Page 87 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

“Yeah, actually. You’re pretty perceptive, Chris, for…you know…a gym bro.” She looks around before whispering ‘gym bro.’

I laugh out loud, a barking laugh that catches us both off guard.

“Wow, so your true feelings come out. Well, do you know why I understand family relationships like that and how they catch up to you so well?”

She shakes her head, nervously fitting her fingers into the baby shoes.

“When I was a little boy, my dad was arrested for committing tax fraud. It was not a small thing. It was a really big deal, what he did, and he went away for a really long time. I didn’t see my dad out of prison until I was a teenager and by then our relationship was obviously really different. My mother had married someone else and, you know, it was just not the way life had been before. And so that’s sort of ruled my life, along with the betrayal by Julie.

“So. You told me that someone was stealing from my business and rather than face the problem head on, I was afraid that I would get in trouble, so I buried my head in the sand. I just wantyou to know that I know that how we’re raised colors how we do this whole adult and parenthood thing, and that’s okay. I’ll be here for your stuff if you’ll be here for mine.”

“Of course I’ll be here for your stuff, Chris. Oh, my God. I had no idea that happened to you.”

She reaches for my hand, dropping her legs into a criss-cross position and leaning over the baby shoes to pull it into her lap. She caresses the back of my hand with her thumb.

“Thank you for sharing. And don’t worry, you won’t be in trouble. I can easily prove that Sarah did this and we’ll get it all taken care of. Don’t worry. Tomorrow, we’ll look into starting that process and in expanding the gym business. I don’t want you to be afraid of any of that. I’ve got you.”

I nod at her and hold back the tears rising into my throat.

“I know. Will you look under the paper in the box?”

She looks at me quizzically, her lips pouted adorably and her eyebrows knitted together, before lifting up the tissue paper that lined the box with the baby shoes.

Inside are the keys to my building and my apartment.

She looks up at me, her hand in the air clutching the tissue paper. “Wait. What is…?”

“So you don’t have to buzz in anymore. Maybe work could be work and here could be home? What do you think?”

I wipe my sweaty palms off on my shorts, but they’re sweat wicking so it doesn’t work well. I watch her face to try and figure out what her response will be, but her face looks completely blank.

“Are you doing this because I’m pregnant? You really don’t have to. I’m fine just, you know, keeping things the way they are.”

“Hannah, remember what we talked about last night? Things aregoingto change. They just are. You don’t have to move in with me if you don’t want to, but I don’t want to hear any more about keeping things the way they are. It’s impossible.”

She nods. “Big changes can be good,” she whispers, the key in her palm.

“That’s right. In fact, I’d go a step further and say they’re always good even if sometimes the good isn’t always obvious. Do youwantto live with me? That’s what I care about. I don’t care about what you think should happen or what you think I’m thinking. I’m asking if you to live with me. Do you want to?”

Hannah’s smile spreads slowly across her face, each tooth revealing itself like a dancer behind a curtain. She jumps over the shoes and the box and wraps her arms around my neck to hug me tightly.

“Yes, I want to, are you kidding? Chris, thank you, thank you.” She mumbles into my throat, “I love you.”

I smile against her head, then put my hands on her shoulders and push her back a little so that I can look into her eyes. “Now, listen, there’s still one more thing we have to do.”

She deflates and sighs. “I know. We have to tell Tyler.”

I smile at her and jiggle her shoulders. “Yep. But we got this. And besides, babies have a way of uniting people, right? No way he can be unhappy knowing he’s going to be an uncle.”

She laughs. “Uncle Tyler. Oh, that’s weird.”

“It really is. Uncle Tyler and Lucy Noodle. Not much weirder than this life we’ve made.” I kiss her. “Do you want to go outside and use your key to come back in?”

“Yes!” She bounces up and down a little before standing and leaves, giggling almost hysterically, her cheeks rosy. She closes the door behind her and I can hear her footsteps disappearing down the hall toward the elevator.

I look over at Lucy, who’s laying on the ground near the couch.

I raise my eyebrows at her and she raises her head before standing and walking my way

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