Page 69 of Thick & Thin

And while I knew my weight gain had more to do with my pregnancy, and the hell I had gone through to bring Caleb into the world, and less to do with gummy bears, it wasn’t like I would have told Josh that. Everyone in town knew I had a kid. I was sure he knew it too. And based on his too many cocks comment back at Sprints, I was sure he had been told the same things I heard whispered around town. I was the town whore with a kid and no clue who the father was, which was hilarious since I had only been with one person one time, and I knew exactly who Caleb’s father was.

Still, I let them think what they wanted because it was my life, and I could handle it. Too much time had passed. It was too late to tell the truth. Mr. Black had passed without ever knowing Caleb was his blood, and the guilt over that alone would keep my lips sealed.

It didn’t hurt that Josh had become a total dick.

No.

I would keep things the way they were. It was hard, yet it was easier for everyone. When you were a single mom with a rambunctious little boy, easy was always the best way to go.

I slept like shit that night, waking every hour and tossing and turning. When I finally did go into a deep sleep, it was almost morning. I got in close to two hours before I woke to Caleb jumping on the bed, and the morning sun tearing through my curtains.

“Wake up, Mommy! I here. I here!”

He fell on top of me, and his elbow landed in the center of my stomach.

“Arg!” I called out, growling playfully at the pain. “You got me right in the tummy.”

He laughed and rolled onto his side beside me and wrapped his arm around me.

“I missed you,” he said, snuggling into me.

I pulled him closer, his little frame reminding me of all the reasons I had to be strong.

“I missed you more. Did you have fun with Uncle Devin and Aunt Lilly?”

He nodded, his soft brown hair bouncing with the movement. “We made cookies.”

“Yum. That sounds fun.”

The sounds of Devin, Lilly, and their two echoed into my room around the same time the smell of bacon wafted over me. I breathed it in, and my stomach growled in appreciation.

“Is Pop cooking breakfast?”

Caleb nodded again; his eyes wide in excitement. My boy loved bacon. Then again, who didn’t?

“Go get yourself some. I’m going to get dressed, and I’ll be right out.”

He jumped from the bed, landing hard on his feet, before he ran from the room screaming down the hallway for his pop to give him bacon.

I put on a bra and a pair of socks. The linoleum in the kitchen was sometimes cold against the bottoms of my feet. By the time I turned the corner into the kitchen, everyone was eating and laughing at something Emmy Bear was saying.

I walked by her, shuffled her dark curls, and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

“Did y’all leave me any bacon?” I asked before I went over to the coffeemaker and made myself a cup.

“Daddy said you don’t get none because you slept too late.”

I looked over at Devin, and he put his head down and laughed around his own piece of bacon.

“Yeah, well, your daddy can kiss my butt.”

She laughed.

“Did you have fun last night?” Lilly asked, wiping syrup from my nephew Jacob’s face.

It was amazing how much he looked like Devin when Dev was a little boy.

I nodded and blew over my hot cup. “Yeah. It was nice to get out for a bit. Thanks for keeping Caleb for me.”

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