Authors: Angel Steel
“What are friends for?”
“I need to go and see sis and Clint. Do you want to come? I’m going to ask if he wants to go shopping with me for baby furniture, since he shopped for Seth.”
“Let me take a shower and I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
“Take your time, I’m in no hurry.”
Chantal raced off towards her room. Skylar was glad that she didn’t ask if she slept with Nate; she knew what the answer would be. She could have lied, but knew better. Once she got home, she was going to tell Nate that he was a father, and hoped he would be happy about it like she was.
* * *
Chantal and Skylar left her place and drove over to her sister’s house. Pulling up in the driveway, Skylar saw Seth running out with a big smile on his face.
“Auntie Sky, Auntie Sky.”
Grinning, Skylar jumped out and walked towards him, opening her arms as Seth jumped straight into them. She laughed. “How’s my boy doing?”
Seth kissed her all over her face, giggling. “Me good. Can I come home with you, Sky?”
God, she loved him. “Maybe another day. Where are Mum and Dad?” she asked, walking towards the door.
“Mommy’s baking and Daddy’s in the garage.”
“Okay, let’s go see what Mummy is cooking first, and then see Daddy. What do you think, little man?”
“Okay.”
Chantal followed both her and Seth into the house towards the kitchen.
“Something smells burnt, sis.” She loved teasing her sister about her cooking, though she’s never burnt anything; it was just for fun.
“Skylar,” Lizzy came running out and wrapped her arms around her.
“Hey sis, how’s it going?”
Lizzy released her, “Things are good. What’s with the visit?”
“Can’t I just come over and see my little sis?”
“Sure you can, you know that.”
Skylar placed Seth down and moved towards a stool to sit down; Chantal followed. She noticed Chantal was quiet and wondered why; it wasn’t like her. Looking over at her sister, she said, “Well, I did come to see you, and my little man, but I also need to talk to you.”
Lizzy pulled a tray out of the oven and faced her, “Oh, okay. What did you want to talk about, Sky?”
Skylar looked over at Chantal, and she nodded. “First thing is, I need to borrow Clint today.”
Lizzy handed a glass of water to Skylar. “Okay, and what for?”
“Well, the thing is, I need him to come shopping with me.”
She frowned at her. “Why would you want Clint to go shopping with you? I can do that.”
“Um, well, he’s the best person to take.”
Lizzy looked from Skylar to Chantal. “Am I missing something here? Why do you want to go shopping with Clint?” She walked over towards Skylar and stood in front of her. “What’s going on, Skylar?”
Chantal patted her on her leg, and Skylar faced her sister. “Well, I need him to come to certain shops with me,” she whispered to her
. Jesus, why was this so hard to tell her
? Skylar and Lizzy always spoke about everything, except the one thing that she had always kept to herself.
“What kind of shops?”
“Sky, just tell her. It will be fine,” Chantal told her.
Skylar looked up at her. “I’m pregnant, and I need him to come shopping with me. I know he did most of the shopping for Seth, so I thought he would be the perfect person to take.” Skylar looked at her hands in her lap. She couldn’t look at her sister’s reaction.
After several minutes, Skylar looked at her. Lizzy had the biggest smile on her face. She threw herself at Skylar, screaming.
Well, that was better than what I expected,
she thought. Skylar hugged her sister back.
“I’m going to be an auntie,” she said, smiling.
“Yes,” Skylar answered her.
“We need to celebrate; this is awesome news, Skylar.” She pulled both Skylar and Chantal in for a group hug. Before they released each other, Clint came running in.
“What the hell?” he said, breathing heavily.
Lizzy frowned at him, “Why are you breathing like that?”
“I heard you scream, woman. Thought something was wrong,” he answered her.
Lizzy walked over towards her husband. “That’s one of the reasons why I love you.” She leaned up and kissed him. Clint wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in more to deepen the kiss.
“Guys, people here. I don’t really need to bring my breakfast up,” Skylar laughed.
Clint growled at her. Looking down at his wife, he asked her, “So, why did you scream, baby?”
Lizzy looked over at Skylar, then back to him, smiling. “I’m going to be an auntie,” she said, jumping up and down.
Clint looked at Skylar, “Well, shit. Congrats Sky.” Clint walked over and hugged his sister-in-law.
“Thanks,” Skylar replied.
“So, who’s the lucky guy? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
Chantal snorted at his question. Skylar glared at her. “Chantal, leave it,” Skylar said.
