Sugar (Alex Ernst)

Chapter 2

"Are you ready?" Liza asked as I got Sadie buckled into her car seat.

"I don't know," I confessed. "I mean, I know it's not everybody, but it's almost everyone. I just got here, and I don't want them to think of me differently. But it's now or never. And if the answer is never it'll slip out eventually and that'll make things even worse. So now it is."

After moving in yesterday, they wanted to have a party for me to welcome me back to L.A., which was where Alex and I would finally break the news to everyone about Sadie. Well, everyone except Gabbie and Heath. Gabbie was still on tour and Heath was back in Florida visiting some family, so they wouldn't know just yet.

"I see you still tend to babble when you get nervous," she said as I slid into the passenger seat of her car. "but I promise you it's going to be okay. They all know you and they all love you. They're excited to see you. Sadie's just going to be one more person they can get excited about. They love babies."

"But Alex's baby?" I asked. 

"I mean yeah, they might be disappointed that he didn't tell them. But only for a minute. Sadie's cute face will distract them. She's too cute for them to stay mad. Everything will be okay, I promise you. And besides, David and I will both be there to help you guys." she assured me.

"There they are!" Zane said, holding the door open as soon as we got up to the front. "Kelsey long time no... and you have a baby!" he exclaimed, taking notice of Sadie in my arms as he leaned in to give me a hug.

"Oh, uh, yeah," I said, backing up a bit so he could see her. "Zane, this is Sadie,"

"Well aren't you a little cutie?" he said, making funny faces at her while she giggled. "Hey guys!" Zane yelled back in the direction of their living room before I could stop him. "Kelsey's here and she has a baby!"

"Baby!" a bunch of voices chorused before several faces appeared in the doorway.

David and Alex were there, of course, as well as Scotty, Kristen, Carly, Erin, Dom, Corinna, Jason, Toddy, and, well...

I'd never met Josh Peck before, though I did see him in the vlogs and Liza had told me about them being friends. I'd also seen him all over their Instagrams, of course. But I was excited to meet him, being a huge Drake and Josh fan, of course, although this wasn't quite the situation I wanted to meet him in.

"There's a tiny human!" Carly exclaimed, coming over to get a good look at Sadie.

"Kels, is she yours?" Scotty asked, and I nodded. 

"Yeah," I said, smiling down at her and trying my hardest not to look at Alex. "this is Sadie."

"She's so precious!" Carly said then before we all came back into the living room.

"So you're the famous Kelsey Wentworth," Josh said as soon as we're inside. "it's great to finally meet you. They've all told me so much about you."

"It's awesome to meet you too," I said.

I took a seat next to Liza, sitting Sadie down on my lap. Carly kept making funny faces at her, and Sadie seemed amazed by the bright colors in her hair. It seemed as if nobody could take their eyes off of her, but now it was time for the moment of truth.

"So, Kels, tell us what's been going on this past year." Toddy said, "I feel like we haven't seen you in forever."

"Well clearly, she's been a little busy," Scotty pointed out, and I rolled my eyes, the nervousness spreading throughout my body.

"Well, not really since I've seen you guys last..." I muttered quietly so only Liza could hear me.

"What was that?" Zane asked.

"Well, uh..." I said, looking around nervously, my eyes locking with Alex's for a brief moment, and I noticed David nudge him softly.

"What she means to say is that Sadie's..." Liza came in, trailing off.

"She's mine," Alex said finally, breaking the silence, and everyone's heads turned in his direction.

"What did you say?" Toddy asked, laughing and thinking that Alex had been joking.

"It's true," Liza told them.

"That's funny, Alex," Zane said. "No, Sadie's my baby," he joked along.

"They're being serious, guys," David said, and I could only nod along, not finding the words to say. David nodded at me, understandingly, and I smiled, thankful that he could help us. "Last year, they got together at one of our parties, and now we've got Sadie here with us."

"Thank you," Alex told him, before looking around at everyone else, finally finding his words. "I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you guys before, but I didn't know how, it wasn't the right time, and she wasn't here for me to show you guys, because her and Kelsey were still living in Houston. But this is my daughter. I made her. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you guys, and I really hope you're not mad at me."

"Alex, we're not mad," Scotty said. "I mean, we could've helped you guys prepare and everything if we had known, but we understand why you didn't tell us."

"Yeah," Carly agreed, "we still love you guys. And we can just spoil her now to make up for lost time."

"Can I hold her?" Zane asked, and I nodded, handing her to him. He held her close, his smile growing bigger and bigger. "The thing is, she looks just like Alex, but she's so cute. How does that work?"

"You're such a dad, Alex," David said, nudging him again, and Alex shrugged, smiling and relieved that the nerves were finally gone.

"What can I say?" he smiled. "She's got me wrapped around her finger."