Page 53 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

"Yeah." I feel the same way, even though I never wanted kids. Here's the thing: I spent most of my life raising my younger siblings. My dad was always gone, deployed, and my mother had enough on her plate, so it was usually left to me to watch my seven siblings. By the time I grew up, I was convinced that I would never willingly put myself through that again, to be responsible for a bunch of tiny humans. It was just so overwhelming. I had zero freedom, zero free time; every single thought and choice I made had to involve them in some capacity.

Joining the military actually gave me more freedom than that, and thankfully, by the time I got out, most of them were eighteen and could take care of themselves.

Nevertheless, that's never been something I wanted to repeat, and it’s one of the reasons my last serious relationship was in college, which I went back to after I was discharged. We broke up because she wanted to settle down and have a family, and I just wasn't sure I wanted any of that just yet.

But if you felt that strongly about it, you should have gotten a vasectomy.I didn't. So I guess the blame's as much mine as it is anyone else's.

If the child is mine, I have to step up and be a father, of course.

It's just that I never expected to face this so soon.

"I wasn’t supposed to tell any of you, by the way," he says, as he brushes back his hair. "She asked me to keep it a secret until she was ready to tell you herself, so can you pretend that you don’t know, at least for now."

I nod. Pretending I don’t know won’t be a problem. "I’m assuming that Sam doesn’t know?”

"I haven’t told him yet."

"Good. Let’s keep it that way." With how unstable he’s been lately, God only knows what he would do if he finds out that she’s pregnant. He'll probably go right off the deep end, get down on one knee, and propose to her, or do something equally embarrassing. Yeah, we don’t need that.

One week. That’s how long it takes for Jake to spill the beans.

Till then, we're all working normally. We have another meeting with her and, though it's awkward, I manage to hide what I know, what I feel. Jake manages to act normal, and so far, Sam doesn't seem to know anything is amiss.

Then, without warning, it's like DEFCON 1 hits.

It happens while I’m on the phone with my mother and she’s ranting about something my younger brother has done.

“Can you believe it?” she says. “Speeding on his motorcycle. He could have died. I’ve told him that he needs to be more careful when he’s on that deathtrap. I didn’t even want him to buy it in the first place, but did he believe me? No. And now look at him. He's in the hospital with injuries that could have been a lot more serious if he hadn't gotten lucky."

“Right,” I say, “You want me to talk to him?”

“No. I doubt he’ll listen to you anyway. I wonder what devil is riding his ass so hard that he has to do such reckless things. Did you know he had a pregnancy scare just last month?"

That makes me almost choke on my saliva.

“No."

"Oh, absolutely. This girl came to my door and was practically throwing a fit at our anniversary party–which I'll never forgive you for skipping by the way–saying she was pregnant and Jason was ignoring her calls. I almost skewered him myself that day,but then he calmed everyone down and told me that she wasn't pregnant. He'd believed she was at first, too, but apparently it was a scam she'd been running. Still, I tried to invite the girl over, willing to hear her out, but by that point, she'd skipped town and was accusing a different guy of getting her pregnant." My mother sighs, and I can almost see her shaking her head in her room. "I don't know where he finds these people. But I'm so happy I don't have to worry about any of that with you. On the contrary, I worry about the opposite, that I won't get any grandkids from you at all."

"Yes," I swallow my throat, suddenly feeling dry. "Mom, I gotta go meet the guys at the warehouse. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Say hello to them for me. Especially Jake. Tell him that I can't wait to see him on Thanksgiving."

"Alright, will do."

"Do you guys think you're going to get serious soon?"

I heave a long-suffering sigh.

Jake has been attending my family's Thanksgiving since we were in college, and he's pretty much the only one I've brought home with me, since Sam always turns me down, and none of my relationships have been serious enough to have them meet my family.

As a result, I'm pretty sure a few of my siblings think Jake and I are dating, and my mother has dropped a bunch of hints about her not minding it if I choose to come out of the closet for me and adopt children with Jake. Jake plays into it too, because he thinks the whole thing is hilarious, while I find it annoying.

"I mean, I don't want to rush you out of the closet," my mother says. "But it's been ages now and I'm sure you know it wouldn't change how we see–"

"I'm not gay, Mom, and Jake is just my friend. Also, I have to go; they're expecting me on site soon."

"Okay," she sounds amused. "Love you."