Page 13 of A Little Thankful

“What am I missing?” Forrest asked as he walked towards us with another bottle of wine and two more glasses. He opened the bottle with a traditional opener and filled the glasses, then took a chair next to me, while Mace sat next to Sage.

“Apparently Autumn’s father lives here in Cricket,” I told Forrest.

“And how do you know this?” he asked, then he took a few long swigs from his wine, leaned over and snitched a vanilla cupcake, and did it in with only a few bites. The man wasn’t the type to savor his food… just his women.

“Sage just told me,” I answered.

Forrest stared at Sage. “If my calculations are right, that means it’s either one of us, or you had sex with some other guy who lives here in Cricket when you visited on that July fourth weekend. However, having grown up around you, it’s highly unlikely. You’ve never cheated on any of the boys you’ve dated. So, I would say it’s one of us. Am I right?”

He sounded so fucking logical, and it was so apparent, I hated myself for not seeing the truth as soon as she began telling me her story.

“No way. Come on,” Mace groused. “She would’ve told us right away.” He turned to Sage. “Wouldn’t you? I mean, why would you keep something like that a secret? We could’ve been there when she was born. We could’ve helped you go through your pregnancy. We could’ve held her when she was first born. Why wouldn’t you have told us?”

Sage didn’t respond. Instead, she merely stared at him, like she didn’t know what to say or how to say it.

If what Mace just said was a shock to her, his words were equally as shocking to me. I had no idea he was so into kids.

I had to say something in her defense. “Because she didn’t want to be influenced on her decision on whether or not to keep her baby.”

“You mean, what I just said is true? I could be a dad?” Forrest mumbled. “Theory is one thing, but reality is something else entirely. You assured us you couldn’t get pregnant. Said you had some sort of issue in that department. This doesn’t fit into my plans. I can’t be a father. Not now. It has to be either Hunter or Mace. Not me. I’m not ready.”

“Calm down, cowboy,” I told him. From the time we were on a baseball team together when we were kids, Forrest always overreacted whenever the agenda changed. He hated interruptions in his plans. “She hasn’t verified anything yet.”

“Of course, that was your decision, but that’s not a reason to keep it from the dad once you made up your mind, or is it? Sage… what the hell?” Mace seemed miffed now. As if he’d missed out, which he had if he was the dad. Just like I knew Forrest had his own plans for fatherhood, I knew Mace wanted to be a dad as much or probably more than he liked to bake.

Me? At the moment, I just wanted Sage to feel safe, like she could tell us anything and we’d be on her side, but so far, I didn’t think she felt very safe or secure about anything. No wonder she chose to keep her baby a secret.

I finally got it.

She drank down her glass of wine, then went to fill up her glass again, but I stopped her.

Instead, I pulled out my phone, hit Spotify and playedSeptemberby Earth Wind and Fire.

“We can always dance,” I told her, as a beautiful smile stretched her lips. I held out my hand as I jammed to the beat of one of my all-time favorite songs.

“Do you remember…”we sang as I twirled her around.

At once the tension drained away, and we danced around Forrest and Mace who eventually joined us. One thing was for sure, before everything turned to complete shit, we could spin a song and head on into a much better mindset… “never was a cloudy day!”

ABOUT AN HOUR later, once Autumn was fed, changed and went down for the night, and her dad ordered in several large pizzas, the family settled into having a baby in the house, wefollowed Sage over to the guest house for a little more privacy. I grabbed a couple pizzas and a six pack of beer, before we trotted over. Hunger had taken hold, but Sage wasn’t about to hang with the family yet. Good thing, because I had no idea what to say to them, and I knew that was the same case for Forrest and Mace.

Mrs. Pilgrims seemed more than happy to listen for Autumn on the baby monitor, while Grandma Iris wanted nothing more than to nap in the same room. It seemed the Pilgrims couldn’t get enough of their new little miracle.

“Okay, now spill. What’s going on?” I asked Sage once we were seated in the small living room. Mace had flipped the switch on the wall for the gas fire in the hearth, which was fine with me. No mess. “I think it’s time.”

I opened the pizza boxes, while Sage brought in some plates and napkins. I popped open the beers and everyone took one, including Sage.

She plopped down on the sofa, took a big bite of her pizza, then washed it down with a quarter of the beer, wiped her mouth, sucked in a deep breath, then said, “To be honest, I have no idea which one of you is her dad. I thought I could tell when she was born. I thought she’d look like one of you. Have your coloring or maybe a nose that looked like Forrest’s or hair color like Hunter’s, but she looks exactly like me when I was her age, down to her red hair and her button nose. Even her lips are shaped like mine.”

“So, then it’s one of us for sure, right?” Forrest asked looking even whiter than usual. He’d already downed most of his beer, but it wasn’t giving him the courage I think he’d hoped for. I could tell this whole baby thing was more than he’d ever bargained for.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “It happened during those three days we were stuck in the cabin.”

“But you said…” Forrest argued, as he paced and ran a hand through his hair.

“I fucking know what I said, Forrest. Don’t you think I was as surprised as you are right now? I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant. I must have taken five different pregnancy tests, then confirmed it with an official test from a doctor before I could accept it. Once I did, I knew I would do everything in my power to protect her. That’s why I didn’t come forward. Your reaction is exactly why I hid her for all these months. If she’s yours Forrest, I understand if you don’t want any part of this. I get it. She’s a huge responsibility. She’s life changing. Believe me. I know. But she’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and I want to thank you… all three of you for blessing me with my sweet baby girl. I love her more than I will ever be able to put into words.”

And with that, Forrest did something I’d never in a million years thought I’d ever see from him.

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