Sydney Bay Janes

I was lying in Will's bed one afternoon after returning from the doctors office.

He told me I'm definitely pregnant, only it's early - two weeks. That's a relief because, to be honest, I thought I was much further along.

I don't know what to do. One thing was for sure, it was too early to tell anyone, even the father. And it's not that I'm scared of his reaction, but because I'm not sure if I'll keep the baby, yet, or not.

I ended my call with Karina and let out a sigh, returning to boredom. To occupy time, I scrolled through my news feeds online.

"Syd!" I heard Wilson's voice shout.

"Up here!" I hollered back.

"My mother's on her way over for dinner," Will said fast.

I sat up, frustrated, and yelled, "What?!"

"That must be Mom, I'll get it," I volunteered at the sound of the knocking.

Will, setting the table, laughed at me. "Mom?"

I rolled my eyes, standing from the chair I claimed. "Diane. Shut up, she told me to call her that."

He chuckled, putting his palms down on the table in front of me.

I looked at up Will, leaning over me, and smirked.

"It's nothing," he said, "just, first you called me Daddy, now you're calling her Mom-"

"Spare me," I grumbled, holding off my laughter.

So embarrassing, he knew better than to bring up anything that happens in the bedroom, after the fact.

"Asshole," I mumbled, walking to the door.

To my surprise, it wasn't Diane at all. Instead, Hunter with his mother.

Seeing how she was scratching and the paranoid way she was looking all around, I knew she was high.

I quickly yanked Hunter inside Wilson's home to get him away from that.

"Hey, Syd," Hunter grumbled.

"Hey, sweetie," I talked back.

Finn barked and ran right past me. It was nice seeing the chocolate lab again.

Hunter looked like he knew she was out of her mind but he was hopeless. What could a sixteen-year-old kid do in this situation? I felt for him, this was partly my fault. Although, I'm sure she was familiar with drugs before I introduced her to Tony.

I tried shutting her out but she shoved her ankle in the way to stop the door from closing.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked me.

I looked over my shoulder at Hunter and gave me a comforting look.

"Will's in the dining room. Do me a favor, don't tell him she dropped you off," I spoke, stepping outside after Hunter sulked away.

"What, Anna?" I barked, folding both arms across my chest.

She looked sweaty and smelled like alcohol and Tony's signature scent. I didn't miss it.

"I need to drop Hunter off w-with you for a while — I mean with Wilson. I know y'all will take care of him, I can't right now. See, I'm doing business with Tony. Yeah, you know Tony. So, I just need, um, for you to watch him for a few days to a month, shit, I don't know," Anna struggled to say.

I could hardly look at what she's so quickly become, but when I did, my eyes shot right to her arms.

"Anna," I gasped, grabbing her wrists to better look at the marks along her flesh. She had been shooting up, this was beyond weed or a little line of cocaine here and there.

She snatched her limbs away in a small temper tantrum.

"Just tell Wilson, okay?!"

"Tell him yourself," I gritted, my hair blowing across my face from the wind.

She stomped her foot and made inaudible sounds. "I can't. I don't want Wilson seeing me like this again. Just— just tell him. Please. I know you will, you're a good person. That's why I need y'all to watch Hunter for me, I can't. I can't watch that kid, my man don't like kids."

"Get the fuck out of here, Anna," I enforced.

Her cracked lips turned into a smile. "Thank you! Thank you. I knew you would. And make sure he doesn't stop by the house for a while, yeah? Okay. T-thank you, Sydney."

She climbed in the back of the SUV. I knew it was Donovan's.

Tony, in the passenger seat, rolled his window down. He removed his sunglasses and blew a kiss at me. It seemed like a long while before he put them back on and let his assistant drive off.

I made way back to the front door where Will ran out.

"Was that Anna?" He asked.

"Yeah," I sobbed.

"She just dropped him off like that without saying anything?"

I gulped, pushing him back inside. "It's better that you didn't see her."

