Best Mistake

"Good morning, daddy," I yawned when I found him sitting on the front porch. I'd just woken up from where Alex was still sleeping on me, his arm still cradled around our son. I generally move around a lot when I sleep, so I was surprised I hadn't pushed him off during the night.

"Mornin', Whit," he replied. "Alex still sleeping?"

"Yes sir," I said, sitting in the rocking chair beside him.

He nodded. "That's a nice young man you've got there."

I glanced at him quickly. "Technically, I don't have him yet."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I shrugged. "We're not official yet. You know, 'boyfriend'/'girlfriend'."

My dad scoffed. "Says who?"

"Me?" I laughed. "He hasn't asked me yet."

"Lord, girl," my dad sighed, shaking his head. "Do you not think that maybe it was implied? He fell for you on the first night he met you, he got you pregnant, he turned down an ex he was crazy about when she told him he couldn't have anything to do with you, he came home with you to meet your parents," he said, counting with his fingers. "You got him, baby girl. Your hooks sunk in deep on that fish."

Suddenly, Alex walked out the porch door, squinting in the morning sun.

"Alex," my dad said. "Is Whitney your girlfriend?"

I couldn't fight the reflex to hit my dad hard on his arm. I was so embarrassed, so mortified that he would say such a thing, I wanted to dig myself a grave and bury myself alive.

"Yeah," Alex said simply.

My eyes shot up in his direction. I was his girlfriend?

"You see?" my dad said, making a face at me. He picked up his empty coffee mug and stood, saying, "I'm gonna go get more coffee. Y'all get dressed soon. Ashleigh will be here in a little bit with the baby."

As excited as I was to see my sister and meet my nephew, I couldn't get over the shock of the newfound information. Alex took my dads seat, swooping his hand under mine.

"Is this news to you?" he laughed. "That you're my girlfriend?"

I shrugged, looking at him with red cheeks. "Kind of," I murmured.

He shifted in his seat. "How? How did you not know?"

I felt like I was radiating heat. "Because you didn't ask me to be."

Alex sighed heavily. "That makes sense. I guess I just started thinking of you as my girlfriend a little while after I turned Sophia down. And when I asked you to move in with me, I just thought that was a given, too. I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"No," I shook my head. "You don't have to apologize. I just didn't realize."

Alex tugged on my hand a little, making me look at him.

"Will you be my girlfriend, though?"

I smiled, probably a little more wide than I realized, and nodded. "Yeah, I will."

He sighed heavily, feigning relief. "Good. I can't raise this baby alone."

I laughed and let him help me up, my arms falling over his shoulders. He kissed me sweetly, holding me tight. I felt myself really, REALLY falling for him.

One at a time, we went back into the bedroom to change clothes. I let Alex go first and had a glass of milk while I waited. I felt suddenly parched.

As I was changing, I heard Ashleigh and Jonathan arrive.

"This is Whitney's boyfriend, Alex," I heard my dad say.

I took a moment to myself for quiet celebration. I was finally able to call him my boyfriend.

"And this is Bryce," Ashleigh said, introducing Alex to her son as I walked out the door.

She looked at me and her jaw dropped. She quickly handed Bryce to our dad and sprinted over to me.

"Oh my god!" she squealed, pulling me into a tight hug. "Oh! I'm finally going to be an aunt!"

"Hey, Ash," I laughed, holding her tight.

"Hi," she squeaked. "Oh my god! How far along are you?"

"Twenty eight weeks," I smiled, turning to the side and rubbing my belly, showing off my girth.

"Boy or girl?" she asked quickly.

"Boy."

"Yay! Bryce is going to have a boy cousin to grow up and play with," she said, clapping.

I looked past her at the infant in my dad's arms. "Speaking of," I said, and walked towards him.

I was so relieved when Bryce instantly came to me. He smiled and cooed as I looked him over. He was an exact clone of his dad.

"Hey Bryce," I cooed. "My name is Aunt Whitney."

He smiled and reached for a handful of my hair, tugging with all of his baby might.

"Ow," I laughed, trying to detangle my hair from his fingers.

"He loves to pull hair," Ashleigh said, helping me. "It loves titties too, so be careful," she added, giving my boobs a pat.

If I weren't so used to Ashleigh's bluntness and blatant disregard for who was listening to her as she spoke, I probably would have been embarrassed. She was a stone cold southern belle, and as far as she was concerned, if you didn't like what she was saying, you could stop listening.

