Page 39 of Cooper

“How come you never had any more, Liz?”

“Oh, gosh, with this job, I couldn’t imagine having another one. And Nate’s my world. Plus, he’s a teenager. He doesn’t want a little brother or sister running around. He’d just feel like a built-in babysitter.”

“Have you ever asked him if he wanted a sibling?”

“No, it never came up, really. Some day, he’ll have lots of nieces and nephews running around, once Julia gets married.”

“Julia’s your sister?”

She nods. “Yes. She lives in Florida. You’ll meet her soon enough. She comes around in the summer, sometimes for March Break, too. She’s a teacher.”

Just the mention of the state of Florida again, makes my face pale. But I lick my lips and press on, trying to maintain composure. I’ve gotten pretty good at it as of late. “What about during Christmas?”

She nods. “Oh, yeah. She’ll be coming around during the holidays for sure. Usually the week after Christmas, though, since she spends Christmas with daddy.”

“How come you don’t see your father?”

She scoffs. “Oh, Stella, if I had a dime for every time someone asked me that.” A wave. “Daddy hasn’t spoken to me in years. He’s never gotten over me choosing Nate’s father and moving here over staying with him and letting him raise his grandson. Daddy doesn’t like my other half. Never has. I don’t blame him a whole bunch, seeing as daddy’s the most traditional person I know, and I raised a son without being married and all. We live in a shoebox and I work in a bar, while daddy runs multi-million dollar golf resorts all over the country. Why, he’s got one right here in North Carolina, for chrissake. But Julia’s teaching in Florida, so he stays put.”

“And you and your sister are close, despite all the family drama?”

“Julia and I don’t let our daddy come between us. Never have. Now, she doesn’t like it that I work in a bar, either, but she accepts it. Not much choice in the matter.”

“Is she close with Nate?”

“Oh, God, yeah. Nate loves her to bits, and she feels the same. Heck, Julia sometimes brings him back to Florida with her, so that she and daddy can spoil him. He’s a good kid. Despite all the things I screwed up at as a teenage mom, but at least I’ve got him to show for it. I don’t regret my decisions at all. And he’s real close to Colton, too. But Colton’s like that. He’s the most protective, grateful, caring guy in the world. Wade’s a good apple, too. They all are. I’ve known those Ford boys forever.”

“Yeah, Cooper speaks very highly of them, too. I think he looks up to Colton.”

“Who wouldn’t? He has everything going for him, and he has three jobs. I don’t know how he accomplishes half of it.”

I’m hoping that all this talk will distract Liz from checking the pregnancy test, buying me time to think of a reaction. I’m not sure how she’s going to take it when it’s negative, when here she thinks I’m pregnant. I feel like such a fool for playing along, making her believe that I’m with child, when I’m not, but that’s the first time I had to tell a big lie since all this unfolded. I’m sure this isn’t the last time that this is going to happen. I’ve never been a good liar, but I guess I’ll have to learn how to be, if I’m going to keep me and Bean safe.

Suddenly, Liz smiles, covering her mouth. “Gosh, look at me, yammering on like this, when we can check the test!”

She’s so happy and excited, it’s easy to play along. “Okay! Let’s check it!”

“Do you want me to do it or do you want to do it?” She asks, still so excited, as the test sits on the edge of the sink.

She’s so happy. I love it. “You go ahead.” I encourage, feeding her happiness.

Liz picks it up, like it’s top secret from me, keeping it close to her face. So close, I want to remind her that I peed on that, but I don’t. After a quick glance, she closes her eyes, trying to mask her reaction, and for a split second, my heart stops, because I don’t see a shred of disappointment in her eyes. And I start to wonder if she’s as good an actress as I’m claiming to be, when she smiles, unable to contain herself. “It’s positive!”

My eyes widen. “It’s WHAT?” I bark, taking it from her, looking at it with my own two eyes. I’m thinking for a moment that she’s fucking with me, but as I look at the stick, holding it firmly in my hands, like if I drop it, it’ll turn in the other direction, as sure as the nose on my face, there are two lines on the stick. “Oh…my…fucking…God.” I whisper to myself. “It’s fucking positive.”

“You’re gonna have a baby!” She gushes, still so happy for me.

I look at her, half wanting to tell her the truth, half glad that she’s so happy for me. It takes me a moment to process the levity of this situation. “Oh my God.” I murmur. “I’m going to have a baby. I’m really going to have a baby.” I repeat, like it’s a mantra.

“And you’re going to let me babysit, right? You promised!” Liz says, taking me in her arms, like we’re sisters. I hold her tight, reveling in the feeling of having someone hug me again. Someone that doesn’t have any emotional ties to me, just doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It’s so lovely and refreshing, that I feel a lump in my throat. “Liz, you can babysit every day if you want to.” I say, voice cracking.

“And you guys live so close! This is going to be awesome! Nate is going to be over the moon!” She pulls back. “Oh, but I won’t tell him. I won’t say anything. Not until you’re ready. You said yourself that it’s really early on, right? Like five weeks, you said, right?”

I nod, wiping the tears away, so glad that we had this moment together. “Yeah, five weeks.”

“Oh, but I hear that with the second child, you start to show earlier. Have you thought about when you’re going to tell people, or are you going to wait until after the first trimester?”

“I…I’m not sure. I’ll have to see what Cooper wants.”

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