Page 67 of My One

Edna gasped. “Oh my. I’m so sorry.”

“It was a miscarriage, and the baby was unplanned,” Nic went on.

I squeezed Nic’s knee, briefly thinking about everything we’d been through. I didn’t know what our cards held either, but I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.

“You four have been through a lot,” Edna stated.

We all looked at each other and smiled tightly. Life had dealt us a shit load of heartache, but that was what had bonded us and made our friendships and relationships stronger. I just hoped it was all in the past and we could move forward with whatever we wanted to do in life. I wanted Nic pregnant with my baby, and I wanted her to carry it to term. I wanted to be a father and prove to myself that I wasn’t like Douglas Scott.

“All right.” Nic stood. “Who’s ready to see what’s on this?” She held up the tape, twisting it for show.

I wasn’t sure if Iwasready. After reading just one love note from a guy with my name, I wasn’t sure what would be on the tape. Then a horrid thought came to me. “What if it’s a sex tape?”

Easton choked on the fries he’d just put into his mouth. “Dude!”

“Oh shit,” Brooke breathed.

“Oh my,” Edna sucked in a breath.

“What if?” Nic asked as she stared at me.

“If I see a bed, I’m out,” I stated, shaking my head and rolling my shoulders as the thought alone was enough to send a shiver through me.

Nicole put the tape into the waiting VCR. My palms started to sweat, my leg bounced up and down again, and my heart felt as though it was going to beat out of my fucking chest. If I saw my mom’s boob, I would die here on sweet Edna’s couch, and tomorrow they’d have to have a viewing for me too. But as Easton pressed play on the remote, the screen changed, and there was no bed in sight. Children were playing in my childhood backyard, and there were multiple colors of balloons tied to trees, a cake on a table in the distance, and Easton’s dad, Jimmy, was manning the grill to the side.

“Is that you?” Nic asked, pointing at the boy that was me. Back then, my blond hair was long like a surfer’s even though I was anything but.

“Yep.”

“You were so cute.” My wife beamed.

“And that’s me.” Easton pointed to where he was running next to me, both of us with Super Soakers. “I don’t know who the other kids are though.”

“Probably Jake and Matt, if I recall.” More kids came running into view with water guns.

“Whose birthday is it?” Brooke asked.

“Mine,” I stated. “That’s my old yard.”

“And your dad is barbecuing, E?” Nic asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t know why,” he replied. My friends and I were still running around, shooting each other with water. “I don’t get it. Why was this in the safety deposit box?” Easton asked.

Then we heard it.

They weren't on screen, but my parents must have been standing behind the rolling camera …

“I don’t give a shit, Denise. He’s not even my son.”

“You were there when he was born. You’ve been—”

“That doesn’t make me his father.”

“You are his father.”It sounded as if she were crying.

“He doesn’t have my blood flowing through his veins.”

“You two need to stop,”Easton’s mom clipped.“This is Avery’s birthday.”