my husband and our new friends.

Drew and I went right to bed once we were home. We were undressing each other as soon as the door was closed. Damnit I wanted this baby out of me. I wanted all of him. I wanted him to do everything that I had despised at one time. It was a hopeless case. He wasn’t about to do anything but make love to me. I knew. I had already tried. All I got was a promise that once I wasn’t pregnant, he would take care of all of my deep dark fantasies. That was almost three months away.

The five of us flew out on the private jet the next day, heading back to Las Vegas. I slept most of the way and Drew and Celeste worked, making up for the last three days.

We did fly back, all of us, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I loved Celeste and Alicia. I hated to admit it, but Lauren had been replaced. Dawson called every week to find out how his baby was doing. He was still calling him his baby, and I didn’t stop him. I just prayed that it wasn’t his.

We never did send for my car. Drew liked having it there when we were at my mom’s. I didn’t really need it anyway. He didn’t let me leave without him much.

Right after we had exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, Drew insisted that we had to go somewhere. I should have known that everyone was in on it. They all insisted on going, and we piled into two different cars. Drew couldn’t contain his excitement. I was going crazy, trying to figure out what the hell he was up to. Celeste wouldn’t tell me either. Caroline on the other hand was made to go with her dad. She was dying to tell me.

We only drove maybe a mile up the shore and pulled into a driveway. I knew. I knew exactly what he was up to.

“You bought this house, didn’t you?” I accused.

“You told me that you needed to live by the beach. I figured this way we could fly here when we wanted and have our own space. If you look up that way, you can see your mom’s house.”

“I freaking love you,” I exclaimed, getting out of the car.

The house was perfect. It wasn’t anything extravagant like the one in Vegas. It was simple. Four bedrooms, two baths, an eat in kitchen and a magnificent deck, overlooking the ocean.

“I thought maybe you would want to decorate this nursery,” Drew said as I checked out the best Christmas present I had ever received.

I loved the idea of decorating the nursery. Drew and Celeste had to fly to Europe for over a week. The newly pregnant Alicia, Vincent and I were staying at the beach until Vincent had to be back to school after break.

I spent more money that week than I ever had in my life, furnishing our new home. There were delivery trucks coming and going for three days in a row. I even made Alicia pick out the furnishing and décor for the two bedrooms on the other side of the house. I figured they would be the one using them anyway.

Vincent’s room was done in surf décor and his bed was a floating bed in the shape of a surfboard. He was so excited about it. He stood on it moving his legs and holding out his arms, riding the waves painted on the wall that Alicia had done for him. I didn’t know until that day that she was the one that had painted the enchanted forest in my baby’s room back home.

I chose subtle for this nursery. It was painted light blue with pictures of Caroline, my mom, Jason, Drew, Celeste, Alicia and Vincent all framed in white. Justin’s framed picture hung in the center of them all.

Alicia and I had a blast. We stayed up too late talking, fed our pregnant bellies too much ice cream and shopped until we literally dropped.

I didn’t want to leave when Celeste and Drew came back to retrieve us. They loved the house and what we had done in such a short time. I was happy. I was so happy. I loved my new house close to my mom and Caroline. I loved Vincent. I loved Celeste and Alicia, and I loved Drew. My cup runneth over.

“Drew,” I called to him, sleeping beside me.

“Hmm,” he moaned, rolling over.

“My water broke.”

He jumped out of bed wide eyed and nervous as hell. “Are you sure?”

I gave him a look and then looked down at the soaked bed.

“I’ll call Dr. Long,” he stated.

“Drew,” I called before he got out of our room.

“What?”

“Where are you going? Your phone is right there.”

“Oh,” he said, realizing the obvious. He called Doctor Long, my mother and the one dreaded call to Dawson. That one caused an argument more than once, but I had promised I would call before I ever left. I hoped that he didn’t come, but I was still going to hold true to my word.

I was only two centimeters dilated when we arrived. It was going to be a while. I wasn’t even allowed to have an epidural yet because they said that it was too early. The contractions weren’t too bad, and I was tolerating them okay.

By ten in the morning, my visitors started to arrive. Celeste and Alicia were there first, and then my mom. I couldn’t believe she had gotten there so quick. I wasn’t looking for her until early evening, of course my husband had a hand in on that and got her a private flight out right away.

I had been in labor for nine hours and the contractions were starting to come stronger and more frequent. Drew was great. He held my hand and talked me through every one of them. I finally got the epidural around three in the afternoon. It helped, a lot, but the pain was still there, and I was feeling a lot of pressure. My visitors except for my mom and Drew stepped out to wait for the news.

At exactly five pm, after many bouts of nausea, sweats, and downright demon behavior, I finally felt like I needed to push.

Drew stepped out for just a second to tell our waiting party that it was time. I knew as soon as he came back that Dawson was there. I could tell by the look on his face. Damnit. I didn’t want him there. Why couldn’t he just wait and see if Drew was the father before he flew all the way there.

“Is Lauren with him?” I asked, Drew.

“With who?” he asked, trying to feign ignorance. I gave him a look.

