Chapter 0343

Daniel sighs and glances at Jerome, willing to explain. “We got a phone call from the prison during cocktails,” he says, pitching

his voice low as if he’s still worried about being overheard. Probably the result of growing up in a house filled with secrets, I

consider, thinking about the little kidney bean in my own belly. Would my baby be the same, being raised in a Lippert house?

“Oh?” Jerome asks, his eyes going wide. “Is everything...okay?”

“Yeah, it was...” Daniel glances at me now, “it was actually just dad calling. He got his phone privileges so that he can call people

who are not his lawyers.”

Athousand emotions flood me at this news but I keep my body perfectly still, blinking softly and not letting a single one of my

feelings cross my face. Instead, I take a deep breath and sip at my soda.

“That’s so creepy, Fay,” Janeen whispers, and I flash my eyes to her, confused and surprised.

“What?”

“I once saw you have a meltdown because you dropped your coloring book in the bathtub,” she says, leaning forward to peer at

me. “You've always been like, the most emotional person I’ve ever met.”

“So?” I ask, confused.

“So?” she replies, her face twisting with displeasure. “Your husband just told you that your baby daddy, his father, just called from

prison — and that he can call from prison, even though you haven't talked to him since he told you he thought you were cheating

on him. And you just sit passively? You, of all people, show no emotion?”

I sigh, resting my drink in my lap and looking down at it for a second, clenching my teeth. “What do you want me to do, Janeen?”

I ask, frustrated. “Break into tears? Fall on the floor in hysterics?”

“Kinda!” she says, and I whip up my head to glare at her as she throws her hands in the air. “Because that’s what my sister

would do! I don’t know how I feel about this,” she says, bringing her arms down and using her pointer finger to squiggle a line in

the air between us, “this new Fay who is so placid. Were you body snatched? Are you a robot?”

“If I was,” I snap, leaning forward to glare at her a little, “would I remember the time that you passed out drunk, and naked from

the bottom down, in the kiddy pool? And that the neighbor’s dog found you there, and stole the hotdog you were holding — all

night — right out of your hand?”

Janeen gasps, clasping a hand to her chest. “That was a secret, Fay!” she hisses, leaning forward to glare at me more as Daniel

and Jerome burst into laughter.

“Well at least I’m still your sister, Janeen!” I snap back, leaning further forward.

“My sister would never tell strangers —“ she insists, but Daniel interrupts.

“She’s doing it again, Janeen,” he says, smirking at me. “Distracting you. Doing the word thing.”

Janeen gasps again, her hand going back to her chest. “Fay!” she shouts, and then she takes a stray cashew off the table and

throws at me. “Stop that!”

“Stop falling for it,” I mutter, crossing my arms and sitting back in my chair. Then I glare at Daniel for betraying me, but he just

shrugs.

“Seriously though,” Jerome says, looking at Daniel now. “What did he say?”

My shoulders go rigid as I steel myself again, not sure I want to hear it. Daniel, sensing that this is harder for me than for them,

puts a hand on my arm. “Do you want to know?”

“Of course she wants to know!” Janeen growls, but I take a deep breath, considering.

“Yes,” I sigh, because I really do. And it’s not doing any good to put it off.

“Okay,” Daniel says softly. And then

he takes a sip of his drink, I think

wanting to steel hirngelf a er OWell,

theye’yqmratdn td report. He’s okay,

he's...bored, and anxious. He feels

really helpless and he’s never been

very good at feeling that way, if he

ever has before.” Please read the

original content at .

“He said all of that?” Jerome asks, a little disbelieving.

“Well, no,” Daniel sighs, twisting the stem of his martini glass. “Some of this is my interpretation. He said that jail is jail. And then

he asked a lot of questions about...here. About us.”

My eyes flick up to his now, and find Daniel's eyes already on me.

“He asked about you,” Daniel says softly. “I told him you're okay.”

“You didn’t tell him I was planning anything, did you?” I ask, abrupt.

“No,” Daniel says, flinching back a

little bit. “I just said that oe ae

That you're fealing yea in your,” he

Heditates now, feeling a little

awkward, “...first trimester. You're not

sick or anything.” Please read the

original content at .

I look down again, pursing my lips.

Because...I can’t think very hard, right

now, about Kent eee eG

baby. I can’tletnayseffthink about

Ev aNaee oe have sounded

when he asked, or whether he

actually asked if I had morning

sickness, or Daniel just told him...it's

too much. It’s all just way too much.

Please read the original content at

.