Redeem Me (Kin #6)(38)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Once I was back at the confines of the frat house, I spent a little while catching up with my buddies. They wanted to hear all about me f**king up and knocking up my girlfriend. Since weeks had gone by I’d been able to accept that maybe we were meant to get pregnant. Cameron and I were at a weird place. Her parents had a huge hold over her decisions, and now she finally saw them for what they were.

Also, moving in together, and sharing in what we’d been through had brought us closer together. There were many nights that I considered telling her about the twins, but I knew that there was a chance she’d never forgive me, or be able to get past the fact that number one, I was already a father, and number two, I had twins with my brother’s wife.

It was a lot for anyone to wrap their head around, especially someone that I wanted to marry. After giving my friends the low-down, I went to gather some more of my things from my room. It was a shame knowing that I’d waited so long to get it, and I was already having to leave it behind.

I snuck out the back of the house so if anyone was trying to follow me, they wouldn’t see me leave. One of my frat brothers drove me to a nearby gas station, where I met Ashley. I climbed in the car, greeted by her being on the phone, Rebekah sound asleep, and Eli smiling from cheek to cheek. “Hey, little guy.”

Ash handed me her phone. “Shayne wants to talk to you.”

“Hello?” I didn’t know what to expect.

“You okay, Parker?”

“Yeah, I am now.”

“Ash is goin’ to pick up Cameron on your way back, and bring her to our house. We’ll order pizza or somethin’ easy. Peyton’s bringing the baby over and wants you both to be there too. Is that cool with you?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good. Be nice to my wife. You owe her one.”

I looked toward Ash, who was looking back at the kids. “I know. I’ll be nice. See you later, bro.”

For the first few minutes we said nothing to each other. Then Ashley broke that silence. “So, are we goin’ to talk about the baby on the way, or are you goin’ to pretend that it’s not happenin’ around me?”

I looked out the window, instead of in her direction. “Are you worried that I might change my mind or somethin’?”

“Should I be?”

I looked right at her. “No. Of course not. Why does everyone have such a hard time about this?”

“Don’t hate me for askin’, Parker. You’re back now, and it’s been weird for me. I’m not concerned for me, but more for your brother. It’s obvious that you’re plannin’ on keepin’ Cameron around, so it’s easy to assume that you might want to let her in on the big family secret.”

“Cam won’t ever know about the twins. The secret is safe, and we need to keep it buried. We’re goin’ to get married, and have our own baby on the way. What you and I had on that beach is in the past. Shit, we were too drunk to even remember it.”

“That doesn’t matter. Look in the backseat and tell me that’s not a reminder of what we did that night.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “This is not the conversation that I wanted to have with you, Ash. Look, I’m glad you’re married to my brother. I envy what the two of you have, but I’m not tryin’ to take your kids away. I signed over my rights when you were pregnant, and I’ve never regretted it. Cameron is never goin’ to know the twins are mine. I’ll take it to my grave.”

She seemed content with my answer, and I did understand why she was concerned. I suppose if I were in her shoes I’d be confused as well.

The car got quiet again, except for the little guy who definitely wanted out of his car seat. I turned and gave Eli attention, so that Ash didn’t have to pull over. It felt good to spend time with him, and even though that secret bond we shared was apparent, I didn’t address it. That was something I’d have to learn to ignore. When they got older and wanted to spend time with their uncle maybe it would be all right, but if they felt uncomfortable, I wouldn’t argue about it. This wasn’t an easy process for me, and I knew it was even more difficult for everyone else, because they had no idea how to act.

I called Cam a few minutes later to let her know we’d be picking her up. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she seemed out of sorts. “Hey, babe, it’s me. I ran into your dad at college, so Ash came and picked me up. They invited us to dinner, so we’ll be pickin’ you up in about an hour.”

“I’m not really hungry. Why don’t you just go without me?”

“You can still come over and hang out, even if you don’t want to eat.”

“No. I don’t feel well. I wouldn’t want the twins to get what I have, so it’s best that I stay home.”

Even though she was acting weird, I shook it off as hormones. Obviously they were going crazy from the pregnancy. “Okay. If you change your mind give me a ring. We’ll grab you on the way. I love you.”

She hung up before replying, but again, I ignored it.

Chapter 26

Cameron

My hands were still shaking when I hung up from the call. In a matter of thirty minutes my life had been thrown another loop. I felt hurt, betrayed, and most importantly, lied to.

I’d been busy reading over my term paper for the second time, feeling like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. There was nothing like trying to edit your own material. No matter how many times I’d comb through it there would still be issues.

At any rate, the prepaid cell phone that Parker had given me the day after we moved in had started to ring. Only Parker and his parents knew the number, so I got up and walked over to answer it. Sometimes during the day his mother would bring me things, or ask if I wanted to go into town.

I picked up the phone noticing Parker’s number.

“Hey, babe.”

While waiting for him to reply I started listening to the background sounds.

A female voice was speaking. “It’s obvious that you’re plannin’ on keepin’ Cameron around, so it’s easy to assume that you might want to let her in on the big family secret.”

I put my hand over my mouth, shocked that this was actually happening. When I heard Parker replying, I knew he’d butt dialed me. Maybe I should have hung up the phone, but I just couldn’t. Curiosity got the best of me, as I sat down on the bed and received the utmost shock of my entire life.

“Cam won’t ever know about the twins. The secret is safe, and we need to keep it buried. We’re goin’ to get married, and we have our own baby on the way. What you and I had on that beach is in the past. Shit, we were too drunk to even remember it.”