“Yes, she and Star both are here,” he answered.

“Star’s here?” I was so excited that Star was there. Dawson, not so much, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Lauren being there. I mean, I forgave her, and I was glad that she was with Dawson, but I still felt a little betrayed. I wasn’t about to let it ruin my day. I was finally going to meet this baby that I had been waiting months for. I couldn’t wait.

I pushed for forty five minutes, and it just wasn’t happening. The baby would crown and that was it. He wasn’t coming out. I would have said at that moment he was no doubt Drew’s baby, being was stubborn as his daddy. Doctor Long explained that he wasn’t going to let me go much longer. He was going to have the operating room setup for a C-section. I didn’t want that. I wanted him to be born natural, and although I didn’t think I had one more push in me. I tried. I tried like hell, over and over until his head was finally out. Drew never left my side and my mother was the best birthing coach ever. Had it not been for her I’m sure I would have passed out at least ten times from hyperventilating.

Finally, at seven twelve in the evening, baby Nicholas was born. He came out screaming, and I couldn’t have been happier. It was no wonder he had such a hard time coming into the world. He weighed in at nine pounds, seven ounces and was twenty two inches long. He was a big boy.

Drew was the proudest papa ever, although after they laid him on my stomach I was scared. I swear he looked just like Dawson. Drew wasn’t seeing it. He was seeing his son, and that was it. His hands were as bloody as the baby. He couldn’t keep his hands off of him. He kissed me and told me that he loved me at least ten times before they took baby Nick to clean him up. Drew washed his hands and went out to give the good news.

“Drew,” I called for him before he got out.

He was by my side, kissing me again in a split second. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“I want to see Star,” I said.

“You’ve got it, baby,” he said with another kiss.

My mom went out, just as proud, with him. Star came in alone with a big smile about ten minutes later.

“I can’t believe you’re here, Star,” I said as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she said, walking over to the baby. The nurse held him up so that she could see him. She looked straight back to me. Damnit, she saw it too.

“He’s just lucky I was going to be here in a couple of days anyway for the swap meet,” she teased, coming back to me.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Me? How are you? You’re the one that just gave birth to a football player.”

“He is a little football player,” I said, smiling down at him as the nurse placed him swaddled in a blanket back in my arms. I loved him already.

“How’s Dawson been?” I asked not taking my eyes from my bundle of joy.

“He’s been good. I have told you before. Things tend to work themselves out.”

“Yes, you have. I still can’t believe him and Lauren though. It’s so hard to picture the two of them together.”

Star didn’t know what to say. They were both her friends as much as I was. I respected her for that, and knew that she would stay loyal to both sides. That’s just how Starlight was.

Drew came in, still smiling, of course. He kissed me, and then took the baby from my arms. He held him like he had done it a million times before. Celeste and Alicia came in next. They made as big of a fuss over him as my mom and Drew.

Everyone had been in except for Dawson and Lauren, and once Drew, and I were alone again, I brought it up.

“Drew, you have to let him see him,” I said

“I know. I was just hoping to wait until we got the test results back.”

“That could be two or three days.”

“Not when you just donated a quarter of a million dollars to the hospital,” he grinned.

“Drew, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, just wrote a check and let them swab the inside of my jaw.”

“There’re doing it now?”

“Yup, four hours, tops,” he said, staring down at sleeping Nicholas. “There is no way I was going to wait for two or three days. I want this behind us, today.”

“Drew,” I started to say. He stopped me.

“Don’t, Morgan. We’re not even going to discuss it.”

I could tell that he was scared shitless that baby Nick was going to be Dawson’s and not his.

“Okay, Mom and Dad. What are we putting on the birth certificate for this little guy’s middle name?” the nurse interrupted.

Drew and I looked at each other. Why the hell didn’t we talk about any of this before now? We couldn’t give him Drew’s name yet. Dawson would never let him have Drew’s last name.

“We’re waiting on a paternity test for that,” I was the one to say. There was no easier way to say it. I was glad that she didn’t ask any more questions.

“I’m going to take him to the nursery for his newborn screening, and then I will bring him back. Do you want to carry him to the nursery?” she asked Drew, no longer calling him dad.

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Drew,” I called.

He turned and smiled a warm, scared, smile. “I’ll send him in,” he said, knowing what I wanted.

Dawson walked in without Lauren. I was glad. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see her. He was wearing the same sacred smile. I wondered if he was now hoping that the baby wasn’t his.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” he said, kissing my cheek. “I think this has been the longest day of my life. How are you?”

I snickered a little. “I’m good. Happy. Scared.”

“I bet. You look good,” he smiled.

“Thank you. How are you?” I wanted to know if he was happy. It meant a lot to me that he was.

“I have been good, nervously waiting for you to have this baby.”

He didn’t call him my baby. That was the first time I had ever heard him not say his baby.

“Did you see him?”

“No, but Star said he looks just like me.”

I looked down. I didn’t want him to look like Dawson. I wanted him to look like Drew. I wasn’t sure what to say. “Drew put a rush on the test. We’ll know before the night’s out.”

