Twenty minutes later Jeff was in the kitchen making dinner for everyone. 
Annabelle was now sitting up on the couch with her head on Drew’s shoulder and 
her hand placed in his. Drew was, of course, sitting next to Annabelle. Dee was 
sitting in a recliner across from the couple, and J and Vicky were sitting on the 
love seat.


"I think I’ll go help Jeff in the kitchen," J said while standing up. He softly 
patted Vicky’s leg and left for the kitchen.


"We should throw you a baby shower, Annabelle," Dee suggested. 


"Yeah! It would be so much fun!" Vicky paused for a second. "Who would we invite? 
No offense, Annabelle, but you don’t have many female friends. Guys aren’t 
allowed to go to baby showers."


"Why not?" Dee asked.


"It’s tradition."


"My sister had guys at her baby shower."


"Annabelle’s not your sister."


"So? Are you saying Annabelle’s to good to have guys at her baby shower? That my 
sister is such a big loser that she needs to go against tradition to have 
guests."


"No..."


"Guys!" Annabelle interrupted. "Stop fighting. Look, it’s my shower. I can have 
guys there if I want to or I could not invite guys, too. It’s up to me."


"Sorry, Annabelle," the two girls mumbled sheepishly in perfect synchronization. 


"Hehehe, you guys said that in unison."


"Shut up, Drew!" Again the two spoke at the same time.


"Touchy."


"Dinner!" Jeff yelled from the other room. "Somebody tell Nick." All eyes in the 
room turned to Drew.


"Just because he’s my brother doesn’t mean I should have to talk to the grump." 
Annabelle released hands with Drew and moved her head. She gave him a little 
shove.


"Just do it."


"Isn’t that the Nike slogan?"


"Just go, and please do shut up."


"How am I supposed to talk to Nick and shut up at the same time?" Annabelle 
nudged him again and Drew went to the room he shared (but never slept in) with 
Nick.


"Hey bro, dinners ready." Drew said as he entered. Nick didn’t hear him so Drew 
walked closer to the bunk beds. "Nick?" Drew climbed the ladder and sat next to 
his brother.


"Oh, hey Drew." Nick said after a bit of hesitation.


"Hey. Look, if you need somebody to talk to, I’m always here."


"I know."


"You don’t wanna talk?"


"Jess called me today."


"What’d Jess hafta say?"


"Her uncle died, Drew. She needs support. She wants me to come to the funeral 
with her. Be her rock."


"Do you want to go?"


"It’s a funeral, why in the world would I want to go?"


"Okay, let me rephrase that. Are you going to go?"


"I told Jess I would. She was crying on the phone, how could I say no?"


"Why does she want you there? Her whole family should be there, right?"


"I don’t know why she wants me there and of course her whole family is gonna be 
there." Nick slung his arm across his forehead.


"That doesn’t sound so bad. it shouldn’t have put you in a bad mood, Nick. 
What’s going on in that head of yours?"


"I love Jess and I want her back."


"Now really isn’t a good time."


"I didn’t mean this second, Drew."


"No, but you meant soon."


"I don’t like being separated from her. It hurts more than you can imagine. You 
don’t know how it feels to live without the one you love. To know your feelings 
are either rejected or not returned."


"You don’t think I know how it feels?!" Anger and hurt flowed in the sounds of 
Drew’s voice. How could his own brother not know o understand what Drew had been 
through? "What the hell did you think was happening with Anna?"


"It’s not like you’ve loved her since the second you met." Drew was frustrated 
and angry. The big brother thing wasn’t going to work in this situation. Drew 
knew a lot more about this kind of thing then frat boy did. He intended to prove 
that without hurting Nick. Not hurting Nick might be hard, though, considering 
Drew’s temper.


"I can’t believe you said that to me. When I first met Anna, I told you I was 
going to marry her."


"You were two years old, Drew. I didn’t take you seriously."


"I befriended Anna for the sole purpose of getting close to her. She was so 
wonderful that I just knew we were meant to be together. I became the best, best 
friend possible. I needed to be around her. Our friendship grew and I didn’t 
want to ruin it by telling her my feelings. I’ve had to put up with her dates, 
and boyfriends, and even my own brother."


"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Nick yelled. "You know?"


"Anna told me almost a year ago."


"How could she tell you?"


"She didn’t mean to. It just slipped out. Don’t be angry with her. She probably 
never would have told me if her father hadn’t found out."


"Her father found out?"


"Wow, do you know anything!" Drew yelled.


"How could I possibly know, if nobody ever tells me anything?!"


"Well, maybe you should ask!"


"Why would I ask?!"


"I don’t know!"


"What would I say?! Oh, Annie, by the way, does Drew know about us?! How ‘bout 
that father of yours?!"


"Stop yelling!"


"You started it!"


"I did not!"


Meanwhile in the living room...


Annabelle had her head in her hands trying to cover her embarrassment. Jeff, J, 
Vicky, and Dee were standing up staring at the door to Drew and Nick’s room. 
They had heard the louder part of the conversation and were very confused.


Suddenly, Nick ran out of the room past everyone. He went into the kitchen and 
left the apartment. All eyes watched the door that Nick had just exited. Then 
they returned to the door to the bedroom.


Drew came out a moment later.


"So...uh...who wants food?" Dee asked with a small smile. Then she went into the 
kitchen. Vicky and Jeff soon followed.


"What was that all about?" J asked.