I glanced over at Alex, who's cheeks were tinted pink. After giggling, I shot him an apologetic smile.

I played with Bryce on the floor until lunch was ready. Ashleigh took the time to get to know Alex. Being so protective, she was generally hard to impress when it came to guys I was with. When she shot me an approving wink, I sighed with relief.

Bryce started to get fussy, so she let him out of his high chair to play. I watched as he crawled into the living room and stood to follow him, excusing myself from the table first.

"Hey buddy," I smiled, slowly lowering myself onto the floor in front of him.

He shook the toy he was playing with and threw it to the side before crawling towards my lap. He was staring directly at my bump as he inched his way forward. I laughed a little when he started hitting it.

"No," I said, smiling sweetly. "Don't hurt him."

Bryce continued to swat at my stomach. He didn't have enough power in him to really hurt the baby, so I let him have his fun.

Alex soon joined us, walking slowly to where I was sitting. Bryce got bored with my belly for a moment, crawling back to his toy.

"We're going to have one of these soon," I said as Alex sat next to me.

"Yeah," he smiled. "He's so tiny."

I nodded, then laughed as Bryce drooled on his shirt. "And messy," I said.

"Messy," Alex agreed, grimacing a little.

I laughed. "Are you ready to be pooped and peed and puked on for the next couple of years?"

He shuddered, but nodded. "We're gonna need a lot of laundry detergent." He looked at me before saying, "Guess I better get a good paying job first."

I laughed when he winked at me and shook my head. Bryce started to crawl back towards me, but something about Alex caught his attention and he changed his direction.

"He likes you," I smiled while Bryce hit Alex's leg.

Alex just waved at him. I scoffed a little.

"Pick him up," I said.

Alex shook his head, picking up Bryce's hand and giving him a high five. "He's too little."

"When our son is born, he's going to be even smaller. Are you not going to hold him?" I asked.

"That's different," Alex said. "This one isn't ours."

I shrugged. "Exactly. If you're going to drop a baby, I'd rather it wasn't our," I said, offering him a playful grin to let him know I was only joking.

Alex rolled his eyes at me, then awkwardly slipped his arms under Bryce's armpits and hoisted him up, perching him on his hip.

"See? Not so bad," I smiled, taking in the site of Alex holding a baby.

"It's not," he said, and started bouncing Bryce up and down.

Alex held out his finger and Bryce wrapped his hand around it, trying to bring it to his mouth. He pulled his hand away and fist bumped him instead. I watched as Alex brought Bryce's hand up to his mouth, kissing his fingers.

If my ovaries could have orgasms, I'm sure they would have at that point.

Ashleigh and Bryce stayed for about another hour before it was time for them to go. I frowned as I hugged her.

"I miss you, sis," I said, resting my head on her shoulder.

"I miss you, too," she said. "But I got this new promotion with a raise so maybe we can all come visit y'all sometime."

I nodded, smiling. "I'd love that."

She hugged my dad and Traci before turning to Alex. "Alex? Bring the baby out to the car?" she asked, winking at me.

A little flustered, Alex nodded and picked up Bryce in his car seat, carrying it out to Ashleigh's car. She showed him how to install it, then gave him a quick hug.

"It was great meeting you Alex. Take care of my little sister," she smiled.

"You too, Ashleigh, and I will," he replied, wrapping his arm around me.

It was soon time for us to leave, too. We carried out bags out to our rental car and my dad and Traci followed us.

"Will you be able to come to Baltimore in July?" I asked.

My dad shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry sweetie, but I don't think we'll make it. Money's kinda tight around here."

I nodded sadly, then Alex said, "Well we'll just have to make some arrangements to get you two out there."

All three of us stared at him.

"Nah, man," my dad said. "You don't have to do that."

Alex shrugged. "I want to. His granddaddy should be there when he's born."

"Well I would like to meet the little joker," my dad said, choking up a bit. He quickly pulled Alex into a tight hug. "Love you, man."

"Love you, too," Alex smiled.

I hugged Traci goodbye before moving over to my dad. I wasn't so sad about leaving knowing he would be there when my son was born.

"I love you, daddy," I said as I hugged him tight.

"I love you, too, sweetheart," he replied, squeezing me. "Y'all be careful going home."

Once we were on the highway, I turned to look at Alex. I guess I was actually staring since he glanced at me a few times before asking, "What?"

I shrugged. "Thank you."

He picked up my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. "For what?"

I shrugged again. "Just everything."

Notes