I turn back around to face her. “What?”
“What’s up with you? You don’t want to argue with me, and you’re all pale like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine,” I lie.
She snaps her fingers and points to the chair. “Sit.”
When I don’t immediately do it, she adds, “Dylan, I swear to God if you make me get up off this couch, I will beat you into the ground.”
I plop down, and she says, “Tell me what’s up.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“And I don’t want to have to pee every twenty minutes, but here we are. Tell me anyway.”
“If I do, do you promise not to tell anyone?”
Her forehead creases. “Can I tell Jack?”
“You’re having his baby. I figured you would tell him anyway. And I know he won’t tell anyone.”
She nods. “Okay, spill it.”
Maybe I shouldn’t be talking about this, but I could use a sounding board.
I’m not sure exactly how to begin. Should I start from the very beginning? Without too much though, I blurt, “I got a girl pregnant.”
“What?” She cries. “Who? When? Where?”
“You want to know how too?”
She points to her pregnant belly. “I think I know how it happened.”
“I went out with this girl about a month back. We saw each other a couple times and really hit it off, but she was going through some shit and didn’t want anything serious. So, we ended things. But I saw her earlier at your doctor’s office.”
“Whoa. Talk about a coincidence. Why didn’t she tell you?”
“She said she just found out yesterday.” I leave out the part about Leah thinking Liz’s baby was mine.
My sister rubs her hand over her belly as she speaks. “What’s she going to do?”
“She says she’s going to keep it.”
We are both silent a moment before she asks, “And how do you feel about this whole thing?”
“Fucking terrified.”
“Why, Dyl? You’d make a great dad.”
“I never imagined I’d be a part-time dad, though.” I stand up and begin to pace. “I managed to get the one woman pregnant who doesn’t want anything to do with me. I don’t even know how much she will let me be involved.”
“Are you going to talk to her about that?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “She’s supposed to come over tonight.”
“What are you going to say?”
“That I want to be involved. Besides that, I have no idea. Last time we hung out, she was trying to find a new place to live. Not sure if she found one or not. At the end of the day, I just want to make sure my kid is taken care of.”