One More Chance (Chance, Part 2) (9 page)

“Hey you’re home,” Quinn says as she jumps up to walk over towards me, “So, how did it go?” she asks excitedly.

“It went really well,” I say truthfully.

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Yes, but we talked and decided to be only friends.”

“What? Why?” she asks looking surprised.  All I can do is point down to my stomach so she’ll know why. “Oh, you told him?”

“I had to.  I can’t start something out on
a lie like that.”

“Okay, well at least he wasn’t a complete dick about it,” Quinn says looking relieved.

“Who wasn’t a complete dick?” Brody asks with Liam and Spence right behind him.

“Haley’s date, he wasn’t a dick so that’s good,” Quinn says trying to cover up her comments.

“Is there a problem?” Liam asks.

“No problem at all,” I say with a smile.

“I’m glad.  I can’t wait to meet him,” Quinn says lying through her teeth.

“You’ll meet him sometime.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to head to bed,” I say as a yawn takes over.

“Yeah, we’re gonna head out too,” Liam says as he and Spence walk towards the door.

“Good night,” I say before heading towards the stairs.

Chapter Six

The next few months go by quickly and before we know it
, there are only a few weeks of school left.

“Only three weeks of school left
, can you believe it?” Quinn asks.

“No, but I’m thankful,” I say as I look in the mirror.

“You’re starting to really show,” she points out.

“Thanks,” I say mockingly.

“I’m just saying,” she says apologetically.

“I know
, I need to get out of here, because I can’t have people talking.”

“When’s your next doctor appointment?”

“Tomorrow at three.”

“Can I come along?”
she asks.

“Sure.”

“Has Liam tried to reach you?”

“He has through text, but I’ve played things off pretty well.  I just told him that night I was a drunken mess and I’m pretty sure he bought it.”

“Let’s hope so.  Brody said Nina is planning their wedding and it’s probably going to be around the same time your due date is.”

“Lovely.  I wish he would stop talking to me, forget he ever met me, then things could be a little easier.”

“What are you going to do if the baby comes out looking like him?”

“I don’t know.  I mean we both have blonde hair
and blue eyes, so I can always say it gets that from me, but if it’s a boy I don’t know.”

“I hate that you’re going to London and will be going through this pregnancy all alone.  You shouldn’t have to do this by yourself.”

“Why not?  I’m the one that got into this mess; it’s only fair I have to deal with it.”

“No you’re not and you know it.  Maybe if you told him
, things would be different,” she says looking hopeful.

“
How…he ends it with Nina who he’s marrying, to be with me because I’m having his child?  No, I don’t want that.  I want a man who wants to be with me and only me, no one else.”

“You deserve to be happy
Hails.”

“I am happy.  He gave me a part of him that I’ll love for the rest of my life.  I couldn’t ask for any greater gift,” I say as I rub my
growing bump.

It’s easy to hide my bump now since its cooler out by wearing either a hoodie sweatshirt or baggie shirts.  No one says anything and I’m thankful.

“Have you told your parents yet?”

“No.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“I don’t know yet.  I’m a horrible liar and they know that
, so I haven’t said anything.”

“You need to tell them.”

“I know and I will.”

“
Hails, you are five months along,” she says reminding me.

“I know.”

“Are you going to find out the sex?”

“Yes
, so I can start planning and buying things; I need to get the baby’s room ready.”

“Do you have any names picked out?”

“Yes, if it’s a girl it’s going to be Lily Anne and if it’s a boy it’s going to be Landon Jacob.”

“Well, I think those names are beautiful and you have time to figure it out,” she says as she finishes getting ready for class.

“Are you going to put Liam on the birth certificate?”

“I don’t know yet.”

We head out for class and thankfully
, the day goes by quickly.  I text Kenzie all day and get her input on talking to Mom and Dad about my pregnancy.  It’s hard, because I feel like I’ve let them down and I don’t want to disappoint them, but I know I have.

Kenzie has completely changed and is being the supportive sister that I need her to be. I’m not sure what happened to make her actually grow up, but I couldn’t be happier.

Wednesday comes and it’s time to head to my appointment.  Quinn is ready to go and doesn’t let me down.  We head inside and find the office pretty empty, which doesn’t upset me one bit.

“Haley Lawrence,” the nurse calls. I stand up
, as does Quinn who follows me to the small room. “I need you to put this on,” the nurse says as she hands me a gown.

I change and sit on the table while we wait for the doctor.

“Hi Haley, how are you?” Dr. Dixon says.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Good thanks.  So today we are going to listen to the heartbeat and do you want to know the gender of your baby?”

“Yes
, please.”

“
We will do an ultrasound and hopefully the baby will cooperate to let us know,” she says kindly.

“Oh
my gosh, that’s the heartbeat?” Quinn squeals as she hears the tiny beats.

“Sure is,” Dr. Dixon says.  Next the doctor puts the clear jelly on my stomach and rubs the wand so the machine can hopefully show me the gender of t
he baby.  “As you can see, the baby is right there, now if it will just turn we can try to determine if it’s a he or a she,” she says excitedly.

“Oh
my gosh, this is the coolest thing ever,” Quinn says as she watches the monitor.

I can’t help but feel excited seeing this tiny
person moving and living inside of me.  As much as I was scared before, I’m actually getting excited.

“What is that?” Quinn asks as she points the screen.

I start laughing instantly, “That’s an arm.”

“She’s right
, it is an arm.  Well, it looks like Haley is having a baby girl.”

“Seriously?”
I ask shocked.

“Yes ma
’am,” she says as she continues to move the wand.

“Yes, I love shopping for pink,” Quinn squeals in delight.

