Best Friend's Brother

Chapter Ten

It took three days for the excitement to wear off. Sure I was still happy about having a baby but the reality of my situation finally sank in. I was going to be having Matt's baby and he had a girlfriend. Whitney was going to be an aunt but I didn't want to tell her brother about the baby, it would screw up his life. I felt guilty about refusing to tell Bree who the father was but I couldn't bring myself to explain the situation to her. She knew I'd only slept with one guy but she hadn't pried when I'd refused to tell her a name. She respected my privacy and I was thankful for that.

Before I could really think it through I was in my car on my way to Whitney's house by four o'clock. I didn't expect her to be home on a Saturday afternoon with three young kids but I had to check.

I rang the doorbell a second before it was wrenched open by a surprised Whitney. "Claire, you really don't want to be here right now."

I opened my mouth to ask her why when Anastasia stuck her head into the crack. "Auntie Claire!" she called loud enough to wake the dead.

Whitney sighed and opened the door up wide. "You might as well come in now."

I looked at her quizzically and she mouthed the word Matt. My eyes opened wide and I realized that he was visiting this weekend. I felt like an idiot for not remembering sooner.

Anastasia grabbed my hand. "Come, I want you to meet my new friend."

I smiled down at her. "And who would this friend be?"

"It's a surprise!" she said.

I followed her into the living room where I saw the back of Matt's head as he watched the TV. I tensed slightly but forced myself to relax.

He turned around when Anastasia cleared her throat. He looked surprised to see me since I'd obviously been avoiding him every time he was in town since our encounter.

He stood up and his eyes lit a little bit. "Claire, it's good to see you."

I smiled politely. "It's been a while, Matt."

He laughed. "Only about a month or so but I know what you mean. It's like I haven't seen you in forever."

There was movement on the couch and I turned to see a small girl with long ginger hair and big green eyes looking at me questioningly. Her open face fit perfectly with the voice on the phone and it was easy to tell this was Marcie.

I smiled at her. "It's nice to actually meet you, Marcie."

Confusion crossed her eyes for a second before she squealed, jumped up, and threw her arms around me. "Claire!"

I laughed and tentatively hugged her back. "I guess we met sooner than was expected."

She beamed at me and pulled me to the couch and into the spot that Matt had been occupying. "Gosh, you're even more beautiful that I thought you would be. I'm so happy I don't need to be worried about you or else I'd be really worried. You know?"

I smiled. "There's nothing to worry about. I promise."

Matt looked totally lost. "You two know each other?"

Marcie waved away the thought. "It was a single phone call so we don't really know each other but I can't wait until we do!"

My smile felt glued to my face. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine. I have to admit that I didn't expect to see you this weekend."

She laughed. "Well, Matt wasn't going to take me but once he said that he was visiting Whitney I just knew I had to come along. He let it slip that you two were best friends and I thought that if I stuck around enough I'd eventually run into you while we were here."