Once the sausage was down the hatch, I put my hands on the edge of the bed and heaved myself up. Dad hurried to my side, placing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me to my feet.
“Like I said, majorly appreciated. But how am I going to learn to fend for myself as a single mom if you guys don’t let me take care of myself before the babies even get here?”
Dad glanced over at Mom, and I could tell they were having a wordless conversation about how right I was.
“Well, give us some time to ease into it,” Dad said. “We know you’re as independent as they come, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to watch you go through it all without helping.”
I smiled. I wanted to be independent, and I knew that Mom and Dad were doing what they did because they loved me.
“Seriously, thank you both so much for everything. I don’t know where I’d be without you two right now.”
“You’d be fine, that’s what I’m guessing,” Mom said. “You’ve always been able to land on your feet, no matter what life threw at you.”
“I hope things stay that way,” I said. “I told my boss Marta about all this,” I swept my hand over my belly, “and she was thrilled.”
“You sound surprised,” Mom said.
“I guess I was. Marta’s taken me under her wing, so part of me was expecting her to be a little disappointed to hear that I was going to be having something ? two somethings ? distracting me from my job. But that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, she even mentioned something about a baby shower at the office.”
Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “Get used to that reaction. Sweetheart, you’re about to bring two, beautiful babies into the world. That’s cause for celebration.”
I smiled, warmth spreading inside of me. I put my hand on Dad’s and squeezed it.
“Yeah. I suppose you’re right. All the same, I politely told her to not worry about a shower. I like toworkat work, not draw attention to myself.”
Mom laughed. “Good luck not drawing attention when you’ve got an eight-month pregnant belly with twins.”
She had a point. I couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image of me waddling around with a giant stomach. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“That’s right,” Dad said. “Take it one step at a time. And right now, the only step in front of you is to eat a nutritious breakfast.”
I smiled, taking a bite of the eggs, and washing it down with coffee.
I had tons of work in front of me, and I was feeling very good about getting started.
* * *
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, however. As I drove to work that morning, the same thing happened that always happened whenever I finally allowed myself to mellow out and relax about my situation – I thought about Noah.
I’d lied to everyone – my parents, Cammy, Marta, and the rest of the girls at work, telling them that the father wasn’t in the picture. That was only a half-truth, as I hadn’t given him thechanceto be in it.
Noah was a good man, and I didn’t have to guess whether he’d be a good dad or not. All I had to do was take one look at the amazing daughter he’d raised to know the answer to that question.
I was sure that, if I were to tell him, he’d step right up and do what needed to be done.
I was scared, however. It was so silly how it’d all started out as a night of fun, a way to have a little naughty dalliance with a man I’d crushed on since I was a kid.
In retrospect, it was insanely ridiculous for me to not consider that sex might result in pregnancy.
I knew I should’ve come clean right away. However, it wasn’t only myself I was thinking of.
What would happen if Cammy were to find out that her dad was the father of my babies?
What about the rest of the town? People talked, and there was no doubt news of the handsome OB/GYN knocking up his daughter’s childhood friend would spread around Denver like a bad cold.
His reputation as a good, compassionate doctor would be toast.
By the time I pulled into my spot at work, the weight of everything that was happening pressed down on me. I felt stuck. And the worst part was the only person to blame was me.