Page 8 of The Secret

Murray

The intercom sounded, which meant my sisters were on the way up. Graham was under instruction to warn me when they’d arrived and let them straight in. Laurie had left an hour ago with the promise of getting the results back as swiftly as possible, and we knew she’d keep her word.

I took a deep breath as Barclay ran out of the kitchen because he could hear them getting out of the elevator, and I could hear his tail thudding against the wall as he waited for them with excitement.

I was less excited.

Since I’d moved to New York two years ago, my older sisters had taken it upon themselves to try and get me to settle down. They’d decided that since they, along with my eldest brother, Jamie, were all married with kids, then I should be too, and that it wastime to stop dicking about, Murray.It was one of the reasons I had Barclay; he’d been a birthday present from them last year, because in their opinion, if I met someone who loved dogs, then that would be a good start.

And the best place to do that would be the park.

Their logic wasn’t far off; Barclay was the best wing man I’d ever had, not only for me but for Rafe and Penn too, because a cute puppy was the number one generator of a hot woman’s contact details. A one hundred percent certified pussy magnet. But the girls had failed to take into account that we were all more than content with our lives as they were, and Barclay had simply expanded our dating pool.

However, this baby would no doubt add some fuel to their relationship rocket chat. The thud of Barclay’s tail got louder at the click of the door opening.

“Murray?” That was Wolfie, the eldest of my sisters.

“Murray, what’s going on? There better be a good reason why you dragged my pregnant ass over here just as I was going to bed.” And that was Freddie – or Franks - as only I called her - slightly younger than Wolf, but still six years older than me.

I did have a good reason. Even though I’d sent them a message telling them to get to mine ASAP due to a life and death situation, it wasn’t far off. I was also pretty impressed at how quickly they’d arrived. I wasn’t known for panicking, so they’d clearly taken my 911 alert seriously.

They marched into the kitchen, Wolfie’s blonde hair flying around her like a whirlwind, while Freddie’s jet black hair stayed poker straight, as though not daring to move out of place.

Wolfie pulled me into a big hug, then gave me a thorough once over, the type that only big sisters do, which was then followed by Freddie’s.

I just about stopped myself from bawling again, from the emotions tearing around like a hurricane inside me. “Thank you for coming.”

The look of worry deepened on Freddie’s face. “Jesus, Murray, what’s happened? Have you been crying? You’re scaring us.”

“He has been.”

Their heads snapped around to Rafe and Penn who were sitting at the long kitchen table against the wall, and whom they hadn’t noticed until now.

“Oh, hey, how are you guys?” Wolfie gave Rafe a hug, before rolling her eyes so hard I thought they might actually get stuck. “Should have known you two’d be here, given it’s Tuesday.”

Freddie snorted. “Oh my God, is that what this is about? What trouble have you got into this time?! Please tell me I didn’t get out of bed because of your idiotic superstitions.” She stopped dead as she focused on Penn, holding the baby who’d fallen asleep again. “Whoa, when did you have a baby? And who the fuck managed to get you to settle down? Also, congratulations, I guess.”

He looked over to me as he answered. “I didn’t, she’s not mine.”

The pair of them followed his line of sight and I was pinned with two confused faces, which soon filled with concern.

I moved over to the table and pulled a chair out, sitting down. “She’s mine.”

“Allegedly,” Rafe added.

Their heads flicked back and forth between the baby and me, and then on the baby paraphernalia which was still spread all over the counter.

“Sorry, what?” Freddie’s ice blue eyes bore through me. “What’s going on?”

I swallowed thickly, gesturing to the empty chairs, willing them to sit down before the world’s hardest conversation began.

“She was on the doorstep when we got home tonight, along with a note saying she’s mine.”

I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was on how long you needed to wait on someone in a state of shock, but I think it lasted two or three minutes before either one of them said anything, their heads moving back and forth between the baby and me.

Finally, Freddie broke the silence.

“Oh God, Murray.” She moved over into my lap, her swollen belly pressing against me as she held me in a giant hug, which, considering she was one of the smallest people I knew, was pretty giant. She was actual proof that size didn’t always equal strength. “Are you okay? How did this happen?”

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