Baby for My Stepbrother

Chapter 2

She laughed. “Yeah, until the batteries ran out.” “Batteries can be replaced,” I argued.

“True. So, what are you going to do, Luna? Are you going to keep the baby, and if so, when are you going to tell Dane?”

I hated that she asked those questions because it made me finally ask them myself. Of course, I would keep the baby. I couldn’t go through with an abortion even if that was the best choice for my life. In my head, this baby was already a grandchild of my mother’s, and for that reason alone, I would let it live its life.

“I don’t know. Obviously, I’ll have the baby, but I need to think about the rest of it. Adoption is always an option and there are millions of people out there who are desperate to have children. I’m sure it would end up with two people who really loved it and would take care of it. As for Dane? I have no idea what I’m going to say. We’re having sex, but that’swhere the relationship ends. Other than that, we don’t talk to each other. He’ll freak if he finds out I’m pregnant. What the hell will we tell our parents? There is so much wrong with this situation that I don’t see how any decision on my part will make it right.”

Carly squeezed my shoulder before wrapping her arm around me to pull me into aside hug. With her cheek pressed against my head, she said, “Dane and you aren’t blood related. Yeah, it might freak your dad out to think that you’ve been having sex with his wife’s son, but, technically, there’s nothing wrong with the two of you being together. Hell, your dad is hardly home enough to even consider the four of you as a real family. If anything, Dane has been your babysitter for along time. If it comes to a point where you have to admit the truth, just be honest about the timing of everything. You and Dane are both adults. You have the right to have sex with whomever you want.”

She had a point, but it still didn’t make me feel any better about the whole situation. Mentally calculating the due date for the baby, I could make things work with school and still have it. My senior year had just started two months earlier and I would graduate before the baby was born. If I chose to put it up for adoption, I could have the baby in the summer and head off to college like I’d planned.

Straightening up, I turned to Carly and attempted to smile. She laughed at my failed attempt.

“I have to get going home to eat and study for some tests that are coming up. Let’s keep this between you and me for now, okay? At least until I figure out exactly what I’m going to do.”

Carly nodded her head. “No problem. This is your story to tell, Luna, and you know I won’t say asingle word unless you give me permission.”

After her words, I was finally able to crack a true smile. Carly would always have my back and it felt good to have someone I knew I could trust. “Thanks pal,” I joked.

She punched my shoulder playfully. “Anytime, buddy.”

I was in the car again, sitting in the backseat of my mothers’ Volkswagen Bug as we cruised down the highway on our way to the park where she would let me run of some energy. The impact happened so fast that neither of us saw it coming. I must have been knocked out because I opened my eyes andpeople were already trying to help my mother in the front seat. When a man broke through the window on the opposite side of the car, he looked relieved that I opened my eyes to look back at him. But forme, that was the worst moment of all. Turning my head, I looked to the front seat and saw my mother laying limp over the steering wheel.

The scream tore from my throat like it always did when I remembered, my body sitting straight up in bed as sweat dripped down my face. My blankets were tangled around my body and I ripped at them, desperate to escape the heat built up inside.

My door opened almost immediately and Dane entered the room, his chest bare and his legs covered in a pair of black workout shorts. I stared at his shadow, unable to see the expression on his handsome face. I somehow knew he was angry because I’d woken him up again.

The mattress dipped under his weight when he sat down next tome. “Luckily for you, I wasn’t asleep yet.”