Freaks in the City (17 page)

“I get that. But really, bro, you handled
this all wrong.” She shook her head in what Tyler hoped was
mock-despair.

“I’m sorry we hurt you, Caro,” Jay said,
sounding so miserable that Tyler jumped in on her behalf.

“It was my choice to keep this a secret,” he
told his sister. “Jay wanted to tell you.”

Caro rocked back on the heels of her boots
and hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her black denim jeans.
The look she gave him was a bizarrely comforting mix of
exasperation and the kind of deep-seated understanding he’d only
expect from someone who knew him very well. “Jeez, bro. Way to go.
Would you’ve even said
anything
if you hadn’t been caught
red-handed?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

She turned her gaze to Jay. “You would have
told me eventually, right?”

“No, I wouldn’t have.”

Caro’s eyes widened, shocked by the blunt
answer. “But why?”

“Because I promised Tyler not to.”

Caro’s lips twitched upward. “Awww. You two
are so gosh-darned sweet I could eat you both right up.” She gave
Jay a hug, and Tyler another punch in the arm, and he knew they’d
been forgiven. He wasn’t worried about himself so much, but Jay
thought the world of Caro. She’d be gutted if Caro was pissed at
her.

“So, Jay, what do you think of my hair?”

Tyler wished their mom could get over the
big stuff and move on as quickly as Caro did. His sister had
obviously inherited that trait from their dad. He angled himself so
he could watch as Jay scrutinized Caro thoroughly and seriously,
while Caro hopped from foot to foot, awaiting the verdict.

“I like the curls and the longer length,”
she said. “The style suits you. You look wonderful, Caro.”

Caro beamed at her, and wound one of her new
curls around her forefinger. “One of my classmates at Eddings knows
this hair stylist who needed some models for a catalog shoot. He
took one look at my hair color and went into raptures. And I wanted
a change—growing it out was getting boring.”

“What does Matt think of it?” Jay wanted to
know.

“He loves it, of course.”

“Wouldn’t dare admit otherwise,” Tyler
deadpanned.

Caro snickered. “Right on. C’mon, you two.
Mom spotted the car pull up. She’s gonna come looking for you if
you don’t get inside.”

Tyler deliberately moved closer to Jay and
slung his arm about her waist. He wanted there to be no doubts
where his allegiance lay if his mom wanted to harp on about
Jay.

“Meant to say,” Caro piped up. “Nice wheels,
Jay. Is it a rental?”

“No, it’s mine.”

“Your own car? Awesome! You are sooo lucky.
If I never see the inside of another bus it’ll be too soon. Hey,
next time you’re in the market for a vehicle, how ’bout something a
little less Men In Black and a little more—”

“Shawn?” Tyler couldn’t resist the dig.

Sure enough, Caro flushed as red as her ex’s
flashy red Miata. “Low blow, bro,” she muttered.

Tyler grinned. “Figured I’d get in
first.”

“Oh, here’s Mom,” Caro said.

Tyler turned to greet her and the words
choked off in his throat.

