Eden's Secret

Chapter 6

Waiting was the hardest part. But fortunately for Jordan she didn't have to wait long. The next morning Jordan laid Eden down for a nap. It had been a long night. As most newborns do, she had her days and nights mixed up. She was up every hour wanting to eat. And now Jordan hoped she would sleep at least long enough for her to get a shower and make some attempt at being presentable. She was hoping to make her first outing alone with a baby today. She had to force herself to do it at some point, might as well be today. It would be a quick trip to the local market for just a few things. Surely nothing could go wrong in a short half hour trip.

Jordan slipped on a sundress and had just enough time to pull her hair up in a messy bun. No time to dry her hair, but at least it was clean. She heard a squeak from the baby's room and made her way to put a clean diaper on Eden and pack her in the car seat. Most first-time mothers would probably pack up an entire diaper bag filled to the brim with burp cloths, pacifiers, diapers, a change of clothes, and the kitchen sink. But not Jordan. Her lack of experience with infants translated to happy ignorance. The fact that she was going about this blindly made her very laid back. Eden was just another accessory. Like a purse to carry around. Except a really cute one. Jordan was smitten, despite her lack of knowledge about what to do.

Jordan ran into Andy, Will's agent, at the grocery store. He seemed happy to see her and was obviously very surprised at seeing Jordan with a baby. "Are you babysitting?" he asked.

"No, not babysitting," she replied. "She's mine."

There was no hiding the shock on Andy's face. And the obvious question that was about to follow. "Does Will know about this baby? Wait. Is this Will's baby?"

"Andy," Jordan began to shake, "don't do anything right now. Please. I've reached out to Will. But he doesn't know anything. You've got to give me time."

"Time? He has a baby he doesn't know about? And you want me to give you time? This is amazing," he shook his head and backed away. "I didn't expect this from you."

"Really? You didn't expect this from me? What do you think I expected? This is nothing like I planned. I don't want to be that girl. The gold digger. I didn't want this to happen. And I didn't want Will to feel like I had trapped him somehow."

"Listen, Jordan, this is beyond anything I could have imagined. I don't even know where to begin. But I will tell you this. The longer you wait to tell Will, the worse it makes you look. You haven't even given him a chance. He at least deserves that." Andy was disgusted with her. And Jordan was equally disgusted with herself, too.

She got home and put the groceries away. As she fed Eden, she began to cry. She had made a mess with her life. She had always been so good as a professional and now she knew why she had always kept her personal life on the back burner. She couldn't be trusted with things of the heart, it always went down in flames. And this time it went down big time. She changed Eden's diaper and rocked her to sleep. She laid her down in her crib and took a moment to look at the sweet face that deserved nothing but the best. Jordan would do her best to make this curly headed girl have the best life that she never had, with or without anyone's help.

The door bell rang and Jordan knew without a doubt who was at the door. She should have known Andy would immediately call Will. And why wouldn't he? She would have done the same thing if she were in his shoes. Her stomach was in knots. Her emotions were already wonky from leftover pregnancy hormones. She walked slowly to the door and opened it to find Will standing there. He looked confused, but mostly he looked hurt. She didn't know what to say and there wasn't any time to react because he walked right in. She closed the door and turned around to face him.

"Is it true?" he whispered. "You have a baby?" The hurt in his eyes cut to her heart. She began softly crying.

"Yes," she whispered and pointed in the direction of Eden's room.