More than Friends

Summer after graduation

Kat

With the entire Baldwin clan home for the summer, we have been living by the pool, drinking and partying, except I had to swap out mojitos for flavored water. Too busy getting tan and drunk, my brothers still haven’t caught on to the fact that I haven’t had any alcohol. And I still haven't dared to tell Dean about the baby.

Sitting in a lounge chair by the pool, I read a book, ignoring my brothers, who are playing a water game together.

Duke swims over to me and splashes my feet. “Hey, Kit-Kat, get your ass in here. We need another player.”

I look up from my book and flash Duke a wicked grin. “You guys don’t need me. The teams are even.”

“Theo is a cheater. I need you on my team. Now, get in here before I have to come up there and throw you in.”

“It’s too hot, and I like the shade.” I point at the umbrella over my head.

“Whatever. You’re no fun anymore,” Duke grunts.

For the past few weeks, the heat has made my stomach turn like crazy. Even sitting outside and watching my brothers has been somewhat of a chore. But I don’t want them to suspect anything is wrong. At least not until I have to admit the truth about my condition.

I hate myself for referring to the child that is growing inside me as my condition. I still haven’t come to terms with everything. I was the one who was too drunk to tell Dean to use a condom. He was so used to me being on birth control that it wasn’t even a thought. But I had stopped my pills a few months before we had sex, all because they were giving me wicked migraines the doctor could only attribute to the pills.

It’s not like I had sex with Dean every week or even every month. The few times after he took my virginity were drunken make out sessions that turned into more. I hadn’t planned for it to happen again.

Either way, I made a mistake, and with his family’s financial stress, I didn’t want to add another complication. Ever since he moved back to Florida with his mom, Dean has done nothing but work. He delivers pizzas at night and does manual labor for a plumbing company in the day. I respect the hell out of him for his work ethic.

When it comes to family, I know first-hand that Dean would be an amazing father and provider. But I feel guilty, not wanting to add this to his plate. The NHL is supposed to be his fresh start, his chance to make something of himself. I can’t be the one to ruin his life. After he gets some good news, I will tell him about our child.

“Don’t go easy on her,” Austin says, coming up from behind Duke. “Get in here, Kat.”

Of all my brothers, Austin is the one I connect with most. While Duke was more of a father figure in my life, with all his rules and structure, Austin was the fun brother who helped me with my homework and took me out for ice cream. We also have less of an age difference between us.

Austin knows I would never say no to him. Damn him.

I move my hand to the side of my stomach and get up from the chair. Ever since my belly started to grow, I have been doing this. Is it a habit, or maybe a motherly instinct? I don’t know, but I have to stop. If one of my brothers notices this when I get bigger, they will give me hell for not telling them. They would also treat me differently than they do now, and I don’t want more special treatment than I already get from them.

No one can know about the baby. Well, at some point, I won’t be able to hide it. Until then, I want to keep this to myself. I read online that you should wait twelve weeks before you tell anyone, just to be sure. I’m almost that far along, which means I have to tell Dean soon. But I don’t want to ruin his big moment. He deserves to celebrate one of the best days of his life without me bringing him down.

I tug at the seam of the oversized shirt covering my bathing suit, turning away from my brothers. Even though they haven’t noticed, I swear my bump is more visible each day. Maybe I am just paranoid that someone will discover my secret before I have the chance to tell them.

Before I pull the shirt over my head to get in the pool, my cell phone rings. I lean forward to see the name on the Caller ID and pick it up from the table with a smile. I press the phone to my ear and cradle it with my neck. “Hey, Dean.”

“Hey, Kitten. I wanted to call you on my lunch break to give you my flight info.”

“Get off the phone, Kit-Kat,” Duke yells behind from me.

“Who’s she talking to?” Theo says to Duke.

“Who do you think? Her boyfriend,” Duke deadpans.

I spin around to give Duke me best resting bitch face.

“Dean,” Theo says, confused. The twins have never seen the connection I have with Dean as anything more than friendship, which is weird, considering they are so close. “Let me talk to him.”

Dean is rambling off his flight information to me, all of which I miss because of my brothers yelling things in my direction.

I cover the receiver with my hand. “Will you be quiet? All of you. I’m on the phone.” Then, I remove my hand to apologize to Dean.

“If you need to deal with them,” Dean says, “I can call you later.”