My Brother-In-Law's Secret Baby - His Secret Baby

“Is everything okay, sweetie?”

“Is Scarlett at home?”

“Uh, yeah. She was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her up.”

“Okay,” she took another scoop of her ice cream, considering what I had just said. “Can she be my new mommy?”

It felt like that came out of absolutely nowhere. I was so stunned. I needed a few seconds to think about what I would say.

“Can we talk about this later?”

“Okay.”

She brushed it off and went back to eating, but I was fuming. Did Scarlett put this idea in Livvy’s head? Was this her way of getting to me, by making my daughter think she could be her “new mother”? I couldn’t show Olivia how upset I was, so I buried it all down and decided to bring it up later.

***

I tucked Olivia into bed, making sure she was nice and comfortable before going to Scarlett’s room. I gave the door a quick, loud knock.

“Come in!” I opened it to find Scarlett sitting on her bed, a book resting to her side. “Hey! Did you and Livvy have fun today?”

She looked so innocent sitting over there like she hadn’t been planning some way to wiggle herself back into our lives. From the moment she arrived, everything had felt off. She made me feel off-kilter, and I didn’t like it.

“Today was fine until Olivia asked me if you could be her ‘new mommy’.”

I looked at Scarlett to gauge her reaction. She seemed surprised. She stayed in her seated position for a few seconds. I could see her trying to decide what to do.

“Well?” I needed an explanation from her. This kind of shit wasn’t okay, and if she had anything to do with it, I wasn’t sure if I wanted her in the house any longer.

“I don’t know why Livvy would say that.” She was shaking her head and had gotten up from the bed. Her arms were crossed over her chest, clearly uncomfortable.

“Really? You have zero idea why she would say something like that out of the blue?”

“I don’t know! I’ve never said anything like that to her. I would never do that. I mean, she’s asked me questions about Kylie, and I do my best to answer them. She’s a curious little girl.”

I was shocked. Olivia had never asked me about her mother since her death.

“She asks you about Kylie?”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt my voice getting louder, but I couldn’t help it. I was mad. It felt like Scarlett was hiding things from me.

“I thought you knew!” Scarlett was shouting back at me.

“How would I know what she tells you?”

“Because I thought she was asking you the same questions, and you hate talking to me. It’s so obvious that you avoid me. It’s hard to… broach certain topics with you!”

“Scarlett, you have —”

“I’m sorry!”

We both stopped and turned to the door.

Olivia’s little voice carried over from down the hall. She must have heard us fighting and wandered over. “I don’t remember Mommy, and I like Auntie Scarlett. I was sad when she left. Please don’t be angry.”

My daughter’s words hit me hard. She didn’t remember her mother. I’d never thought about how little time Kylie got to spend with our daughter. Scarlett had spent more time with Olivia — she had been coming around ever since she was born.

“I need to get out of here,” I mumbled.

I turned to leave, and Scarlett grabbed onto my arm. “Noah, wait!”

“I can’t.”

I stormed out, needing some time away from all of this. I knew Olivia needed some comforting, but I was so angry, I didn’t think I’d be of any help. Scarlett would take care of her. I needed to get my head back on right. My brain felt like it was on fire, and I just needed to douse it.

Chapter Eleven

Noah

In all my infinite wisdom, I decided the best place to calm down was a bar. I went to a random local one and walked in to find Darren already there. I hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone, just to drink and forget how shitty my life was, but Darren saw me before I could leave and waved me over. He was my friend, and I did like him, so I walked over to sit with him. I could still drink a couple Scotches, and Darren could probably distract me with whatever was on his mind. Yeah, it would be fine.

“Noah, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He smiled as I took a seat on the chair across from him.

“I hadn’t planned on being here tonight, so it’s a surprise for both of us.”

“O-kay,” Darren nodded. He gave me a weird look but didn’t say anything more. “Do you want anything to drink? I was about to head to the bar.”

I told Darren which Scotch I wanted, and he left to get our drinks. I leaned into my seat, rubbing my eyes. Was this a good idea? Who knew, but I was already here, and I didn’t feel like moving.