FicWad

“Who was that?” Billy asked as she joined me again.

“Frank, I met him on the plane yesterday.” I said casually, before taking a daring sip of my cappuccino. I looked up at her. Her eyes were slightly red, and I knew she had been crying.

“What did it say?” I asked nervously. She gulped and took a deep breath, before looking up at me.

“Positive.” she said quietly, looking down at her drink.

“That’s great. Ben’s gonna have a new brother….or sister?” I said with a smile.

“Yeah…” she sighed. I took her hand in mine, and looked her in the eyes.

“Dylan is going to be thrilled, and Ben will be so excited.” I said she looked at me, the corners of her mouth begging to stretch into a smile.

“Don’t worry about the money. You’ve helped me through a lot. I have enough. I’ll help you out. And I’ll look after Ben whenever you need some alone time… or I might kidnap him, and keep him forever.” I said, causing her to smile, as her eyes slowly filled up with tears.

“You’re having a baby!” I squealed, with a smile. Her lips stretched into a smile as well.

“Yeah… I am. God I love you.” she said, as she stroked my hand with her thumb.

“I know.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“You are so never going to live this down.” I said as we drove to the motel I had stayed at. She glanced at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“You did a pregnancy test in Starbucks.” I laughed. She punched my arm, in a vain effort of trying to make me stop laughing.

“I had to! It was killing me.” she defended. I managed to stop laughing, and stared out of the window, admiring all of the houses.

“You know, if it’s a girl, you should name her Star. And if it’s a boy, you should name him Buck.” I said, causing me to erupt into another burst of laughter.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Billy said sarcastically.

“Actually. Star is a pretty name.” she said seriously. I inhaled a deep breath, and managed to stop myself from laughing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“I’m gonna need to borrow your son later.” I said as I smiled at the old couple slowly walking down the street, arms linked; a lump forming in my throat.

“What for? You’re not taking him to any clubs or anything, and if he comes back with a tattoo, it better say ‘MOM’” Billy said giving me a quick suspicious look.

“He needs to help me decide whether to take the offer.” I said. I put my hand in my pocket, and brought out the napkin. “You know Frank, the guy in Starbucks, while you were off doing… stuff?” I asked. She nodded.

“Well… He said that him, and his friend are looking for a roommate. I think I’m going to take it.” I said.

“Oh, that’s nice. If he’s a creep, you tell me, and I’ll sort him out.” she said in her ‘motherly’ tone.

We collected my rucksack from the motel, and then went back to her house. I can tell you, that the look on her face when she saw the room I stayed in was hilarious. I swear her eyes nearly popped out of her head at one point. The best part was what she had to say to the owner. Something about how she wouldn't even allow her dog to shit in here, because he’d probably catch some kind of disease. I can safely assure you, that I don’t think were welcome back anytime soon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Aren’t you supposed to be going to check out that house?” Dylan asked as he took a bite of his pizza. I hadn’t eaten pizza in years, so I was enjoying this moment.

“I can’t be shoved; I’ll go check it out tomorrow. It’s Sunday, so I doubt they’ll be busy.” I said, as I scrunched up my nose.

I looked over at Billy and smiled. She smiled back. I could tell it was forced, and that she was mentally debating with herself she hadn’t spoken much since we got in, and she had that distant look in her eyes, telling me she was thinking over things.

“I’m not too happy about you moving in with two guys.” Dylan said, very matter of factly, giving me ‘the’ look. I smiled, and looked up to meet his iced blue eyes.

“I can handle myself. I’m an ex-boxer, if you don’t remember.” I said with a smirk.

“Yes, thank you. I remember. I had a black eye for two weeks.” he said with a scowl.

“What’s a boxer?” Ben asked, causing me to laugh slightly.

“You know karate, and martial arts, and how they fight each other?” Dylan asked, looking down at his son. Ben nodded, and looked up at his dad. I smiled at how alike they looked. Both have the same black hair, falling into their eyes. Both have the same, small, nose. They were both good-looking, and if Ben grew up to look like his dad, then he’d definitely have a long line of girls after him. “Well, Auntie Max used to punch other people like her, and that’s called boxing. But you’re only allowed to punch people in a special place, called a boxing ring.” Dylan tried to explain to his attentive son. Ben turned to me, with an admiral look.

“So when you were younger, you used to punch people?” he asked. I laughed at his expression, and choice of words, before nodding. “Did you win?”

“Yeah. I won loads of medals.” I said, smiling as I remembered old memories.

“Can I see them?” he asked with an excited expression. I sighed.

“They’re at Grammy and Gramps house.” I said with a fake smile.

“Can we go and look at them?” he asked expectantly.

I inhaled a deep breath, and looked at Dylan. He nodded, and turned to his son, gaining his attention.