“A girl.  Lily Anne it is,” I say proudly.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Dr. Dixon says.

“Thank you.”  After the doctor wipes the jelly off, she advises me I can get dressed.  She comes back in and hands me a few small photographs, the first pictures of my daughter. “Thank you so much,” I say happily to the doctor.  I set another appointment for right before I leave to go to London and then we head out to go home.

“I can’t believe you are having a little
girl, that’s so exciting.  I will have her room all ready for you before you get home.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” she squeals.

“A baby girl,” I say in a dreamlike state.

“Are you excited?”

“I am.  I didn’t think I could be
this happy, but I really am.  I’m having a baby, a sweet precious baby.”

“Yes
, you are and we are going to figure everything out, because you are going to graduate with me next year.”

“I know.  That’s the plan.”
  We head home and I’m surprised to see Brody sitting on the porch waiting for us.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask as I walk towards the porch.

“What’s going on?” he eyes me curiously.

“Come inside and I’ll fill you in,” I say as I unlock the door.  He kisses Quinn on the cheek and they follow me inside.  I sit on the couch and Brody sits with Quinn on
the couch beside me.

“You two are in an awfully good mood, what’s up?”

“I’m pregnant,” I state proudly.

“What?”
he asks shocked. “Since when?”

“About five months ago.”

“Seriously?” he asks as he looks at my stomach.  I lift up the sweatshirt so he can see the small bump, “Holy shit.”

“We just came back from her doctor
’s appointment,” Quinn says happily.

“Is everything alright?” he asks
, now looking worried.

“Perfect, she’s perfect.”

“You’re having a baby girl?” he asks looking intrigued.

“Sure am. 
I just found out the sex today,” I say beaming.

“Congratulations,” he says as he leans over to give me a hug, “But Haley
, I thought you said you and Jason didn’t have sex.”

“We didn’t.”

“Then who’s the father?” he asks with a shocked look.

The question I’ve been dreading.

“She had a one night stand,” Quinn says quickly, knowing that I suck at lying.

“Okay and?”

“She doesn’t know his name, they were both drunk,” she says, answering for me.

“What?  You don’t get dumb and careless like that
Hails, you never have,” he says calling us out.

Shit.

“Everyone makes mistakes Brody, but she’s getting a beautiful baby girl out of it,” Quinn quips.

“When did this happen?” he asks curiously.

“Shit,” I say worriedly.

“Tell me the truth,” he demands.

“I can’t lie to you, but please don’t hate me and please promise me that what I tell you will stay between the three of us.  No one else Brody,” I plead.

“I promise,” he
says looking between Quinn and me.

“No
, I mean it.  You can’t say a word to anyone.  You have to swear on our lives you won’t tell.”

“I swear I won’t tell a single soul.  Now what’s going on?”

“It’s Liam’s.”

“What?  How?” he asks surprised as all hell.

“I don’t even know for sure how it happened; I just know that it did.”

“What the hell does that mean?”
he says louder than intended.

“It was the day I drove back to school to move out of this house.”

“Yeah, he came to talk to you to stop you.  How does it go from him talking to you to you two having sex and you getting pregnant?”

“
It just kind of happened,” I state.

“Have you slept with anyone else?”
he asks.

“No, that’s how I know it’s his.”

“When are you going to tell him?  Fuck, he’s getting married Hails.”

“I’m not going to tell him and neither are
you.”

“What?” he roars, “You can’t not tell him, he deserves to know.”

“No, Liam deserves to be happy.  He doesn’t deserve to have me ruin shit in his life and if I tell him I’m pregnant, that is going to destroy his relationship with Nina because that means he cheated on her.  I won’t do that to him, because neither of us even remembers it happening.”

“How do you know he doesn’t remember?”
he asks hastily.

“I know he doesn’t
based on what he said. Please Brody, you promised me you wouldn’t say anything.”

“I’m about to have a niece,” he says looking happy.

“Yes you are, but please, you can’t tell him, you can’t tell anyone,” I beg.

His smile quickly goes away,
“So you plan on telling people you had a one night stand and got knocked up and what?  Raise this child on your own?” he asks angrily.

“Not alone, I have you, Kenzie, and Quinn to help me.”

“He deserves to know Hails.”

“I know, but why destroy his future?”

“Because he’s having a baby,” he argues.

“He will have babies with Nina.  Please Brody.”

“Fuck,” he says as he stands up and paces the floor. “You knew about this?” he asks Quinn.

“Yes I did, when
Hails started getting morning sickness.”

“How did you not tell me?” he asks angrily.

“It wasn’t my place to tell you or anyone,” she says defending me.

“You’re my girlfriend; you can’t keep shit like that from me.”

“Brody stop,” I say as I stand up, “Don’t be mad at her.  I made her promise before you two ever started dating.  It was my news to share when and with whom I wanted to share it, not hers.”

“You need to tell Liam,” he demands.

“No I don’t and you won’t either, you promised Brody.”

“Fuck.”

“Plus, I’m leaving in a few weeks to go to London.”

“You can’t seriously be leaving for London now,” he says like I’m crazy.

“Yes I can and I am.  Kenzie’s going to come and visit me. I have a doctor set up over there already.  It will be fine.”

“Holy shit
, I can’t believe this is happening,” Brody says while still pacing.

“Please
Brody; you have to promise me you won’t say anything.  I need to hear you say it.”

“Fine, I promise I won’t say anything for now,” he says with a stern look, “But y
ou eventually need to tell him, or I will,” he says with a determined look.

“Thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I know it
, school is over and I’m packing to head to London.  “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Quinn asks for the eighth time.

“Yes.  I have everything already set up.  I’m good,” I say as I’m excited to leave.