Billy Carter

Chapter 37: Coming Clean

On Friday Harry dropped me and Annabelle off at Trent's house for his birthday party. We were staying the night, camping in tents in the backyard, and Harry helped me carry mine and Annabelle's bags (she had brought two huge Louis Vuitton suitcases for whatever reason, and they were fucking heavy) around to the back gate. Trent let us into the yard and I gave him an awkward fistbump.
"Hello! Welcome to la casa Keynes!" Trent exclaimed jovially.
"Happy birthday!" Harry and I said together. "Where can we put our stuff?"
"Your tent is over there, by the BBQ. You're bunking with Connors. Annabelle's with Cyn in that grey tent."
"Thanks." Harry and I walked over to the appropriate tents and dumped the bags. The backyard was pretty cramped but there was just enough room for four two-people tents. Annabelle made her entrance after us and gave Trent a kiss and a cuddle, wishing him a happy birthday too. She gave him our presents (I got him some LED light strips and Annabelle bought him a small 4L mini fridge for his room, so he could keep cold drinks nearby).
Ollie popped his head out of our tent as I was bent over pulling out my sleeping bag and kissed my cheek. "Hi Bill."
"Hi."
"You nervous?"
"Shush, someone might hear you," I hissed quietly.
Annabelle and I planned on announcing her pregnancy the next day before everyone left. We didn't want to ruin Trent's party or steal the spotlight on his birthday, so we were staying quiet tonight.
"Where'd you get all these tents?" Annabelle asked Trent.
"Two are ours, and two are Tony's. Well, his dad's."
"I've never camped in a tent before," Annabelle said. "So this is exciting."
"Yeah, I bet your family's more of a lodge family."
"Yeah."
She's gonna have a rough time, I thought.
"Well happy birthday again, but I bet you lot don't want me sticking around much longer," Harry said, mainly to Trent.
"No worries Mr. R. Enjoy your romantic night alone with Nelly."
"Oi!" I snapped. Trent sniggered.
"Yes well... I'll just say hello to your parents and be on my way. Billy, ring me if you need anything."
"Will do. Bye," I said. Harry went into the house and Ollie caught my attention.
"Give me you sleeping bag, and I'll combine it with mine so we'll have a mega bag," Ollie told me, reaching for my bag. I gave it to him and he started zipping our sleeping bags together while I found the empty air mattress and started blowing it up with my mouth.
"Uh-uh, what're you doing?" I turned around and saw Tony come out of the house, motorised air pump in hand. "Work smarter, not harder, Bill." He tossed me the pump and I gave him a breathless thumbs up. The pump was much quicker, and I was finished just as Ollie finished his sleeping bag monstrosity.
"We'll be super warm in this," Ollie said proudly. I pat his shoulder.
"Sure, Ol."
"So Bill, how's the new dad working out for ya?" Trent asked, sitting on a cool-box and starting to unwrap his presents.
"Better than the last two, but to be fair, the bar is literally in Hell, so it doesn't take much to impress me in that regard," I said. "But Harry's cool, he's always been a father figure, I guess. We like a lot of the same stuff and we don't have arguments or anything. I like spending time with him, we have fun together. So I guess it's all pretty good."
"That's great Bill," Tony said with a smile. "I'm happy for ya."
"Thanks Tones."
"I'm happy for you too," Trent told me. "And thanks for the LEDs."
"You're welcome."
"Is that mine?" I looked up at Annabelle and saw her pointing to my air mattress.
"No, this is mine. Yours will be in your tent."
"Oh." She climbed into her tent and I heard her grumble to herself. "What's wrong love?" I called out to her.
"Mine's flat!" she complained.
"You gotta pump it up Annabelle, like I've done."
"Can you do it for me?"
I sighed quietly and shot Ollie a look. "Sure, bring it over," I replied patiently.
"Thank you!" She said sweetly.
Since joining our household Annabelle had been learning to do a lot of things for herself. If she can find some kind of fun in the task, or pride, she gets really excited. If not, then she grumbles and mutters and flutters her eyelashes at me until I help her or take over. So far she's doing really well, although she has for some reason a vendetta against the Hoover.
