our lil secret

•5•

"I think I know where she went," Maggie says.

"Where?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "Haley and I will go. You need to stay here for a bit."

"I have to see her though," I say. "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you," Haley says. "She is just very overwhelmed."

"Please text me if you find her or not."

Maggie grabs her phone, "We will."

Haley and Maggie walk out of the house. Hopefully they know where she is and hopefully she is okay. I swear if something happens to her I won't be able to make it through.

"Austin!" Zion yells from the kitchen.

I walk into the kitchen to see everyone sitting at the table. "What the hell are we going to do?" Brandon asks.

"I don't know!" I yell. I run my fingers through my hair and I start to pace back and forth, "I mean there is no way she is mine."

"She looks just like you," Edwin says.

"That doesn't matter," I say. "She might not be mine. Montana could have lied."

"It sounded real," Nick says quietly. "I think that the baby is yours."

"Allison is never going to forgive me," I say.

"Austin, sit down," Edwin says. "You need to stay calm or it'll just get worse."

I sit down at the table like he says to. I then look over at the small child that is still in Nick's arms.

She is the cutest thing ever and she really does look just like me. She has my hair, my eyes, and my nose. Montana wasn't lying. Genesis is my kid.

"She's mine," I whisper. "I know she is."

"Well obviously we aren't going to abandon her," Nick says. "I can't believe Montana would even think about doing this to you."

"She's evil," I say.

"Well what now?" Brandon asks. "We don't have any supplies for a kid. The only thing she has is this giraffe." He points at Genesis and I see her holding onto her stuffed animal. Poor thing looks so confused, but at least she's not freaking out.

"I'm going to have to go shopping," I say. "I have to take care of her."

"We can go with you," Nick says.

"I don't want to go yet though," I say. "I want Allison to come back first. I have to talk to her."

"It's understandable," Zion says.

I sigh, "Can you guys give me some time with Genesis?"

"Of course," Nick says. He stands up and so does everyone else. Everyone leaves and Nick walks to the other side of the table to give me her.

"Thanks," I say.

"No problem, man." He walks out of the kitchen too which leaves just Genesis and I.

I look down at her and she starts to chew on her hand. I know she can talk, but she hasn't said anything yet. She's probably too terrified to say anything.

"Hi, Genesis," I say.

She looks up at me and takes her hand out of her mouth. She smiles super big, "Hi."

"How are you doing today?"

"Good," she says. "Momma gave me ice cweam today."

"Did she? What kind did you get?"