“I didn’t say anything,” Chantal told her.
“You didn’t have to,” she growled at her.
“What’s going on?” Clint asked.
“It’s just complicated, that’s all.”
Clint released her and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a beer. “So, who’s the guy? Is he happy about the news?” Clint asked.
Skylar took a sip of her drink, “I met him when I first moved into my place, and he’s a good guy, Clint.” Sipping her drink again, she did not want to have this conversation with him; it was supposed to be a happy moment.
Chantal glared at her, and Clint picked it up. “What are you not saying, Sky?”
Couldn’t this be easier?
“It’s just complicated, Clint. Plus, I haven’t exactly told Nate about the baby yet,” she whispered to him.
“Why haven’t you told him? Are you together or not?”
“I don’t know how to tell Nate. And I don’t know if we are together or not. Can we please just drop it?” Skylar told him.
Clint nodded, “I will drop it for now, but later you’ll tell us what’s going on.”
“I will.”
“I wanted to know if you could come over and do some measurements in the spare room, so that when I go shopping, everything I get will fit. And would you be able to come with me and the boys and Chantal to grab the stuff, please?”
“Sure, I have no plans. Let me grab some things and I’ll meet you out front.”
“Thanks.”
Skylar looked over at her sister, “I’ll tell you everything, once I figure it out myself, okay?”
“I know you will. I just hate seeing you like this, sis. I won’t say anything more until you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Lizzy.”
“Well, you better get going. Clint will be waiting out front for you guys.”
Skylar got up and hugged her.
“Keep your chin up, Sky. Everything will be all right.”
“I hope so, Lizzy.” She didn’t want to cry in front of her sister; if she did, she wouldn’t let her leave until she told her what was really going on.
“I love you, you know that,” Lizzy told her.
“Yeah I do, love you too, Liz.” Skylar let go of her and walked out the front door towards her car. Chantal followed right behind her.
“Ready?” Clint asked her.
“As I’ll ever be,” she said to him and threw her car keys towards him. Clint jumped in the driver’s seat and Chantal sat in the back. As she pulled on her seatbelt, she contemplated how she was going to tell Nate about the baby.
Chapter 31
Nate followed Dom over to Skylar’s house. Stomping up the back stairs, he found him on the veranda. “Do you have a thing for Skylar?” he asked while clenching his fists.
Dom stared at him, “Of course I have a thing for her, Nate. She’s like a little sister to me.”
Nate walked towards him. “Well, it seems to me that you have more of a thing for her than that, Dom,” he said.
“Even if I did, what’s it to you? She’s not yours, Nate. If she was, you would have been here by her side, not running away to sort out your shit. Or doing God knows what or with whoever,” he growled back.
“You saw what happened to her. How the hell could I have handled that by staying here?” Nate wiped his hand over his face. “And I didn’t do anything with anyone while I was gone. I only thought of her the whole damn time.”
This was all just fucked up,
he thought.
“I know what happened to her, Nate. I was there too, but I would have never left her here by herself to go through it alone. You should have been here with her.” Dom pushed him out of his way and walked down on to the lawn, away from him.
Nate followed right behind him, and swung Dom around. “Did anything happen between you and Skylar while I was gone?” Nate asked.
“Like what?” Dom asked.
“Did you sleep with her?”
Dom laughed at him and walked away from him. Nate stomped after him and slammed into his back. Dom swung around and got in his face, “What the fuck is your problem, Nate?”
“Skylar’s mine. Did you do anything with her?” he growled.
Dom pushed him back, “She’s not yours, Nate. If she were, you would have never left her side.” Dom looked around, “But look, she’s here and you left her.”
Nate had enough of this; Skylar was his. “Like fuck,” Nate yelled. He punched Dom straight in the face with a right hook, knocking him to the ground.
Dom growled, got up and slammed into him, knocking both of them down. Dom threw punches at Nate connecting with his jaw, nose, and slamming the last in his gut. He stood up, brushing dirt off his jeans. Nate jumped up, and they circled each other, ready for the next round.
“So, are you going to tell me if anything happened between you two, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?” Nate yelled at him.
“Try your best, Nate. I am not telling you shit, especially when you don’t deserve the answer.”
Nate made a run for it towards him, slamming into the ground with Dom. Both of them rolled over, trying to get the upper hand, but they were equally matched in strength and combat. Nate had to get the upper hand on Dom so he could get this shit sorted out between them.