Page 112 of Over Time Advantage

I turn to make the hot chocolate so she can’t see my freak-out face, and nonchalantly say, “Doesn’t…everyone?”

“I suppose,” she responds.

When I hand it to her, she looks up at me. “I confirmed it. I’m pregnant.”

Fuck. Me. Why did she have to tell me?

I plaster on my best calm, I’m here to listen face. “How do you feel about it?”

She shrugs. “I’m not sure. The father is over the moon. He’s so fucking happy. I can’t get over how damn excited he is about it.”

Okay, that’s not so bad. I was expecting worse, like someone she couldn’t even remember, given how she talks about her promiscuous sex life. “That’s good news, isn’t it? Anyone I know?” I stupidly ask, assuming I won’t know the person.

She exhales a long breath. “Obviously it stays between you and me for now, but it’s Daylen Humblecut.”

What? “The football player?” I fail to mask my shock.

She nods. “Yes.”

I’m dumbfounded. He’s not what I’d expect for Kennedy. At least I know he’s a good guy. He’ll be involved with this child. “I…didn’t know you two were dating. You’re kind of an unlikely pair. He’s so…goofy. At least on TV and in the handful of times I met him when I was married to Tanner. We lived in New York City when we were married, so we didn’t see Tanner’s Philly clients as much as he does now. I can’t believe you’ve been able to keep your relationship with Daylen out of the press. You’re both so popular in this town.”

She twists her lips. “We’re not really dating. It’s…complicated.”

“How so?”

She licks her lips nervously. “I haven’t told another soul this except my therapist in Maine, but we got drunk in Vegas, and⁠—”

“And what?” I’m fearful of where this story is headed. Please don’t be headed where I think it’s headed.

She scrunches her face. “We accidentally got married.” Oh crap. “We can’t get it annulled until the end of the year.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “The judge said we can’t be unfaithful or the clock starts over. We were both sort of…horny one night, and it just happened. I had a little food poisoning so I think my birth control got fucked up. And now I’m a knocked-up fucking cliché.”

I should win an Academy Award for how cool I’m pretending to be over this story. Internally, I’m completely freaking out. Jett will literally kill him.

“How do you feel about Daylen?” I somehow manage to calmly ask.

Her eyes fill with tears. “He’s a great guy. I hated him at first, but I don’t feel that way now. Not at all. He’s different from any other man I’ve spent time with. It’s hard to articulate. He makes me feel…safe. I trust him, and no matter what happens with us, I know he’ll be a loving, attentive father.”

I agree with that. “Well, that’s important, sweetie. More important than you could possibly imagine.”

She nods. “I know it is, but we’re not in love. We’re not even together. I can admit the physical chemistry is strong, very strong. But we were thrust into this situation. We’ve never even gone on a real date.”

We chat a little bit about their interactions of the past few months. I can tell she cares a lot about him, even if it’s hard for her to admit to herself. It sounds like he feels the same. It’s not a traditional relationship, but the optimist in me thinks maybe things could work between them.

I smile hopefully. “Man, this is the most chronologically fucked up relationship ever. First comes hate, then comes marriage, then comes sex, then comes dating, then comes friendship, then comes baby. Maybe the next thing will be love?”

“Yep, fucked up. That’s me and my life in a nutshell.” Her pretty eyes fill with tears again.

I shake my head. “You’re not fucked up, Kennedy. You have some demons, as does everyone. You don’t think I was fucked up after my marriage ended? Let me promise you, I was. I am. It’s been seven years, and I still don’t have my shit together most days.”

“You?” she questions. “You’re perfect.”

I go on to tell her just how imperfect I am, leaving her speechless.

“No one is perfect,” I continue. “We all have demons. We’ve all made mistakes. And none of us have a time machine to allow us to rewrite the past. I wish more than most that we did, but we don’t. All you can do is learn from those mistakes and move forward. Try each day to be better than you were the day before. Try to raise a good kid who isn’t an asshole.”

Naturally, Harper enters as I curse, reprimanding me immediately.

Her reappearance ends this part of our conversation, but Kennedy sticks around for the remainder of the afternoon to hang out with Harper and me. She lets Harper braid her hair while we watch The Real Housewives. She’s so obviously aching for family. I need to find a way to bridge the gap between her and Jett. I know they’ve made progress, but this will throw a wrench into it.