Page 21 of Faking with the Bad Boy Billionaire

"Hey, honey." Josephine reached in to touch his cheek. "It's okay. Mommy was just upset." She pulled him out of the stroller and started rocking him while pacing the length of their living room. Lucas calmed down and sniffled up at her. He gripped onto her shirt and nuzzled into her.

"Are we okay now?" Josephine kissed his forehead, and he giggled. "There we go." She set him up in his mini-play area with a movie on the TV. He started playing with his toys while she stomped into the kitchen. She started doing the dishes and wiping down the kitchen aggressively, cleaning away any thoughts of Steven. She wanted the entire room to be shiny and brightened up.

She was wiping down the baseboards when her phone rang. Lana

"Hello," Josephine answered, mildly irritated. She wanted nothing to do with anyone. She wanted to be alone to wallow in the entire interaction and the overwhelming results.

"Hello, love!" Lana sounded so chipper, like usual, that it made Josephine want to scream. "How is my adorable nephew today?" Lana was the most doting aunt and godmother that Josephine was lucky to have in her corner. She was there for every appointment. She made sure that she was at all of the classes. She showed up and stayed with her the entire week Lucas was born and until Lucas turned two months old. No matter what anyone said, Lucas always had two adults who loved him wholeheartedly. He always would.

"Well, he met his piece of crap father who denied him on the spot." Josephine took a deep breath, "So, he is great." Josephine knew how Lana felt about Steven. She never owned up to the fake fiancé part, but that was because it felt genuine to her. She thought it was just how things would be until they got married. Instead, everything just fell apart on her.

Lana started choking on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry. What?! He met who today?"

She heard Lana clear her throat a few times before she proceeded with any information she could give her. "Yeah. We went to the café, and guess who popped up right behind me?" Josephine whipped the rag onto the ground. Tiny water droplets landed on the cabinets, and she groaned angrily while moving to wipe them off.

"I am on my way over." Lana was shifting around on the other end of the line. "Stop angry cleaning."

"I'm not cleaning," Josephine said, looking around at the rag and bucket on the floor. "At least not at this moment." She could hear Lana's keys jingling on the other end of the call. When she heard the door click shut, Josephine knew she had limited time to get ready for company, even if it was just Lana.

"Stand up, put on comfy clothes, and pull down the bottle of wine we have been saving. I want you to calm down, and we will break it down from the start." Josephine hung up the phone and made her way to her room. She changed out of her cute outfit and did what Lana told her to do. She got into comfy clothes and pulled down the wine.

About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Josephine got up to get it when Lana let herself in. The door swung open, and she took two steps inside, dumping an overnight bag, a grocery bag, and a bottle of wine in a pile next to her.

"What is the point of ringing the bell if you have a key?" Josephine smiled at Lana and gave her a quick squeeze.

"To alert you to my presence." Lana held her arms out and gestured them up and down her body as if she needed to try to add any flair to her sudden appearance. It was like a grand entrance for a character in an ancient movie.

"No one needs an alert. Everyone knows when you walk in somewhere." Josephine laughed and went to open the wine bottle. She peeked at the label to see what she grabbed in her hasty travels. Pinot Grigio. Her favorite. At least, it was for the longest time. She had not tried it after Lucas was born because of the time she got sick before she knew she was pregnant.

"Well, this is a risky move." Josephine pointed to the label.

Lana started pulling snacks out of her bag and setting them on the counter. "I brought all of the necessities for this conversation." She opened up the cookies and bit into one. "Plus, that was a year and a half ago; who knows if it will make you hurl up your liver again."

"Thanks." Josephine rolled her eyes before she looked at the mini-spread and debated where to start.

"So, start at the beginning." Lana walked over to pick up a thrilled Lucas and gave him a bunch of quick kisses on the neck. She sent him into a fit of giggles. That sound always did something to Josephine. Her heart was instantly healed, and she was happy hearing about her son.

"I took Lucas for breakfast at the café. We sat outside because it was so nice today, and my phone rang." Lana started pouring wine. "I picked it up, and it was Steven. I was shocked he called. It's been how long, right?"

"I mean, I would have thrown the phone. It was like he was trying to curse you with a bad day." Lana took a sip of her wine, and Josephine took a sip of hers. She realized that she had thought about throwing it at him right away. She pictured how that would have looked from the outside and chuckled for a bit.

"I thought about it for a split second." Josephine took another sip, "Then conversation, he is standing over me looking at Lucas in the stroller! There was no time to get rid of the bad day curse once he stood directly over my shoulder staring at him!" Josephine heard her voice rising in volume and tried to shake out all the anger. She was not with Steven. She was with her best friend and her child.

"Okay. How creepy is that, though? Was he following you?" Lana's eyebrows rose up into her hairline. Then she leaned on the counter, holding herself up with her arms, and made a face down at the counter. The look she made had Josephine practically cackling at her.

"I have no clue where he came from, but he showed up and instantly started accusing me of cheating on him!" Josephine heard her voice going up again, and she took a gulp of the wine, trying to calm herself down. That was the barb that hurt her the most. He thought she would have just moved on from him and treated him like dirt. She had never done that to him in their entire friendship, and she would never have done something like that to him once they were together. At least, she thought they were together.

"He told you that you had to have cheated on him?" Lana set her wine down and brought Lucas back to his play area. "What is wrong with that man?" Lana was turning a little red from the wine or the anger. Josephine was not sure which one it was.

"So many things!" Josephine stared down at the counter and took a deep breath. "Of all the things he could have said, he first asked who the father is." Josephine felt her heart breaking as she repeated the question to Lana.

"Did you tell him?" Lana asked, devouring cookies. It was like watching a cartoon where friends were fighting, and another friend was in the background watching them while shoveling popcorn in their faces and missing their mouths. Her eyes got more expansive with every bite.

"You look ridiculous right now." Lana stopped shoveling the cookies in her mouth and hugging the little bag before Josephine continued, "I didn't want to at first, but he just pushed my buttons repeatedly." She slammed the rest of her wine and held the glass out for Lana to refill.

"So, what did he do?" Lana was getting as ramped up as Josephine at this point. She was leaning back on the tall chair and slamming her wine.

"Denied him and walked away." Josephine felt the tears welling in her eyes. All the things said to her took her back to high school. Her ex thought she was in love with Steven. He wanted her to tell him that she had cheated with Steven. She never gave confirmation on something that was not true. It did not stop the rumors from getting to Macy, though. She had more than a few things to say about her friendship with Steven and tended to take things too far.

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