Oh. My. Fricking. God. His mom was pregnant.
Really, really, floral maternity dress stretched over a huge bump
pregnant.

~~~

Tyler stared at his mother. Heat crawled up
his neck and pressure built behind his eyes, turning the world ever
so slightly hazy. What he felt right now was a hot mess of anger
and betrayal. Man, she’d chosen the perfect way to punish him for
keeping secrets. And yeah, maybe he deserved it. But it was still
like she’d walked up and kicked him in the gut.

Caro’s gasp was so epic, Tyler figured it
was a freaking miracle his sister didn’t immediately pass out from
excess oxygen intake or something. “Omigod,” she said. “I just
presumed they’d— They didn’t
tell
you?”

The words were still hampered by the lump in
his throat so all he could do was shake his head.

His sister’s eyes were enormous orbs of
disbelief. “Jesus,” she muttered. “What the eff were they
thinking?”

“
You
could have clued me in,” Tyler
got out. And yep, it sounded like an accusation but he was in no
mood to play nice right now.

Caro gulped, her eyes filling with tears. “I
would have told you straight out if I’d realized you didn’t know.
Jeez. I know we haven’t exactly been keeping in touch lately but—
How could this have happened?”

“You tell me,” he muttered and then had an
“Aha!” moment and smacked his forehead. “Shit. Now all those
baby-obsessed texts I’ve been getting from you make sense. I
thought you were doing some off-the-wall design project or
something.”

Caro’s groan was heartfelt. “Oh my God. You
must have thought I was nuts going on about baby stuff all the
time.”

“A little. Mostly I felt sorry for
Matt.”

She managed a woebegone smile. “I bet. I
just figured you were being a guy, and didn’t want to talk
baby-stuff. I’m sooo sorry, Tyler.”

“Don’t be.” He couldn’t be angry at her. It
was obvious she hadn’t intentionally kept this news under wraps.
Unlike his parents. Unless they’d presumed Caro would clue him in
and he was totally over-reacting. But still…. Something this
important? They damn well should have told him upfront and in
person.

And then he remembered their unexpected
visit. The realization smacked him like a cold wet fish. Shit. Bet
they’d made the trip to tell him the good news. Only instead of
good news and happy vibes, it’d all deteriorated into a drama-fest
about Jay.

“Hello, Mrs. Davidson,” Jay said. “You’re
looking well.”

She turned to Tyler. “The pregnancy appears
to be progressing nicely. Marissa is in her third
trimester—thirty-four weeks if I’m not mistaken. The fetus appears
healthy and well-formed.”

His mom had been avoiding looking at Jay,
but now she stared at her. Her mouth slowly opened and her face
froze in an expression Tyler couldn’t quite fathom. The back of his
neck prickled. What on earth had provoked
this
OTT reaction?
Surely his mom must know Jay would never harm her or the baby.

“How can you know that?” His mom’s tone was
half accusatory, half horror.

“Among other things, I can detect the baby’s
heartbeat,” Jay said.

“Cool!” was Caro’s verdict.

Their mom wrapped her arms about her bump
and shook her head over and over, like she was trying her utmost to
deny something incontrovertible. “Don’t look at me.”

“Mom?” Caro moved toward her, one arm
outstretched, but their mom backed off.

“Don’t let her look at me!” she said.

“Who? Me?” Caro sounded as totally confused
as Tyler was right now.

“It’s all right, Mrs. Davidson. I’ve got my
eyes closed. I’m not looking. I give you my word.”

Tyler turned to grab Jay by the shoulders
and give her a little shake. “What the hell is going on?”

“Take your mother inside, Caro,” Jay said.
“Her heart-rate is elevated. She needs to sit down, and put her
feet up.”

And at that pronouncement, Tyler’s mom gave
a little shriek, burst into tears and half-ran toward the house in
an ungainly waddle that would have been funny as heck in any other
circumstances.

“What the hell?” both Tyler and Caro said
together.

“Hormones,” Jay said, as if that explained
everything. She still had her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

The garage door creaked open to reveal
Tyler’s dad. “You’re here.” He seemed surprised by the fact.”

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “We got an early start
and the traffic was light. We made good time.”

“Have you seen your mother?”

“Oh yeah. We’ve seen her all right.”

His sister subjected their dad to her famous
Caro-style evils. “Why didn’t you and Mom tell Tyler about the
baby? I can’t believe this crap!”

“Didn’t you tell—” He shut up as the
expression on Caro’s face sank in. His gaze switched to Tyler. “No?
Shit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I wanted to,
but— Your mother—” He heaved a sigh. “Can we take this inside? And
where is your mother, anyway? Is she okay?”

“Kinda,” Caro said.

“She just burst into tears for, like, no
reason,” Tyler said.

“Shit,” his dad his dad said again. “Damn
hormones.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s a bit fragile
right now and— Uh, why has Jay got her eyes closed?”

Jay opened her eyes. “Hi, Mr. Davidson. I
had my eyes closed because Mrs. Davidson didn’t want me to look at
her. I can only presume she believes I possess the ability to x-ray
her abdomen. I’m not exactly certain why I
kept
my eyes
closed. It just seemed like the right thing to do. To give you all
some privacy.”

“Oh for crying out loud.” His father’s groan
was heartfelt.

Tyler grit his teeth. “Will someone please
tell me why Mom’s so upset?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, your mother is
pregnant,” his father said, as if that explained everything, and
then he disappeared back inside to check on his distraught
wife.