Ollie left and came back with three beers. He offered one to me and one to Annabelle, but she refused.
"Oh, of course. Sorry," Ollie put the extra beer down. "Do you need help with anything else Annabelle?" Ollie asked.
"I don't think so. But how've you been? We haven't caught up since school finished."
"I've been good. Working at the pharmacy, going to the gym, the usual stuff. How about you?"
"Well I've been learning to cook," Annabelle said proudly. "I helped Nelly cook a big roast last Sunday." She didn't mention that had ended in tears after she burnt her hand on the oven tray. Still, the meal was delicious. Even with her lumpy gravy.
"That sounds delicious," Ollie said with a smile. Something felt off though. I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Thank you, it was. Right Billy?"
"Yes it was lovely," I grunted, starting on Annabelle's air mattress. Ollie and Annabelle chit-chattered while I slaved away and drank my beer - my sweet reward (besides the kiss on the cheek Annabelle gave me when I finished with her mattress).
Natalie and Cynthia arrived and that drew Annabelle's attention away, and Ollie sat down next to me.
"How're things with Annabelle?" he asked quietly.
"Fine," I shrugged. He asked me that every time we caught up or spoke on the phone. "She's healthy, the baby's healthy. Yesterday she danced around the house dusting. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Her mood swings can be a bit intense though. She bawled her eyes out at a pet-insurance ad on the telly this morning. The big issue is her bulimia. She knows she can't vomit it up so she compensates by eating less. It can be a struggle sometimes to get enough food into her. Other times she eats great but then struggles with the urge to bring it back up. She's cried plenty of times over it. She's so terrified of putting on weight, but that's kind of inevitable with the baby. But she's tough, I think tougher than she knows. And Mum, Harry and I are all there for her too, plus the therapist Mum's getting for her. I think she'll be alright."
"Are you getting along alright?"
"Like a house on fire. Except we have to share a room. That can be difficult. She has so much stuff, seriously. Clothes, handbags, shoes, skincare, makeup, hair products, jewellery. So much stuff. Her suitcases are full of it and they take up so much space in our bedroom. Of course it's more like her bedroom since she takes the bed and I sleep on the couch," I told him, picking at the lawn.
"It's going to be even more crowded once the baby comes."
"Mum and Harry are looking for a bigger house to move us into. It's difficult though, they can't afford a lot, even together. Eddie's offered to loan them some money for the deposit so I think that's what they'll do."
"How does that make you feel?" He sounded like my therapist. Except my therapist doesn't sip beer during our sessions.
"I dunno. Not bad, exactly. I don't like relying on him but it's out of my hands. Mum and Harry can make their own decisions and if that means they borrow from Eddie then I guess I'm ok with that. Besides, if I get a bedroom all to myself it'll be worth it."
"Yeah."
"More importantly we need more space for the baby. I might've slept in a drawer when I was little but I don't want that for my kid if I can help it."
"That's fair. But don't stress about that tonight, ok? Let's just have fun." He gave me an encouraging smile, which I returned.
"Sounds good to me," I said, and we kissed.
Ollie and I got up and started helping the others get their tents and mattresses in order, then we built a small fire and toasted marshmallows. Trent told us about the films he wanted to watch tonight (Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange) and we all caught up with each other's holiday plans.
"Where are you going this year?" Natalie asked Annabelle. Annabelle's parents usually take her on a trip to another country during the holidays, but obviously that wasn't going to happen this year.
"Oh, nowhere," Annabelle said like it was no big deal. "Mum and dad are busy working, there's this huge project they're working on and they can't step away from it at the moment."
"Oh, that sucks."
"It's ok, they'll make it up to me."
"So what are you going to do all summer?" Trent asked.
"Hang out with all of you, obviously," Annabelle answered with a charming smile.
"We can go see movies or go shopping and we can get sushi!" Natalie said excitedly. Annabelle smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything. She was probably spiralling about not being able to eat sushi again - when mum had told her she'd have to be careful what kind of sushi she ate Annabelle had gotten very upset.