He nodded. He already knew that.

We shared an awkward silence. Neither of us knew what to say.

“Lauren wants to see you,” he said, kind of in a question.

I smiled and nodded. He left. I never thought that I would see the day when Dawson and I couldn’t talk. It was sad.

Lauren on the other hand acted like we were still best friends. She hugged me with a big smile.

“Congratulations,” she said. “I just saw him through the window. He is beautiful, Ry.”

“Thanks, how are you?”

She held up her left hand.

“Engaged!?” I said, shocked. Wow. That didn’t take long. “Are you pregnant, Lauren?” I just spit it out. Why else would he be jumping into that again already?

“Dawson proposed on Christmas Eve, and yes, Ry. I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, my God.” I squealed, grabbing her and hugging her. I was ecstatic for her. It was weird. I felt no bitterness toward her whatsoever. “I’m so happy for you, and I’m sorry I am making things so difficult for you guys.”

“You stop that. This is a happy day for you. It will all work out, besides if the baby is Dawson’s, we’ll have to stay friends forever,” she stated.

I smiled. I really was happy that she was there. I could see me back in my little house in Maine while my son was next door with her and Dawson. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. It would take Drew some time, but I knew he would love him like he was his own. Maybe I was just trying to place a little sunshine on a bad situation, but in the meantime, it seemed to be working.

Drew came in carrying our baby with a happier smile than he had left with.

“Do you want to hold him?” I asked Lauren.

“Yes, of course.”

She held him, playing with his little fingers. “Ry, he is beautiful.”

I was trying to read her face. Was she seeing Dawson in him too? If she was, she hid it well.

She talked about the shop, the radio station, Star dating John, my beach friend. I was glad she was talking like nothing had ever happened between. I laughed when she said she had to take up cooking and how the first time she tried to make Dawson a nice meal, it all had turned out to be a nightmare. They ended up going to Millie’s for supper.

She handed me my baby when he started to fuss. The nurse came in with a bottle and Lauren hugged me.

“I’ll see you later,” she said.

“Geesh, I didn’t think she was ever going to leave,” Drew stated, kissing me.

“I’m glad she came,” I said, watching my little man take his bottle.

“Yeah, but I have been dying to tell you something, and she wouldn’t shut up,” he exclaimed.

I laughed. “What?”

“Let me see my baby,” he said, taking him and laying him over my legs.

“What are you doing?” I asked. Nicholas was mad. He was enjoying that bottle, and he didn’t want to be unwrapped.

“Drew?” I asked again as he took the tiny diaper off.

He smiled and held him up, showing me the exact same strawberry birth mark that Drew had on the same left butt cheek. “My mom told me that my dad also had it.”

I knew that a birthmark didn’t prove paternity, but Drew sure did, and I was a little more hopeful.

The fifteen hour delivery was nothing compared to waiting on that stupid test. My visitors all left except, Dawson, Lauren and of course Drew. My mom made me promise her that I would call as soon as we found out. She had gone home with Celeste and Alicia because she didn’t want to stay in our home alone for the first time. I think she was a little intimidated by it.

Finally at exactly ten twenty one, a man that I hadn’t seen before entered with a clipboard. My heart sank. Finally, it was over. One way or another it was finally going to be out.

The man stood beside me with Drew on the other side. Drew took my hand as the man begun to explain the results.

I looked down the chart with ten lines, all saying marker 1 through 10 with numbers that I didn’t understand. I didn’t care. I just wanted the results.

“Based on the testing results obtained from analyses of the DNA, the probability of Drew Kelley being the father is 99.99%.”

“It’s Drew?!?” I asked. I was shocked. I had already set myself up for the bad news.

“Yes!” Drew yelled.

“You’re sure?” I had to ask.

He flipped the page and showed me the results saying that Dawson had a 0% chance of being the father. That was a pretty low chance.

Drew kissed me and then his sleeping baby in my arms. His sleeping baby. I was ecstatic and sad at the same time. I knew that set it in stone and my life in Maine was over. I would sell the house and probably never visit there again.

Drew of course had to drag the technician out to Dawson. He didn’t want him there, and wanted him to know that he was free to go with no further contact needed.

I didn’t see Dawson again. He left without so much as a goodbye. I knew we had already done that. I still felt a little hurt that he didn’t see me before he left. Lauren did come in and say goodbye with a hug. She too knew that we probably wouldn’t stay friends. She hugged me with tears in her eyes.

I listened to Drew making the calls with the good news. I was suddenly exhausted. I had been up since five in the morning and endured a hell of a long labor. I had been running on adrenalin all day, waiting for the results. I couldn’t have slept had I tried.

The last thing that I remembered was Drew on the phone with my mom. I was out of it.

I didn’t wake again until around three in the morning. I heard Nicholas cry and opened my eyes to see Drew feeding him a bottle in a nearby chair. I smiled and watched him talk and hum to his baby. He was so proud. There wasn’t an ounce of doubt left in me about the kind of father he would be. He was so in love with that little man.