35. Emerson Gray Area
emerson: gray area
I KEPT BLINKING, REALLY QUICKLY, in succession, at my phone. On the one hand, I knew my sister was in Peachtree Bluff. So, could this even be accurate? I also knew how great Photoshop was. So I knew I needed to take a step back, calm down. This might not even be real.
Even still, as Chase walked over to me, I stuck my phone in his face.
“Have you seen this?” I practically yelled at him.
I knew he had not. Because he did not have Google Alerts on his own name like I did.
I mean, like I did on my name. And I may or may not have now had them on him too because, come on, costars.
There it was, in live, living color, a picture of my sister, walking out of Metzger OBGYN.
I mean, nothing out of the ordinary about that.
She could have had her yearly. Or a UTI.
But, in her hands, blown up and circled in red by some media outlet that thought they could get a few clicks, were prenatal vitamins and prenatal DHA.
There was only one reason, to my knowledge, that a woman was ever put on prenatal vitamins…
Chase studied the picture. “So, she’s pregnant.” He sighed. “I guess she made her choice.”
I was mystified by this response. “I’m sorry. What?”
I heard footsteps behind me and then arms on mine and then Kyle’s voice saying, “I saw the picture. Don’t freak out.”
“My sister is pregnant!” I whisper-hissed, turning toward him. “And this douchebag isn’t even reacting.”
Kyle let out his breath. “Well, he isn’t reacting, I would assume, because he is aware that it is not his baby.”
“What?” Okay. Now I was truly confused. Caroline was not one to sleep around. And how would Kyle know whose baby she was having, and I wouldn’t?
Before I could react more, Vivi flew in. “Emerson! I need to talk to you, like, alone.”
I looked from Chase to Kyle. There was so much going on here, so much I needed to know.
But, for right now, my niece needed me. And whatever they were talking about was something I was pretty sure she shouldn’t be privy to.
One should never find out one’s own mother is pregnant via social media.
Or… what if… What if Vivi was pregnant, and Caroline was retrieving vitamins for her!
Oh my gosh. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the corner.
“What do you need to tell me?” I asked breathlessly, my heart pounding.
“Um,” Vivi looked around.
“Just spit it out!” I said, my mind reeling. Would her life be totally over? Could Kyle and I adopt the baby? Yes! That was the solution. Kyle and I could adopt Vivi’s baby.
“Geez. Okay. It’s just that, I saw my dad sneaking out of my house this morning, like, really early. Or maybe really late? I’m not sure. I got up to go to the bathroom, and I heard these footsteps, and I peeked out my door and it was Dad.”
“Wait. So, you aren’t pregnant?”
She looked truly mystified. “I’m sorry. What?”
I waved my hand at her, scolding myself for being a little disappointed that my whole adoption plan wasn’t going to pan out. “Are you sure it was your dad?”
Vivi crossed her arms. “You’re usually good at this stuff. What is wrong with you? Am I sure it was my dad? Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure I recognize the man whose DNA I share half of. But thanks for following up.”
My head was clearing. “Sorry. Of course you do. Do you think he was, like, with your mom?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. It was so bizarre. And now I’m like, is something going on with my parents and that’s why Chase won’t tell us what happened? I mean, he’s chivalrous like that. He would protect her skanky honor.” She paused. “But is it skanky when it’s, like, your actual husband?”
I put my hand on my hip, briefly considering this. “It’s kind of a gray area, I think. But she’s your mom, so maybe we allow it?”
Vivi nodded. “Yeah. But, like, are they getting back together?”
That was the million-dollar question. Because I knew James wanted to get back together.
And while it was somewhat inconceivable that any straight woman, anywhere, in any world, would break up with Chase Aarons, maybe that was why.
Caroline had always had a soft spot for James.
Nothing was out of the question when it came to him, in my opinion.
I looked down at my phone. “Um, Viv, your lunch hour is almost over.”
“Shoot! Okay. Just, like, I don’t know. Make of that what you will.”
I kissed her and said, “I’ll pick you up from school and then we’re Peachtree bound, baby!” I said.
“Peachtree bound!”
I rushed back to the boys, trying to seem nonchalant.
But now things were really crazy. Did Chase know this wasn’t his baby because it was James’s?
I just couldn’t see Caroline bringing James to Peachtree for the hoedown with Chase while she was having an affair with him.