“We can ask them, next time we go.” Dylan said with a smile, as he looked down at his ‘mini-me’.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Well, this is it. . .” I said as I looked down at the napkin in my hands, with the words ‘1330 Rosewood, Avenue’ scrawled across it. I tore my eyes up from the napkin to look at the house. It was fairly big, and looked newly built. There was a dark blue car occupying the driveway. I looked down to my left, to meet with my 5 year old nephew’s hazel eyes. He put his small hand in mine, before we made our way up to the front door.

I stood at the door, with Ben’s hand clutched tightly in mine. I stared at the oak door, biting my lip, before hesitantly knocking lightly. At first, there was no answer, and then I heard a rustling noise, before the door finally opened.

I looked up at the tall guy, who was staring down at me. His brown eyes surrounded by thick rimmed glasses. His mousy brown hair ticking up slightly in various places.
“Hi, I’m Max. I don’t know if Frank told you, but I’m here about the spare room?” I said politely. He just stared at me, before averting his eyes down to Ben. I felt Ben’s hand tense. I squeezed it reassuringly.
“Oh yeah, come in.” he said finally, stepping aside. I allowed Ben in first, with his hand still gripped in mine. We both stood awkwardly in the hallway, Mikey (I’m assuming), walked past us, and into another room.

I heard mumbling, which grew louder, and by the sound of it there were two people having a conversation.

“You didn’t tell me she had a kid.” Mikey said.

“She doesn’t have a kid.” I heard Frank’s distinctive voice say, before he appeared in front of me. He smiled at me, before his eyes fell on Ben. No emotion on his face.

“He’s not mine.” I said, causing his attention to fall again on me. “He’s my nephew.” I said with a smile, as I looked down at Ben adoringly.

“I told you.” Frank said, before slapping Mikey.

Ben laughed at Frank and Mikey. My stomach sunk, and I swallowed the lump which had appeared in my throat.

“Max, this is Mikey, Mikey this is Max.” Frank said introducing us to each other. I smiled politely at Mikey, and he returned it. “… And this is?” Frank asked, as he sunk to Ben’s level with a big smile.

“Ben.” Ben said with a small giggle

“Well Ben, I think we have some muffins. Would you like a muffin?” he asked, still sunk to Ben’s level. Ben nodded enthusiastically, before looking up at me. Frank looked up at me with his polite smile, and tempting hazel eyes, obviously asking for my permission. I smiled, and nodded. Frank stood up, and motioned for Ben to follow him. I let go of Ben’s hand, and allowed him to follow frank.

Mikey stood there staring at me. I shifted the weight from my left foot, to my right, and back again. I felt completely uncomfortable, and like a circus freak. Thank god for make up.

“Sorry about that.” Mikey said suddenly.

“What?” I asked, struck off guard.

“I assumed he was yours.” he said sheepishly.

“Nah. Forget about it.” I said with a friendly smile, blocking access to my emotions. He smiled back.

“Shall we go check out the house then?” he asked suddenly, and rather shyly.
I nodded and smiled, as I looked up at him.

We made our way to the kitchen, where Ben was sitting at the kitchen table, with a muffin in his hands, while Frank poured himself some orange juice into a glass. Frank looked up and smiled at me warmly. I smiled back, and glanced around the kitchen. It was a nice big size, new kitchen cupboards, and new appliances.

“Whatcha think?” he asked me. I brought my eyes back to his, and smiled.

“It’s nice.” I said.

“I like it too.” Ben said, causing Mikey and Frank to laugh.

“Shall we see the spare room?” Frank asked. I nodded, before Ben came up to me, with his muffin in his hand.

The spare room, which was painted cream, had a double bed, a walk in closet, and a bedside table. It was a pretty big room.

“I like it.” Ben said as he sat on the bed.

“Me too fella.” I said as I looked around, walking in a full circle. I looked at frank as he leant against the wall, with a smile on his lips. Mikey had remained downstairs.

“When do you wanna move in?” he asked with a smirk, seeming to read my mind.

“What do you think Ben?” I asked, looking at him, as he took a bite of his muffin.

“I think you should. And I think you should now.” he mumbled with his mouth full of muffin. I laughed, and turned my gaze to frank.

“When do you want me to move in?” I answered his question with a question.

“Today?” he shrugged.

“What about Mikey?” I asked.

“He thinks you’re cute.” Frank said simply.

I smiled, and allowed my eyes to close if only for a second.

“Ok.” I said with a smile. Frank smiled, and sat on the bed next to Ben.

“Whatcha think? Shall me and you help her get her stuff?” he said looking down at Ben. I smiled but looked away, pushing away old memories, which were trying to resurface.

“Are you sure you want me to move in today?” I asked. He looked up at me with what I’d learned as his infamous smirk.

“Of course. The sooner, the better.” he said standing up, and looking at me. “My car?” he asked.