Page 22 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“Wanna watch Big Hero Six,” Caleb said, following me to the sink.
“You want me to put the movie on for you while I do the dishes?”
He nodded.
“Okay then.” I walked over into the living room with him and turned the DVD player on. The movie was already inside. Caleb cheered a little when it started playing on the TV.
I was just about to return to the kitchen when my cell phone rang. The Caller ID showed my twin's name. Didn't he know I was working?
“Nick?” I answered the phone.
“Hi, yeah, it's me.”
“I'm at your wedding planner's house right now.”
“Oh, right, sorry, I forgot you were doing that now.”
“Is it urgent?”
“No, not really. I only wanted to know if you'd made an appointment with an OB-GYN yet. I don't think you should have to go by yourself.”
I glanced at Caleb, who was happily following the movie from the couch, and then decided to go back into the kitchen where this conversation was less likely to be overheard. “I haven't,” I said in a hushed tone of voice, suddenly feeling paranoid because I also hadn't told Ethan about my circumstances.
“I don't want to stress you, but you should probably do that soon.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I guess part of me just doesn't want to believe that I'm going to have a baby soon.
It's easier to ignore it.”
“Yeah, I get that. But still...”
“I know,” I repeated. “I'll take care of it.”
“Just let me know when you do.” He paused, and then he changed the topic. “How's the new job going?”
I looked at the dirty dishes in the sink in front of me. There weren't that many. Only what we'd used for lunch. I'd get it done quickly and Caleb was entertained so it wouldn't hurt to talk to my brother for five more minutes. “It's going okay, I guess. The kids seem a little traumatized since their mother left, but I think we'll be fine once they get used to me. I might have screwed up with Ethan yesterday, though.”
“Screwed up? What do you mean? Was he rude to you?” His voice took on a slight edge at the end. It was a tone I remembered well from our childhood days when he used to defend me from the bullies at school. Ethan wasn't a bully, though. Far from it.
“It's not like that. When he came home last night, he was just... throwing his scent around, you know? I think he must have been thinking of his wife or something. In any case, I told him to turn it down.”
“Oh Rhys,” my brother said in a different tone of voice I remembered well from our childhood days.
“You know not to say stuff like that.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, even though he couldn't see me. “It was just really distracting,” I tried to explain myself. “And then he stopped, so that was good. But when I came here today it was like he couldn't get out of the house fast enough. It was awkward. I don't like when things are awkward.”
“I'm sure it'll be fine when you let some grass grow over it. I don't think Ethan will bring it up again.
He seems like a decent guy. And if he bothers you in any way, you tell me, okay?”
“I can fight my own battles now, Nick,” I reminded my brother. “And Ethan wouldn't bother me. He's not like that. He's kind.”
“Is he?”
“Yeah, he is,” I said shortly, because I could tell my twin's curiosity was piqued. He was reading too much into my words. If he realized I had a crush on the alpha I was working for, he'd never let me hear the end of it. He would tease me mercilessly.
“He's rather attractive too, isn't he? For a single dad.”
