14. Caroline

"They are so cute together," I say, standing in front of the bed where Walker and Jude are lying side by side. They're both on their backs, kicking and fidgeting. "He was good for you?" I ask.

"He was an angel," Andi says. "He mostly just slept. I need you to get him to teach Jude that trick. Amelia was a good sleeper, but Jude makes it his mission to stay awake as long as possible. Then, he gets too cranky to fall asleep. It makes so much sense," she says sarcastically. "We spend the first part of our lives struggling to sleep. The middle is spent wishing we had more time to sleep. Then, in the end, we can't stay awake, even if we want to."

"That's deep. Unless your Grams. Then everybody just wishes you would sleep more often."

We both laugh, returning our focus to our fidgeting babies.

"At least they're cute," I say.

"So cute," she agrees.

"Speaking of… You came in here looking like you were on cloud nine. Did something happen?"

I bite my lip. "Um, well, it was kind of the most amazing night of my life. So there was that."

Andi narrows her eyes. "Okay… But this whole thing is still pretend, right?"

"I mean… Yes. Maybe. We've just always kept things so discreet. It was different tonight. Like I was his to show off, and he seemed so proud to do it. Almost like he'd been wishing he could this whole time."

"Dude," Andi says. She's smiling now and wiggling her eyebrows.

I laugh. "Stop that."

"Dude," she repeats, shoving me playfully now.

I lift a pillow from the bed and whack it against the side of her head, nearly knocking her over. "Sorry, Jude, but your mom deserved that."

Andi's hair is hanging in front of her face as she leans forward, laughing. She straightens, fixes her hair, and points a finger at me. "You know none of us ever believed you two weren't banging in secret, right? It was so obvious. You've probably already hooked up dozens of times."

Try hundreds, I think. "And you just let me believe that you believed me? How could you?"

She laughs. "Listen to yourself! How are you the victim here, exactly?" She's still smiling, and I can see there's no venom in the question. She's just highly amused by this whole thing and probably has been for years.

"I'm not saying that. I just… ugh. Was it really that obvious?"

"Pretty much. And Caroline, there's one thing… I've let you off the hook for this for too long. But now, given everything that is happening with you and Jake, I'm going to ask you point blank. And if you lie to me, I swear to God, I will end you."

I brace myself because I know what's coming.

"Is my brother Jake's father?"

I swallow, and I haven't even said a word before Andi's eyes light up.

She leans forward suddenly, pointing and gasping. "Holy shit! Are you freaking serious?" she gives me another outraged shove, but she's laughing and standing now, dancing from foot to foot. "Are. You. Serious?" she asks, punctuating each word with another little shove.

"You're going to bruise me!" I complain, laughing along with her. "I didn't even answer your question."

"You didn't have to. I saw it in your face."

"Okay, okay. Maybe he's the father."

And flops down on the bed, her amusement shifting suddenly to wonderment. She's staring at the wall and then jerks her gaze up to me. "I'm an Aunt! That means I'm Walker's Aunt! Did you hear that, Walker? I'm your Aunt Andi. Hmm. She says. That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Aunt Summers? Is that too weird, like something you'd call an old lady?"

"Not exactly the most pressing question right now…" I say. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to. I really did. But I didn't want you to have to keep that kind of secret from Jake."

She nods slowly. "One, I'm still going to be kinda pissed that you didn't tell me something like this. Two, I kinda understand. Three, how the hell could you not tell Jake he has a son? What were you thinking?"

"I know, I know," I say, covering my face. "But you heard him at that press conference after the Sophie Gray thing, right? He had me convinced he didn't even want to know if he did accidentally knock someone up. And then there was the part where he assured everybody that any woman claiming to have his kid was a liar and a golddigger. What was I supposed to do?"

"Call him an idiot and tell him that you were pregnant?"

"Okay, yeah. In retrospect, maybe that makes some sense. But I panicked. So I pretended the baby was from some other guy. There was never another guy, though. And then I was going to tell him in the delivery room, but he was so mad and stormed off. Maybe he knew and didn't want to give me a chance to tell him. But then tonight, I was going to tell him, and he said he already knew."

Andi's eyes narrow. "What?"

I throw up my hands. "That's what I was thinking. But then he said the thing he already knew was how we're perfect for each other. As casual hookups for life."

"He didn't say that…"

"Not in those exact words, no. But he was happy and kinda horny, and I was just going with it. And I lost my nerve. So now I still need to find the right time to tell him. I was thinking maybe I could talk to him about it more tonight, but then he was going to give us some time for girl talk and went to the bar with Jesse. So I guess I'm still waiting on that."

"Wow," Andi lifts a nail and starts chewing.

"I know… But I promised myself I would tell him within a week when we agreed to this whole thing. I still have five days. Six, if you don't count tonight."

"Caroline," Andi says with a sigh. "How did you manage to get tangled up in so many secrets?"

I cover my face with my hands. "A small scoop of cowardice and a big scoop of nervously spitting things out of my mouth before I stop to think? Oh," I add. "And a side of unconfronted anxiety."

She laughs and comes over to wrap me in a tight hug. "We're going to get through this. But, for the record, I'm glad I don't have to be a fly on the wall when you do tell him. And, also, for the record, you should really tell him soon. He needs to know, even if you both think he doesn't want to."

I groan because I know she's right. "When are they going to get back here, anyway?"

Andi checks her phone. "It's late. I'm going to take Jude, collect Jesse, and send your man back up here. And then you're going to text me as soon as you are done with your little confrontation. If it gets weird and sexual, please don't text me about that, or I'll personally come back to your room and throw up in your trash can."

"Noted," I say.