Brett pales and I laugh. I slap him on the back. “That’s what I thought.”
“Not funny,” he mumbles, running his hand through his sandy blonde hair. Brett and Candice went to high school together and they’re a walking cliché. He was Varsity football team captain and Candice was captain of her cheerleading squad in their senior year, but they’ve been together since they were sophomores. He’s the same height as I am, standing at over six feet tall, but he’s built like a football player, whereas I am a little less bulky. I see the way he looks at Candice, even in her pregnant state, and it’s obvious that he adores her. Sure, they drive each other up the wall constantly, but I’ve never seen two people more right for each other.
Seeing the way he looks at my sister, even after all these years, makes me sick, but I feel a pinch of jealousy, too. Not that I don’t think they don’t deserve their happiness, or their growing family, but after meeting Hayley, I find myself wanting that, too. “So, you guys ready for baby number two?”
He sighs, a small smile tugging at his mouth. “Yeah, man. I can’t wait, and neither can Candice. As much as I love seeing her pregnant, I think we’re more than ready for the baby to get here.”
“You guys picked out a name yet?”
Brett shakes his head. “No, Candice seems to think we’ll know once we meet her.”
“I hear having a daughter is way worse than having a son,” Noah remarks. “Especially when they hit puberty and shit.”
“You’re in for one hell of a time if she’s anything like her mother,” I laugh.
“If who’s like their mother?”
Our heads whip around and my laughter gets stuck in my throat. Candice is standing behind us, hands on her hips, with her belly sticking out.
“Nothing, baby,” Brett replies quickly. He is so whipped when it comes to my sister that I’m sure he relinquished both his Man Card and his balls a long time ago. Yeah, being married to my sister can have that effect on a man.
Candice’s eyes narrow and she purses her lips. “You’re lucky I’m still pregnant, babe, otherwise I’d have to coax it out of you.”
Brett chuckles, and leans down to kiss my sister's nose while touching her belly. “Um, baby, I believe your method of coaxing something out of me is what got you pregnant in the first place.”
Candice’s cheeks redden and she playfully slaps his chest. “Brett! No bedroom talk around my family!”
I laugh and throw my hands up. “Yes, please, I don’t need to know anything about your kinky fuckery, dude. You’re still my sister and imagining you two like that is going to scar me for life.”
Candice shoots me a look and before she can render any physical injuries to my body, my mother walks in and announces that dinner is ready. I find Hayley and we all take our places at the dining room table. “Looks delicious, Mom,” I say, taking n all the delicious smells floating in the air. “It’s almost as good as my cooking.”
My mother swats me with the dishcloth and Hayley giggles next to me. Man, I love that sound. I look around at all the familiar faces and stop at the empty seat at the head of the table, wishing that my father were here. He may be just down the hall but he’s not really here in the way our family needs him to be. I shove the heavy feeling away and decide to enjoy this one day without allowing the guilt to settle in my stomach.
“Well, don’t just stare at the food, go ahead and eat up,” my mother instructs, making us all laugh. We dish up a bit of everything and fall into an easy conversation as if we’ve done this every year for the past decade. I’ve missed this feeling.
“Have you seen Ari?” Hayley asks next to me.
“No, last I saw she went to the kitchen with mom.”
I look around and spot a little head of brown hair bobbing up and down. Ari makes her way around the table and instead of going towards the high chair my mother set up next to Hayley, she comes to a standstill next to me. The table grows quiet and for some reason everyone’s eyes are on me. Ari looks up at me with those big, brown eyes and I swear my insides turn into fucking putty.
“You want to sit with me?” I ask her, surprised.
Her curls bounce as she nods yes, so I push my chair out a little, pick Ari up and settle her on my knee. I look up and see my mother and Candice both wearing shocked expressions on their faces. And who can blame them? I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it either. Hayley reaches over and brushes her hand over Ari’s hair and gives me the most breathtaking smile known to man. God knows I want to put it there every damn day.
The conversation around the table starts up again and soon enough it’s time for dessert. My mother starts slicing up some homemade pumpkin pie and chocolate cake, which is my personal favorite even if chocolate is for women.
“Oh shit,” Candice mutters, dropping her fork. We all stop what we’re doing. She bites her lip.
“Candice, honey, are you okay?” Brett asks next to her.
“Um, I think…my…my water just broke.”
“You’re sure?”
She smiles at Brett. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Okay, I’ll bring the car around, and we’ll head straight to the hospital.” He smiles back at her, kissing her forehead, and I wonder how they’re so damn calm?
Candice starts breathing in short bursts. “Oh, dear, this baby isn’t waiting….oww.”
I jump up, handing Ari over to Hayley, and help Candice out of her chair just as Brett comes running back in. He helps her to the car and my mother follows.
A hand touches my arm and I look to the side. Hayley’s green eyes greet me. “You should go with them, Cam. We’ll stay here and then go home in a little while.”
“I don’t want to leave you here,” I reply.
“Your family needs you, Cam. You should go. We’ll be fine here.”
“We’ll take her and Ari home,” Noah says. “Go, become an uncle.”
I nod reluctantly. “Okay, but I’ll call you later?”
She kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll be at home.”
I lay a kiss on her lips and fight the urge to stay right here. But she’s right. My family needs me. With one last glance back, I run out the door.
Chapter 15
~ Hayley ~
Once I’ve put Ari to bed, I crawl under my thick, plush duvet and rub my arms to create some warmth. Noah and Hannah dropped Ari and me off a few hours ago, after Cameron rushed to the hospital with his mother. He sent me a text earlier, letting me know that Candice was having a difficult delivery and that he’d let me know as soon as the baby was born. I knew these things could take long, especially when it was a natural birth, so I didn’t expect to hear anything for a while. My thoughts start drifting over the events of earlier today, to when I met his mother and his sister and how they welcomed me with open arms. I could see myself getting attached to them, bonding with them, and the idea frightened me to some extent. They were also very excited to meet Ari, and knowing that Cameron had obviously told them about her left a warm, fuzzy feeling budding in the confines of my chest. Although meeting Cameron’s family had certainly been important, it didn’t quite live up to the stature of the moment when Ari silently asked if she could sit on Cameron’s lap and the way he willingly received her. I had to bite the inside of my cheek fairly hard before I started blubbering like an idiot. It was such a simple thing to have witnessed, but for me, the gravity of it weighed heavy on my heart. The reality is that if things were to end, it wouldn’t only be my heart that would need mending. It would be Ari’s heart too. The more time I spent with Cameron, the more attached I become, and the more attached Ari becomes, too. At the root of all my fears, lies this inevitable truth. Any relationship I have, I not only put my heart and feelings on the line, but my daughter’s too.