*

Later that night, Diane went around the table offering us all more wine.

"Don't mind if I do," Chyna hummed, raising her glass.

She and Damian wanted to go out but I told them they did that too much and offered them a seat at the table.

Damian was still finishing his last glass, and Will had a beer.

"Oh, no. Thanks," I objected.

Diane looked at me funny. "You haven't drank all night."

I hated that she made that a point and said it aloud because it made Chyna and Will look at me as well.

I swallowed and avoided eye contact with Wilson.

Chyna caught my eye though and acted fast.

"It's this diet," Chyna made up, "she can't drink past eight. No carbs, either."

"Mm," I agreed. Good one, Chyna.

That's why she's my best friend.

Diane bought that. Only, I don't know if Will did. . .

"So, Sydney, what do you have planned for Wilson's birthday?" asked Diane.

"Oh, uh, I completely forgot that was coming up," I admitted. Mental face-palm.

"Well, it's in four days," she reminded me.

"It's not a big deal," Will told the table.

Hunter returned from the kitchen with a second helping of my lemon meringue pie. And by "my" I mean I bought it and put it in the oven. You can't go wrong with Marie Callender's.

"Hunter Austin, slow down," Diane warned the teen.

I furrowed my eyebrows at that and looked around the room to see if anyone shared the same confused reaction.

Um when did they get so close, she sounds like his mother? You know, if he had a decent one.

Hunter forced down the mouthful and said, "Sorry."

Time passed and we were all full. Diane whipped up a nice dinner, we had her to thank for our food babies.
And I have her son to thank for my real baby.

Chyna and Damian were in Will's hot tub while Hunter played the PlayStation in the living room with Finn asleep at his feet.

Diane sat at the island on a stool, scrolling on my iPad, doing whatever.

Meanwhile, Will tried spraying me with the hose as we tag-teamed the heap of dishes.

"Babe, stop!" I squealed, trying to hide.

"Okay, chill," he talked low, smiling.

I nudged him and passed over a soapy plate for him to rinse, dry, and put away.

That's when Diane said, "Oh, Will, you have a FaceTime." As his phone was face up on the countertop, she could see who it was.

I wondered from who just as she gasped.

"It's Levi," she said, hand to her heart. "Is this— is this my Levi?"

"Mom, don't," he warned, trying to take the phone but it was too late. Diane had answered the call.

"Hey, Will. Hey, Syd," Levi greeted, bubbly like his normal self.

"Levi," Diane breathed out.

"Mom?" He sounded shocked.

Her lip quivered. "How are you, son?"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

She put Will's phone down and stared ahead blankly.

"He hung up," she said solemnly.

"You shouldn't have answered it," Will argued, snatching his phone up.

I watched him dial his brother's number back.

He tried walking away and I saw the desperation in Diane's eyes. So I pulled on Will's arm but he pulled away and lunged up the stairs.

As he turned the corner, I heard him speak on the phone, saying, "Hey, Levi. Sorry about her. Yeah, I left the room. What's up?"

Diane began to weep, her head in her hands.

"I'm a terrible mother," she cried.

"No, no you're not. Don't say that," I comforted her. I didn't know what happened with Levi exactly, only Wilson's side. No one ever asked Diane why she fully did what she did, but it looked like she missed her youngest boy.

"I love him," she vented. "And I should've been there for him. I'll never get those years back."

I blinked, rocking her in my arms. "There, there," I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Sending your son to another country because he's gay and you as his parent can't handle the judgmental stares is, in fact, a shitty thing to do. However, she raised Will well and wasn't all bad. From what I heard, she felt sorry and wanted to fix things, that's worth something.

Hunter joined us in the kitchen and asked for another slice of pie.

When Diane said nothing, he noticed something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" he asked her, rubbing her back. "Don't cry, Grandma D."

She sobbed against his chest while I stepped away to let them have a moment. It seemed as if she was more comfortable with him consoling her, anyway.

