Wait . . . did he just say baby?

"Baby?” I repeated in shock forgetting that I was there on the sly.

"Cee” Nick’s voice was startled as his head shot around, his eyes meeting mine, “Why aren't you in school?" His hand crept up and scratched the back of his neck, a sure sign he was nervous.

“My last block was cancelled” I said plainly, “You’re pregnant?” I questioned ignoring my brother and turning my attention to Cat who looked back at me her mouth gaping, her lack of words was all the confirmation I needed. Suddenly I found myself flooded with emotion. I felt hurt…tears stung my eyes but never fell, the heat radiating from my body as I felt my anger rise seemed to dry them before they had the chance. “You guys aren’t even married!” I yelled, every word laced with distaste as I dropped my bag to the ground and ran out the door.

How could he be so irresponsible? He couldn’t have a baby! They weren’t even married yet, what if it didn’t work out?  Then what, he raises ANOTHER kid on his own? What the fuck was he thinking? He was supposed to be the responsible one for Christ’s sake!

I got a couple blocks from the house before slowing my pace and letting tears start to fall. Pulling my phone from my pocket I quickly dialed the first person who came to mind. “I need to talk to you, meet me at the tree.” I said weakly before ending the call. Shoving the phone back into my pocket I jogged the rest of the way to the cemetery and plopped down underneath my tree.

“You should know that your son is a whore…” I started my rant as I glared toward my parents. “That whole no sex before marriage ship sailed years ago by the way…when he was in high school…you probably didn’t know that and I was keeping it secret from you cause I’m no narc but since he has gone and knocked up his girlfriend the cat is out of the bag. That’s her name by the way…the baby momma…Cat. I barely see Kevin anymore because he is so busy with Dani and the girls and they have another baby coming too.  With this new bastard child on the way I am sure Nick’s attentions will be on Cat and her needs which leaves me Joe… I worry about him, he is going to end up old and alone. He has been particularly grumpy with me lately…he claims it is because of my bad attitude but it’s probably because he is the only one not getting laid. Why can't the boys just keep it in their pants? I mean the more babies there are around here the less they are focused on raising me and let’s face it, when left unattended I tend to get into trouble. I can only see this ending badly, with no supervision I will start to run wild and inevitably end up following in the boy’s path. I hope you guys are happy…this is all your fault!" I screamed, the sad tears that had filled my eyes when I had sat down were gone and my face flushed with anger over my parent’s careless lack of presence.

“Should I come back later?” the voice penetrated my rant and I turned to see Josh. I found myself wondering how long he had been standing there witnessing me accuse my dead parents for all that was wrong with my life.

“No, sorry, I just….” I paused letting out a sigh, “She is pregnant…Cat is pregnant.” Josh’s brows rose for a moment in shock before he nodded his head and walked over to take a seat next to me under the tree.

“And…this is something you are upset about,” He questioned sounding a bit confused.

“Um, YEA,” I scoffed.

Josh nodded again, remaining composed and calm, “Alright.”

His nonchalant attitude toward the information I had just provided him frustrated me to no end. “NO, it is NOT alright!” I spat. “It is definitely not alright…did you not hear me? She is PREGNANT as in they barely know each other and she is now knocked up with his bastard child NOT ALRIGHT!”

Josh chuckled before holding up his hands in mock surrender, “Ok, but, he loves her right?”

“Yes.”

“Does she love him?”

I sighed, “Yes, I suppose she does, they are extremely adorable together in fact.”

Josh smirked, “Cee, there are worse things that could happen than two people who are in love having a baby. I mean, chances are if they are in love that they would end up married eventually any way…who cares if they do things a little out of order?”

My brows knit together in frustration, “I brought you here to listen to me rant and take my side not to be optimistic.”

"I'm trying to get you to see this as a good thing. You told me that you loved being an aunt."

I quickly brushed away a few tears with the back of my hand as they fell from my eyes. "What about me? Do you think that Nick is going to have time for me when this new baby comes along? I can tell you that he won’t, the same thing happened when Kevin had kids. Nick already had responsibilities to fulfill; he is supposed to be helping Joe raise me. I will be pushed to the backburner once this baby comes and the only one who will be left to take care of me is Joe who I’m not even certain likes me much at the moment." I took a deep breath. "They are all I have and I feel like I’m losing them to babies."

