Page 27 of The Last Thing
“We better hurry.”
I grab her hand and she jumps off the stool.
She runs over to her dad, and my stomach flips.
Her dad. Who is also my baby’s dad. Which means she’ll be my baby’s sister.
My brain is scrambling all over again.
Deck throws a backpack over his shoulder, and it takes me a second to remember what Frannie said he does. Construction.
Slowly, I make my way to the door instead of standing there awkwardly and staring.
Deck looks at me hesitantly. “We’ll talk this evening?”
I give a quick nod as I follow them out the door. “Yeah. No problem, Mr. Decker.”
He freezes for a second, then makes a strangled noise, and I’m not sure if I want to laugh out of playfulness or at how absurd this all is.
“Bye, Miss Hallie.” Sophia waves as they walk down the hall.
I wave back, smiling as they go. But the second they’re out of sight, the facade falls. And when the door at the bottom of the stairs slams shut, I run upstairs to Frannie’s apartment, praying she hasn’t left for work yet.
I hit the bell at her outer door, and she buzzes me in.
She’s walking across the living room when I throw open her door.
“Hey, how was your meeting with Wilson?” Her brow furrows. “You look frantic. Are you okay?”
“It was an interesting meeting. Of sorts. And okay? I’m not sure what okay is right now.”
“You’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”
“He’s the guy.”
“The guy—what guy?”
I gesture to my stomach. “Theguy.”
Her eyes fly wide. “Oh my god,” she whisper-screeches. “Theguy? But wait, how did you not know? I’ve said his name a billion times!”
“You saidWilsona billion times. And I told you we didn’t do full names. That night he went by?—”
“Decker.”
“Deck, actually, but yes.”
She paces in front of me, then spins to face me again. “Did you tell him?”
“No, I didn’t tell him!”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s one thing to give professional courtesy and tell this stranger that I’m pregnant but it won’t affect my ability to do my job. It’s another to have a personal rule about never sleeping with the parent of the child I’m nannying, then showing up at their house to find out I already did and I’m pregnant with his baby.”
“Okay, yeah. That’s not the best.”
“Thank you. Plus, I couldn’t do that in front of his daughter. She seems sweet and wonderful. I’d love to be her nanny. But how? How would any of this work?”