"I'll be okay," she claimed, blowing her nose in a tissue she kept waddled up in her hands.

"Hey, Sydney, am I sleeping in the guest room tonight; there's a bunch of boxes in there?" asked Hunter.

"I forgot you were staying here now," I mumbled, rubbing my forehead in stress.

"Who's staying?" Will asked, walking behind me.

I put my hands at his chest to calm him before he got worked up. "Anna asked if he can stay with you for a while-"

"What the fuck, no. I told her to stop doing that. Hunter, get your shit, let's go," Will raged.

"Wilson," I exhaled.

"I don't have anywhere to go! She said I can't go home, and I don't wanna," Hunter proclaimed.

Not going against my boyfriend, but I felt proud that Hunter put his foot down.

"You can't stay here, Hunter. I'm not your fucking Dad," Will made clear, finger-raking the hair out of his face.

"I'll take him," Diane spoke up.

"What?" Will and I chorused.

She smiled, stroking Hunter's golden locks. "Why not? I miss when Will was that age. I'm working from home and have the space; it would be nice, and I need something to do. It'll be an even better environment for him with me than here - you work a lot and clearly don't want him. Come on, Wilson, he can't go back with Anna, and I know you don't want him in the system."

Wilson still didn't look sold, his hands on his hips as he pondered the thought.

"I can do a lot for him in the next two years before he turns eighteen. I'll get him on the right track, he'll have more opportunities, like college. And you may not have wanted to follow in your father's business, but Hunter could be the next best architect- take over the family business," Diane added with confidence.

My eyes filled with hope, she made several good points. Hunter staying with Diane was the best option. Of course Will could keep him but he didn't want to, nor should he have to. He had enough on his plate and was tired of dealing with Anna which I don't blame him for, this is a lot.

"I like the sound of that," Hunter grinned.

Diane smiled warm, hugging him tight. "Go get your stuff," she ordered. Without another word, Hunter ran to the guest room and gathered his bags.

"Will?" I asked if he was going to say something.

His jaw clenched. "This is what's best for him, I know that. I just hope you treat him better than you did Levi."

Oh, so that's what this is about?

She looked down and then met his gaze. "I will. This is different, a second chance."

"Third," Will commented.

Diane started to crack up and so did Will, easing the tension in the room.

"I love you," she said to her first born.

"I love you, too."

Hunter jumped off the third step and ran back to us.

He gave me a hug and then whistled for Finn to follow.

"Let me walk you out," Will said.

I was proud of him, of all of them. Not everyone gets second chances or such luck finding parental figures like that when they're own fail them or otherwise.
This will be good for Hunter, for Will, and I know Diane will use this to redeem herself.

"Bye!" I heard them all exchanging parting words.

I looked out the window and saw Chyna and Damian making out in the hot tub. My head shook but I smiled at how cute they were when they wanted to be, I just wished they'd get it together finally, but that's a conversation for another time.

What a day, I thought in my head.

Relaxing, I got off my feet and sat at a barstool.

I hummed and opened my unlocked iPad.

"Let's see what she was doing on here," my nosy self said aloud, popping a caramel popcorn in my mouth.

There was only one application up, I saw, that was the internet. So I clicked it and quickly regretted doing so. There were three tabs, all related.

The first search:

How to know when someone is pregnant

The second search:

Other names for grandma

And finally, the third search. Except, it wasn't a search at all. Diane had left up Google and in the search bar, she had typed:

Sydney, I know you're pregnant

Seeing that, I quite literally gasped and pushed my iPad away.

Will walked in on me, laughing at what he just saw.

"You watching those scary pop-up videos again?" he joked, opening the fridge.

"No, no," I talked, awkwardly.

He gulped down some water from a plastic bottle and looked at me funny.

Will walked behind me and put his chin on my shoulder.

He asked, "Then what was it, you look like you saw a ghost?"

Feeling nauseous, I kept the iPad to my chest so he wouldn't see.

I blinked and hesitated to say, "No. Worse..."