My Little Bump

Chapter 43

"What?" I ask her irritatingly.

"Your turn to make dinner. Let's go!" She says, trying to rush me.

I send her a glare before walking in. "What's wrong with you?" She asks me.

"I was talking to Austin!"

"It's not like you have a crush on him or something! Wait, do you like him?"

"What? No!"

"You have a boyfriend, Nicole."

"Kate, shut up. I don't like him. He's just the father of my child. That's it."

"Sure." She says. Her phone suddenly rings and she checks it. She gives me a sheepish smile.

"Aren't you going to answer that?"

"Um, yeah." She says before pressing answer. She presses the phone up to her ear. "Hello?" There's a small moment of silence. I try to listen to the other side discreetly, but I can't hear it. "Yeah, just let me go to my room."

She runs to the stairs and I follow her quietly, trying to listen to her talk as she walks up the stairs. "I can't tonight... Because they won't understand! If everyone knew I was dating someone younger than me, then-... Because I can't!... I'll talk later." She ends her conversation with an irritated sigh.

I walk into the kitchen and start dinner. She's dating someone? And he's younger than us? Who the heck is this guy?

"Ow!" I yell. I look down and realize that I've burnt myself because I wasn't paying attention. Caden walks in with Tommy and the two look over at me with questioning expressions.

"Burnt myself." I tell them.

"Run it under cold water." Caden tells me.

"Thanks Caden." I say sarcastically, already walking over to the sink. The two follow me and stop beside me.

"I have a job for you two."

"What?" Tommy asks eagerly.

"Well, I heard Kate talking about a guy that she's dating. We'll ask her about it tonight, but she might not tell the truth. If she doesn't, you two are going to be my spies." I give them all the details and Tommy's eyes get impossibly wider with each sentence as Caden nods happily beside him.

Once I'm finished, I ask the two if they're up for it. They both say yes and walk off discussing their new job. "Remember, Kate doesn't know about this." I quietly call out.

"Yes, boss!" Tommy calls out, his lisp clearly showing.

I finish dinner soon after this and call everyone down. I give Tommy and Caden a discreet wink and the two give a thumbs up to me. They walk to the kitchen table and I serve everyone.

Dad comes in and grabs the rest, taking it into his room. He's been depressed lately because of Kathy. Apparently, she sent pictures of her kissing three different guys to him a couple days ago. Kate found them torn up on the coffee table with a note attached to it saying:

I told you I'd be able to be happy without you. XOXO -Kathy

Anyways, I look over at the boys and give a small nod.

"Hey, Kate." I get her attention away from her phone. "I haven't heard of any guys lately. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." She says, shrugging. She tries to play it off, but I can see her eyes searching around the room for an escape and her fingers fiddle around on the table.

"Wow! Kate doesn't have a boyfriend? That's pretty weird. You used to tell me that you have to have a boyfriend or you'd die." I say enthusiastically.