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I throw my head back and laugh loudly. “You definitely were not.”

Just then, the doorbell rings, signaling someone’s arrival. Yes, Clay got a doorbell installed. I jump from the couch, putting my wine glass down on the kitchen table.

“That must be the food,” I say, walking over to the door and pulling it open. Except it’s not just the food.

Spencer stands on the other side of the door. In one hand, there’s a big takeout bag, and in the other, a bouquet of red roses. But it’s what’s sitting at his feet that catches my attention.

A ginormous teddy bear, wearing a Griffin’s jersey. A teddy bear I instantly recognize.

I stare at it for so long, my heart rate spiking. When the guys packed up my things from the home Silas and I shared, they forgot to take my bear. And I was too embarrassed to ask for it.

He’d been my cuddle buddy every time Silas had away games, and I’ve missed him since I left home.

I’ve missed Silas since I left home. It’s probably why I read his letter at least five times a day.

I know it’s unhealthy, but since he stopped calling and texting like he said he would, it’s the only thing I have of him.

“Spence?”

“None of this is from me. The delivery guy showed up at the same time, and I told him I could pass it along.” He lifts the takeout bag, which I take and hand over to Emma, who’s suddenly right beside me.

“And this is from Silas, as a housewarming gift, I think.” He passes the roses to me. “And well, he thought you might like to have him back.” Spencer shakes the top of the bear’s head and offers a soft smile.

“Is that SJ?” Emma questions while inspecting the bear.

“SJ?” Spencer asks quizzically.

“Silas Junior. Yeah, it’s him,” I inform him in a quiet voice, looking down at the teddy once more.

“Oh... okay well, if you want him, I can carry him in for you. That guy is far from light. Then I’ll leave you girls to your evening.”

I nod my head and step to the side, gesturing for him to come in. “You can put him down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. Thank you.”

He does as instructed, then walks back to the door while I follow behind. He turns once he’s stepped outside and bends to kiss my cheek. “Later, Sis.” Then he looks behind me to the girls. “Evening, ladies. Emma, always a delightful pleasure seeing you.”

Em smirks with a giggle. “Still not single, Spence.”

He smiles and winks. “Maybe next year, then.” He turns and leaves as I close the door.

I stand and stare at the huge bear now sitting at my kitchen table, chewing on my lower lip as a thousand different emotions course through my body.

“You okay, sweetie? If that’s too much, I can take it up to the house.” Morgan motions to SJ.

“No, I want it here...” I let out a deep breath and look down at my feet. “I just miss him...” My chin wobbles at the admission.

“Have you contacted him since the letter?” Brey asks from where she’s now standing in the middle of the living room.

“No...” It’s a whisper, but they all hear me.

Emma comes to my side and rubs her hand along my arm to soothe my emotions on the verge of spilling out. “And your anniversary is next week...” It’s not a question, it’s a statement.

I nod while tears well in my eyes. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I never thought I’d be spending my first anniversary as a married woman alone. Without the man I love.

“It’s okay for you to go back to him, babe. I get that the situation is complicated and hard to digest, but if you think it’s something you can get onboard with, then do it. We all know it’s not a question of if you truly love Sy or not,” she tells me while Morgan and Aubrey nod in agreement.

“I know... but what if I think I can handle it, but when the baby comes, I don’t? Then I’m back at square one with my heart shattered all over again. I can’t keep going through that...”

“We understand that and wouldn’t want you to go through that all over again either.

Maybe take your time, see each other. Test the waters until the baby comes and then see how you feel about it.

In the end, it’s your decision, only you know what’s best for you,” Morg offers as a solution to my problem. One that isn’t half bad.

“I’ll think about it. Now enough talking about the sad story of my life, let’s eat.” I force a smile, and we all get moving on refilling our glasses and setting out the food.

SILAS

Tonight sucks. Greyson and I are in our shared hotel room after losing our game, which means we’re officially out of the playoffs. And on top of that, I received an email from my lawyer with more medical records about the pregnancy and an ultrasound picture, indicating the sex of the baby.

A girl. I’m going to have a daughter. A daughter that should have been mine and Cecilia’s.

She still hasn’t been in contact, and it sucks. But I’m doing as I promised and not reaching out anymore. Except for the gifts today.

I’m lying up in bed with my phone in hand while I look at the black and white image of my child. I don’t know how to feel about this. I want to be happy about my kid, but I can’t help but feel upset at how much it’s ruined my marriage. Then I instantly feel guilty for thinking that way.

I zoom out of the picture and read all the little numbers around the frame until one catches my eye. The gestational age. It’s off by two weeks. I only know this because of the pregnancy tracking app on my phone that notifies me every day of new changes.

I exit the photo and bring up the app to double-check. Yup, it’s not the same. “What the fuck?” I say under my breath, but Greyson perks up.

“What is it?” He turns his head my way with a concerned expression from his own bed.

“Do you think it’s possible for the OB-GYN to make a mistake with the date of a fetus?” I ask as I return to the picture and look it over again.

“Well, I’m guessing it can happen in the beginning when the baby is tiny and hard to see. But after that, I wouldn’t think so. I mean, it’s literally their job to be accurate. Why do you ask?”

“The date on the scan isn’t the same as my app. This one says she’s two weeks further along, but that would be impossible since it was only that one night.” I stretch my phone his way for him to see.

“Hmm, that’s weird. What’s the doctor’s name? Maybe it’s a shit doctor who often makes mistakes.” He pulls out his phone and waits for me to reply.

“Umm, give me a sec.” I swipe out of the photo and into the documents that came with it in search of the doctor’s name. “Bridgette Feramont.”

He taps on his screen, probably googling her. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find, there can’t be many doctors with that exact name.”

He continues his search, entirely focused on his phone for about three minutes, then his eyes grow wide. “Holy shit.”

“What!?” I sit up straighter while a huge smile spreads from ear to ear on his face.

“Call up your lawyer, Hayes. I think you just got your miracle.”

“What? How?” I frown, not understanding what he means. He then turns his phone to me, showing me the screen. On it is a picture of two women, one blonde, one brunette.

“This one? Is that Lisa?” He points to the blonde, and I wish I didn’t recognize her.

“Yeah, that’s her.” I swallow through my answer.

“That’s what I thought, and guess who this is?” he says with a proud smirk.

My frown deepens at his expression, but then my eyebrows shoot up. No way. “Bridgette,” I say in complete shock.

“Ding, ding, ding! It may be a coincidence that her OB is one of her best friends, but I smell bullshit.”

I stand from the bed with my phone in hand, dialing up my lawyer. It’s pretty late, but I’m sure he’ll want to dig deeper into this new information that’s come to light.