But who knew? People were into weird stuff.
Maybe she liked sneaking around with her ex.
I hoped not. But crazier things had happened.
“What’s going on with her?” Chase asked.
“Oh, um.” I bit my lip. “Just girl stuff.”
Neither asked any further questions, which was the point. “So, can we get back to my pregnant sister?” I was so confused now. Could it be James’s baby? “Are you sure it isn’t your baby, Chase? Because surely it isn’t some rando.”
Kyle took my forearms and said, “Honey, don’t be upset. But it’s not a rando.” He took a deep breath. “It’s me.”
My mouth wouldn’t even move.
“You’re doing great here, man,” Chase said, slapping Kyle on the back.
He turned to me. “What your articulate fiancé is trying to say is that Caroline wanted to have a baby for you, but she was afraid she couldn’t get pregnant, so she didn’t want to tell you.
But I guess the insemination worked. So, good for all of you. ”
My eyes popped open wide. “She’s pregnant.”
“Babe, it’s going to be fine,” Kyle said.
“But I’m pregnant!” I shrieked.
Chase started laughing.
“This is not funny,” I said to him, putting my index finger to his chest. I took a deep breath.
I was going to handle this. For once today, I was going to be the calm one.
“Nope. This is great. This is fine. I was already taking a year off work when the baby is born. And we always wanted three anyway, right?” I asked Kyle.
“So you aren’t mad at me?” Kyle asked.
I laughed. “No, honey. I’m not mad. I mean, we just found out. How could you have known? This is the sweetest surprise. Especially from my sister, because she’s going to ruin that perfect, perfect body of hers.”
“That perfect, perfect body,” Chase agreed ruefully.
I rolled my eyes. Then, taking the focus off myself for a moment, which, I’d admit, could be hard, something occurred to me. “Wait. She made her choice? You asked my sister to choose between me and you and she chose me?”
He scrunched his nose.
“Awww,” I said in a dreamy voice. “She chose me.”
Then I smacked him on the shoulder. “Are you crazy? Making her choose between us is literally the most immature thing I’ve ever heard. What is wrong with you?”
He let out a slow breath and looked like he was going to cry. “I miss her so much. I can barely function. Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
“Forgive you? Are you serious?”
Although, honestly, she wasn’t going to have a lot of great options pregnant with my child, so, like, if she was ever going to, now was probably the moment.
Even still, I leaned in. “I take it all back. The plan. Vivi and me helping you get her back. I rescind my offer. That offer was made without full information.”
“Em,” Kyle said. “You’re being kind of mean.”
“I’m being mean!” I countered. Then a knowing washed over me. I was being so crazy because of the pregnancy hormones. That had to be it. I mean, not about this. This was my right as a sister. But about the whole Vivi-being-pregnant idea.
Chase threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not great at adult things. Okay?”
“Caroline is,” I said. That softened me. I mean, not that I wanted her to have to mother him. Nothing like that. It was kind of sweet when people’s strengths and weaknesses weren’t necessarily the same. Like they completed each other in some way. Like Kyle and me.
Kyle put his hands up. “Look, you two, Caroline is supersensitive about this pregnancy.”
“You’ve talked to her?” I asked anxiously.
He shook his head. “No, I called her this morning, but she hasn’t called me back.
But we’ve had a lot of talks up until now, so I just want you two to lay low about the whole thing.
Don’t tell her you know until she’s ready to tell you.
And Em, as we all know, sometimes a pregnancy doesn’t equal a baby, so let’s just give her space. ”
I nodded resolutely. That was going to be super, super hard considering we were going home for Thanksgiving tonight. How was I just going to pretend like I didn’t know this huge thing? I mean, Kyle and I were having two babies.
“Well, in that case, that reconfirms that we should wait to tell everyone about this little nugget because I don’t want Caroline to feel panicky.”
Chase looked so sullen I put my arm around him. “I’m still mad at you,” I said.
“But you’re still going to help me?” he asked hopefully.
“We’ll see,” I said. “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, after all. A day for helping the less fortunate.”
“That is not what Thanksgiving is for,” Kyle said.
I shushed him.
“I wish I could go to the Murphy family Thanksgiving,” Chase said.
I just patted his shoulder. I was trying to be cool, calm, and collected. But all I could think about was how, next Thanksgiving, I’d be a mother of three.