"Thank you, honey. And, believe me, it’s mutual.”
“Now, I'm going to go check on our daughter real quick and tell her goodbye before I leave," he says.
I smile at him and nod my head. I watch as he walks into the guest bedroom where our daughter is still asleep in her crib. He gazes down at her and leans in and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead without waking her up.
"Okay, I'll see you later," he says.
He kisses me again and then walks out the door. I'm overjoyed after he leaves, even though I miss him. Because this time, I know I’ll be seeing him again soon.
And again and again and again after that.
It feels like things are actually going to work out for good between us.
I turn and am about to walk into the bathroom when I hear a knock on the front door. I figure maybe Steve forgot something. So, I walk to the front door and open it. But to my surprise, I see Derek is standing on the other side of it.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him in shock.
"Listen, do you have some time to talk? It is very important," he asks me.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead and come in," I reply.
He walks into the living room, and I close the door behind him. Then we both sit on opposite ends of the couch and look at each other but he doesn’t say anything.
"What did you need to talk about?" I finally ask.
He sighs before he begins speaking.
"This isn't easy, but I realize I owe you an apology. I realized this after I had a conversation with Steve the other day. I realized that I may sort of be in the wrong about this whole situation," Derek explains.
"That's alright. I do understand that you were just trying to protect me and look out for me, just like you always have. You may have taken it a bit too far this time, but it still makes sense. And actually, I'm glad you brought this whole topic up because there's something that I need to talk to you about," I tell him.
He waits patiently for me to explain.
"You already know that I have had a baby, of course, and that I've been reluctant to tell you who the father is. So, now I guess I can tell you that the father is Steve. It happened the night of the graduation and going away party," I explain.
Derek sighs softly and takes a few seconds to gather his thoughts.
"I guess I kind of always knew that," he answers. “Or at least I strongly suspected it. And that was why I was so irrationally angry. It was really confusing to think that my best friend could have knocked up my little sister without telling me, and worse… to just leave you like that?”
“He didn’t know I was pregnant,” I said.
“I get that now. And I wasn’t sure at the time. I didn’t know what was real and what my mind was inventing out of paranoia.”
“Yeah, I should have been more honest about everything.”
I sighed, realizing how this was all my fault.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, little sis,” he said, and bumped his knuckles against my shoulder playfully. “You’re still young, and I’m sure you were scared. You did the best you could. I’m the one who’s sorry for not being there enough when you needed me. I failed you just like Mom and Dad did.”
“No, that’s not true,” I insist. “The two things are not the same at all. Plus, you’re here now. We both made some mistakes and did some things we wish we could go back in time and change, but the important thing is that we’re together now and we can move forward— you, me, Steve, and little Felicity.”
“Felicity, huh?” he asks. “I like it.”
I nod my head and give him a small smile.
"Yeah. Steve named her and I like it too. It fits better than anything I was thinking of. I was thinking of calling her February.”
“What?!”