"We can go swimming in our pool," Cynthia said. "Have a pool party."
"Sounds good," Tony said.
"We could watch movies in Eddie's cinema room," I suggested. "I have to stay with him for a week because Mum's tagging along with Harry when he goes to Greece to visit family."
"You aren't going too?" Jenny asked.
"Nah. But I might go to America for a weekend or something to see Amber, Johnny's new baby."
"Oh yeah. How's it feel to be an uncle?"
"Kinda weird. Nothing's really changed, I guess. I'm still getting used to having family that we don't actively avoid, I don't really know how to act. But the photos are cute, and I like her tiny toes. I guess I have to meet her," I explained. "But I'm nervous about meeting the rest of Johnny's family. I still think I'm seen as "Eddie's secret bastard" and not "Johnny's brother" or "Eddie's youngest" or whatever."
"I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm sure you'll meet Amber and everything will make sense," Tony told me.
"I think that you'll find no one sees you as "Eddie's secret bastard" besides you," Ollie added. "You're too self-conscious. No one sees you as a living mistake, like you seem to imagine. You're Billy. Billy my boyfriend."
"Billy my best mate," Tony grinned at me.
"Billy the musician," Cynthia piped up.
"Billy the dramatic," Annabelle said with a wink as she playfully kicked my leg.
"When am I ever dramatic?" I asked in fake outrage, making Annabelle giggle.
"Alright that's enough now - it's my birthday, tonight is supposed to be about me!" Trent said, drawing all the attention to himself. I was grateful, I was appreciative of my friends making me feel better, but I hated the attention being on me, especially when the subject was one of my insecurities.
We all talked and drank until the pizza delivery arrived and we all tucked into dinner. We watched Trent's favourite movies then we went back out to the little fire to toast more marshmallows and keep drinking and talking, mainly about our expectations of the next school year.
It was three o'clock before any of us headed for bed, Tony and Jenny being the first to throw in the towel. They only went into their tent and started snogging though - they had a torch on in the tent and their shadows gave them away.
"Oi, Tony, Jenny! Knock that off." Trent told them with a big entertained grin.
"What?" Tony called.
"We can see your silhouettes." I told him.
"Oh, shit."
"Oh my God," Jenny said, sounding mortified.
The light went off in their tent and we all laughed at them.
"I think I'll turn in too," Ollie said with a yawn.
"Me too," said Annabelle. "Cyn?"
"I'll come," Cynthia answered. "I'm knackered."
"And I'll join you," I said to Ollie.
"We better get to sleep too. What do you say, Trent?" Natalie asked him.
"Yeah, it's late enough. Good night everybody."
"Goodnight."
We all split off into our tents. Ollie and I both changed into our pyjamas and snuggled up under our sleeping bag. Body heat warmed us up after a little bit, and it was nice lying there with my arm around Ollie's shoulders.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Ollie asked me quietly.
"I dunno. Maybe. I'll probably be nervous tomorrow - I'm too tired to worry about it now, I think."
"It'll be ok. A shock perhaps, but I don't think anyone will be upset. Is Annabelle nervous?"
"I don't know. I think she'll like all the attention. Well, not any negative attention. I don't know. She can be hard to anticipate sometimes. What do you think?"
"About Annabelle?"
"Yeah."
"I think she's more complex than we give her credit for. But from what I've observed about her - especially recently - I think she'll be more confident. She's tougher than she acts."
"Yeah, you're right. I've gotten to know her a lot more since she moved in, and I think she's matured a bit since being kicked out by her parents. She's still very spoilt and self-centred, but she's also probably the most thoughtful and generous person I know. She loves sharing her things with Mum. Handbags and makeup and clothes, although she's a size or two smaller than Mum. She's very supportive of me, especially about everything with Dad. I'm seeing a side of her I didn't know existed, and I like and appreciate her more for it."
"Good."
"Yeah." I yawned and Ollie kissed my cheek.
"Let's go to sleep," he said. "Goodnight. I love you."
"I love you too. Night."
I fell asleep quickly...