"I'm sorry babe,” Josh said putting his arm around me and pulling me in to rest my head on his shoulder. “Life happens and sometimes things don’t go as planned. I know that you think that this baby means that you are suddenly less important to Nick but it doesn’t, he seems VERY invested in your upbringing and no baby is going to change that, trust me.”

“Cat doesn’t want to move in, she has her own house that she grew up in which means he will be moving out…” again my tears started to fall as I felt crushed by the reality of the situation at hand. “I feel like my whole life has been flipped upside down lately and I don’t seem to have control over any of it…”

Josh pulled me closer giving me a squeeze of encouragement. “It might work out in your favor…”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, I mean, if you are mad at Nick you could stay with Joe…if you are mad at Joe you could stay with Nick…” Josh suggested trying to make me feel better.

“Or…I could just tell him I am…”

Josh cocked a brow, “And people think I am the bad one…”

“Hey, I have three older brothers all of whom happen to be professors at my school, I am being raised by the two youngest because I was orphaned at 13, I was recently diagnosed with an incurable disease and my youngest brother now has a baby momma and is about to make my already broken home even more broken…my life is like one big lifetime special on crack…I think I’ve earned the right to get into some trouble.”

“Speaking of incurable diseases” Josh said changing the subject, “where is your kit?”

 “I left it at home” I said sheepishly avoiding Josh’s reprimanding glare, “…I kind of ran out suddenly.”

“I’m going to have to buy my own ‘betes kit to carry around” Josh teased, “You clearly can’t be trusted to do it.”

“Could you? That would save me a lot of hassle, thanks.” I countered with a smile. Josh’s brows rose as his eyes met mine unamused, I sighed, “I know, it was a rookie move, I was just in shock and wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s ok to not be ok you know…” he said as I nuzzled my head into the soft crook of his shoulder.

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

“Well, you are pretending that your diagnosis is no big deal, when I know you are upset about it.”

I shrugged, “Yea, but whining about it doesn’t change anything so what is the point?”

“The point is that it’s not healthy to hold all that in…haven’t you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?” Josh questioned causing me even more confusion.

“Yes…but that is about something completely different.” I countered.

“Not really,” he argued, “It’s all about deceiving people and them not being around for you in the end when you really need them. You are sad and you tell people you are fine, you are angry and you tell people you are fine …eventually after being alone with all that anger and sadness you start to get jaded; you stop trusting people and you start to believe that no one really cares ….by the time people figure out that you aren’t really fine….it’s too late.”

I sat there for a moment processing what Josh had said and couldn’t help but wonder if he were talking from experience. “You are very smart.”

“Among other things” he mused.

“Such as?”

“An amazing kisser…” he bragged before wiggling his eyebrows at me causing me to giggle.

“mmmhmmm…”

Josh smirked, “Speaking of which…”

“You are relentless!” I spat slapping him on the chest playfully, Josh chuckled before pulling me back down to nuzzle into the crook of his shoulder again and we sat there in a comfortable silence.

                                                                             ***

It was nearly six when I walked in the front door, the smell of marinara greeting me as I entered. Joe exited the kitchen letting out a sigh of relief. “Come talk to me while I cook.” He said turning on his heels and walking back into the kitchen. Letting out a sigh I grabbed my ‘betes kit from my backpack laying on the floor and walked into the kitchen slumping into a stool at the counter. Quickly plugging a strip into my meter I pricked my finger feeding a bead of blood onto the strip before sticking the abused fingertip into my mouth and watching the numbers count down. Moments later I was met with an unwelcomed BEEP BEEP. Joe cocked a brow in my direction. “Can I get you something?”

Throwing the meter to the counter in frustration I let out a sigh, “Yogurt.” Joe nodded before grabbing a yogurt from the fridge and setting it on the counter in front of me. “Did he tell you?” I questioned simply, he nodded again shooting me sad eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I shrugged pulling the lid from my yogurt and plunging my spoon inside, “What is there to talk about…she is pregnant, he is going to move…I’m used to people leaving by now.”

Joe looked as if I had kicked him in the stomach, “Cee…”

“I feel sick, I’m going to go lay down until dinner.” I stood from the stool and grabbed my yogurt quickly exiting the kitchen leaving Joe standing there over the stove in a stunned silence.

Chapter End Notes:

Chilton is currently ranked 56 in fanfiction. I would LOVE to see this get in the top ten again. Please remember, everytime you read please vote, if you reread a chapter vote for it again and be sure to drop me a comment, they make me smile! Get this story to top ten again and I shall reward you....perhaps with a new story *smirk* XOXO