~~~

Although she could easily have eavesdropped
on Mike and Marissa Davidson’s conversation—if Marissa’s incoherent
sobs and Mike’s soothing murmurs could be termed conversation—Jay
deliberately tuned out. Her desire to know all the facts was
powerful, but the manners instilled in her by her creator were more
so.

Caro and Tyler were still staring at each
other, transfixed by a horror that seemed quite out of proportion
to the fact they would have a new sibling in the near future. So
much for pregnancy being a joyous occasion.

Jay grabbed first Tyler’s hand and then
Caro’s to tow them both toward the living room. With a twist of her
wrists, she yanked them in front of her and turned them to face
her. “Sit.” A palm on each chest, and a gentle shove, and they were
both seated on the couch.

She surveyed them, hands on hips. “Talking
would be good. Perhaps if you open your mouths, some of the
thoughts crammed into your poor little human brains will come out
and make themselves heard.”

Caro was the first to recover, and she
promptly stuck her tongue out at Jay.

“Nice,” Jay said. “Have you been brushing
that tongue lately? It seems a little furry to me.”

Caro’s eyes crossed as she tried to get a
good look at the offending furry body part.

“I was joking,” Jay said. “Apparently humor
relieves tension.”

“Ha ha. I still can’t believe they didn’t
tell you.”

“Well, we didn’t tell them about me,” Jay
said. “Tit for tat, as the saying goes.”

“Yeah. I guess. Still sucks.”

Tyler snapped out of his funk. “How the hell
did it happen?”

“The pregnancy?” Caro asked.

“Duh. Yes, the pregnancy.”

Jay opened her mouth to explain the ins and
outs of human reproduction, but stopped herself before she could
start. Doubtless Tyler was a little old for that lecture.

Caro snorted. “Birth control epic fail? I
reckon they’ve been having ‘make-up sex’ ever since Mom finally
decided to forgive him for taking off.”

Tyler slumped back on the couch until he was
half-reclining, put his feet up on the coffee table, and flung an
arm over his eyes. “I need to go scour my brain with a wire brush
right now.”

Jay squeezed in between him and Caro. She
lifted his feet off the coffee table, pulled off his sneakers, and
hooked his legs over her lap.

Caro screwed up her face and pretended to
shuffle over because of her brother’s smelly socks. “His feet don’t
smell,” Jay said.

“They used to,” Caro said.

“Did not,” Tyler said.

“Did too.”

“Actually, they did,” Jay said. “But I
sprayed his footwear and killed the bacteria that was causing the
odor.”

“Ewww!”

Tyler blew a raspberry that Jay presumed was
meant for his sister.

“Aren’t you happy you’ll soon have a baby
brother or sister?” she asked them.

“Uh, yeah. Of course we are.” Caro threw
Tyler a pointed look that was wasted on him considering he was
still resting his eyes… or whatever it was he was doing. Attempting
to shut out something he didn’t wish to deal with, perhaps? It
wasn’t a particularly useful strategy because Tyler possessed no
other sensory enhancements to compensate for lack of vision.

“It’s just been a bit of a shock,” Caro
said. “What with Mom’s age and all.”

“Due to a combination of increased life
expectancy and improvements in reproductive technology, greater
numbers of women are having children later in life,” Jay said.
“Statistics show a steady increase in births to women ages forty to
forty-four.”

Tyler finally deigned to emerge from beneath
his arm. “This is our mom, not some random number in some
government report on women’s health.”

Caro gnawed her lower lip. “I’ve tried not
to let on but I’m a little worried because of Mom’s age.”

Jay noted her friend’s overly pale
complexion and anxious eyes. Yes, Caro was extremely concerned
about her mother. Unfortunately, pregnancy was not without its
risks, even for women half Marissa’s age. Conscious of Caro’s
anxiety she tempered the information she’d been about to impart.
“With the vast improvements that have been made in prenatal care,
and advances in technology such as genetic screening, many issues
are diagnosed early and risks minimized.”

Caro gulped. “What issues, exactly?”

Perhaps this was one of the times humans
would
prefer to know all the risks. Jay hoped so. She did
not wish to cause her friend any further distress. “Compared to a
woman in her twenties, the risk of miscarriage increases to around
forty percent, as opposed to fifteen percent. The likelihood of
Down Syndrome is ten times higher. There is a higher chance of a
premature birth, low birth weight, ectopic pregnancy, hypertension
and gestational diabetes.”