Page 20 of Don't Call Me Daddy
“Mom, what are you talking about?” I rub my eyes and blink, and a roomful of blurry people come into focus.
My family—everyone apart from my brother, Jett—all stand in a half circle around the foot of my bed, but when my eyes land on her, I have to lie back down.
What the fuck is she doing here?
Suddenly, my conversation with Roman—and the family group text—comes blaring like a freight train back into my mind.
Shit. This is bad.
The machine monitoring my vitals begins beeping as my blood pressure cuff tightens around my arm.
Great, nothing like having my utter panic broadcasted to my entire family in real time.
I force a deep inhale through my nose to calm my spiking blood pressure just as a nurse rushes in to check on me.
“Whoa there, that’s a little higher than I’d like to see. You feeling okay, Leo? Need me to ask everyone to leave?” she asks, but I wave her off.
“No, but thank you. I think I just got a little overstimulated for a second. I’ll be fine though.”
“Okay, well, don’t be shy.” She places the call button in my hand before leaving.
When she moves out of view, I find my mother—her arm around Ivy like she’s afraid if she lets the girl go, she’ll disappear—wearing a confused look on her face.
My mother might seem ditzy on the surface, but she’s perceptive as shit, and I don’t think there’s any detail she doesn’t notice, no matter how small. And right now, she’s watching my every reaction like a hawk.
If I have any hope of this not blowing up in my face, I’ll need to keep my cool and pray that Ivy doesn’t give me away before I can think of an explanation.
“Are you okay, honey? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” She squeezes Ivy in another side hug. “I was just excited. I can’t believe you’d go through all this trouble to surprise us for Bart’s party.”
My dad moves to my side and places a hand over mine, his face etched with concern. “I told you you’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Arthur called us and said you’ve got a nasty stomach ulcer; he said you’re lucky it didn’t rupture.”
He scrubs a hand down his face and takes a seat in the chair by my bed, and then my mother rushes to me.
She gnaws on her cheek, looking between my dad and me uncomfortably. “Leo, you told me you were going to start taking better care of yourself. You promised me at Easter. Do you thinkmaybe it’s time to take a step down and let someone else do the heavy lifting for a while?”
I hold up my hand. “No, Mom, it’s not like that.” I grab her hand, keeping her from biting her thumbnail, and hold it in mine. “This isn’t a big deal. I swear. And I’m already making more time for myself …”
I gesture to Ivy, who’s standing awkwardly behind her. How or why this woman hasn’t already run for the hills is beyond me.
My mom’s worried face pulls into a warm smile, and I can see the immediate sense of relief wash over her at the mention of Ivy. I notice my dad’s shoulders relax as he looks between us.
Okay, it looks like they’re buying it. I just need to keep it going until I can figure out a way to get myself out of this hole.
Roman starts on about remembering one of the nurses from high school, which sparks a whole family argument over which one of my three younger brothers she dated.
I take the opportunity to try to get Ivy’s attention, folding my lips in a flat line and holding my hands together like I’m praying, silently begging her to stay quiet. If she can just keep her mouth shut and let me do the talking, maybe I can salvage some of this horrendous misunderstanding.
She furrows her eyebrows and mouths something, but I can’t understand her because her lips are moving too fast. When the room falls silent, I realize they’re all watching our failed attempts at ESP.
So much for subtlety.
“Who’d have thought that Leo—the town recluse—would be the first of us to settle down?” Roman shakes his head and laughs. “Better you than me, brother. Though I cannot wait to hear more details about how you two met …”
“Yeah, like, did you know that you didn’t have to date our brother?” Guy adds under his breath.
“Now, let’s not scare her off already. I’m sure they’ll be happy to tell us all about it at Bart’s party tomorrow night,” my mom says with a proud grin.
“Actually, I—” Ivy starts, but I interrupt her.
