Cupid Collections

31. Peyton - 10: The Names

Brooke glared at me. I only shrugged in response. “I can’t.”

“You have to tell him,” Brooke said simply. “And before we leave. I need to see his reaction. He’s going to be so happy.”

My eyes glanced down at the small bump forming on Brooke’s stomach. My stomach turned at the thought of having one just like it soon enough.

“It’s a gift that you know so early,” Brooke went on.

I laughed uneasily. “Modern medicine is crazy, right?”

“I can’t believe they found it so early with you, and it was just at your last check up?”

A muttering agreement made its way out of my mouth, but I barely heard it.

“We’re leaving in two weeks,” Brooke continued on. “So you better tell him so we can all celebrate together.”

I only sighed in response. She didn’t need to remind me that she was leaving. Brooke picked up on my attitude and patted my leg comfortingly.

“Don’t worry, Peyton. He’ll be so happy. There’s no way he can’t be! And I understand how you won’t be able to visit right when our baby is born, but you can soon after! And maybe our babies can be the best of friends one day!”

Smiling toward her, I said, “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Brooke jumped suddenly before she pulled a cell phone out from her pocket. She checked it before excusing herself. I allowed her to go off into another room while I collapsed on the sofa. We were in my apartment. Pyro was lounging near the foot of the couch, and Nate was off at work. Brooke wanted to spend some time together, and I couldn’t help but share the news. Even though explaining it was a bit difficult, she took it well, as expected. It wasn’t her I was worried about… And it wasn’t exactly Nate either. I didn’t doubt that he would be at least somewhat happy, but it was how to tell him that was stumping me.

Brooke rejoined me in the room after a few minutes.

“That was Sean,” she explained quickly. “He’s going to be dropping Nate off in a few, and then he’ll take me home.”

“Okay,” I replied as she joined me on the sofa.

“You’ll find the right way to tell him. I could help you if you want? When I told Sean, I kind of squealed and threw the pee stick at him…”

I laughed, imaging it. “And how did he take it?”

“Once he realized what it was, he was kind of grossed out. But I mean, he was happy after he washed his hands.”

Chuckling, the two of us continued on talking about Sean’s reaction to the news. Then it moved on to her parents’ reaction and his parents’ reaction and so forth. I was pretty sure my actual parent would care less, as for my grandparents…well, I was pretty sure Psyche already had fifty baby outfits for the unborn baby. She was thrilled, of course. Eros was accepting and excited in his own way…which was mostly just smiling knowingly at me whenever I was around. I didn’t want to discuss this baby because it was just too new, but Eros knew that and used it against me.

After a few more minutes of story sharing, Brooke excused herself to go to the bathroom. Almost as soon as the door closed to the bathroom, the front door opened. Pyro jumped to his feet and walked off to greet the person at the door. Nate greeted him with a few rub downs before joining me in the living room.

“Hey,” he greeted taking off a few pieces of his uniform. “Is Brooke here?”

“In the bathroom,” I explained simply. “How was work?”