"It’s none of your business, J."


"You know you can tell me anything, right?"


"Yeah, whatever." Drew went into the bathroom, slamming the door. J winced then 
walked into the kitchen.


When Drew got out of the bathroom he noticed Annabelle sitting on the couch. She 
still had her head in her hands. 


Drew rolled her wheelchair over to her.


"Ready to eat?" he asked.


"What happened in there?"


"Anna, I think you heard most of the conversation." Annabelle looked up.


"You told him."


"Yes, I did tell him dinner was ready."


"That’s not what I meant and you know it."


"What did you mean?"


"You told Nick you knew about the thing between him and me. And that my father 
knew."


"So?..."


"I cannot believe you, Drew!" Annabelle stood up and ran to her room.


"Anna, you’re not supposed to be running around." Drew followed her into her 
room.


"So, you weren’t supposed to have told Nick."


"You never told me not to."


"It was implied, Drew." Annabelle started pacing.


"Please sit down. You’re getting yourself excited and that’s not good for the 
baby."


"I don’t care about the baby right now. I’m too mad at you. Do you know what 
you’ve done? Nick will probably never speak to me again."


"What? Are you upset he won’t sleep with you anymore?".


"That was soo uncalled for."


"Anna, sit down." She paced a little faster.


"I’m fine, Drew. I just want to walk around a bit. The doctor said I could walk 
some."


"Yes, but he also said you should avoid physical activity if possible."


"So, it’s not possi- Ow!." Annabelle bent over, grabbing her stomach. Drew 
rushed to her side.


"Anna, honey, what’s wrong?"


"The baby. Oh god. There’s something wrong with the baby." Drew ran to the phone 
and called 911. "What are you doing?"


"I’m calling 911." Drew got off the phone a moment later. "Stay here, I’ll be 
right back." Annabelle leaned against her bed. She had an agonizing pain in her 
stomach. It was almost too much to handle. Then she blacked out.


It was hours later when Annabelle awoke. She was in a hospital bed. It was a 
private room. Drew was sitting on a chair next to her bed.


"What happened?" Annabelle’s scratchy voice questioned.


"So much has happened, you will not believe it."


"Tell me, Drew."


"I don’t want to upset you anymore, baby." Drew reached for Annabelle’s hand. 
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. Then he clutched it to his 
chest like he never wanted to let go. "You had me very worried." It was then that 
Annabelle noticed Drew had been crying.


"I’m sorry."


"Don’t be. I know you would have done everything you could to prevent the 
inevitable."


"Drew...what happened?"


"Are you sure you’re ready to know?" Annabelle took a deep breath.


"Positive."


"It seems the hospital was wrong about the baby." Annabelle raised an eyebrow. 
She didn’t like where this conversation was heading. Drew continued, "Instead of 
having one extremely large baby, it seems that we were going to have two regular 
sized babies."


"Were?" Drew looked pained. He closed his eyes and briefly rubbed the area around 
them. He was trying to make the pain go away. His tries turned out to be 
fruitless. 


"Anna, you had a miscarriage." Annabelle gasped. Her free hand flew up to her 
mouth in disbelief.


"They’re both dead?"


""No. One of them still lives."


"It was born?"


"Yeah."


"Can I see it?"


"Of course. Let me get the nurse."


"Wait, Drew. Don’t leave. Press the call button." Drew gave Annabelle a confused 
and concerned look.


"Are you okay?" he asked.


"I don’t want to be alone. You can’t leave me." she said with much desperation. 


"Anna, are you okay?" Annabelle let out a sob as the tears flew freely. She 
stretched her arms out to Drew like a child who needed to be held. Drew stood up 
and bent over holding Annabelle tightly. She kept trying to grip Drew tighter, so 
he sat down on the bed.


It was a couple of minutes later, when Annabelle was in control of herself again. 
She pulled away from Drew. Slowly her hand reached up and stroked his cheek. Drew 
sighed.


"Are you going to be okay now?" he asked.


"I think so. Can I see our baby now?"


"Are you going to be calm?"


"I suppose so. Is it a boy or a girl?"


"Let me press the call button and you’ll see for yourself."


"Okay." Drew pressed the little red button. Soon, a woman dressed in scrubs came 
into the room.


"What’s up?" she asked.


"Can I see my baby?" Drew cringed slightly. It wasn’t just Annabelle’s baby and 
she knew it. It was probably an unconscious mistake, but still it stung. Drew 
couldn’t help but wonder sometimes, if he was more serious in their relationship 
than Annabelle.


"Of course. Let me get him and I’ll be right back." The nurse left the room.


"Ah ha!" Annabelle said raising an eyebrow. "I do believe the nurse just said the 
baby was a boy."


"No, she didn’t."


"She used the word he."


"So...it could still be a girl."


"It doesn’t matter what gender the baby is. It will always be loved and 
supported." Drew smiled. She was including him now, right?


"We haven’t come up with any boys’ names, Anna. What are we supposed to call 
him?"


"How about Tyler?"


"What’s wrong with Andrew?"


"Nothing. Do you want the baby to be named after you?" Her tone was slightly 
hostile. This worried Drew. Especially after her teary emotional break down 
minutes before.


"I’m okay with whatever name you want to give him, Anna." Drew said genuinely. 
He would always regret that decision, but at the time he didn’t want to upset 
Annabelle.


The phone in the room rang and Drew picked it up.


"Hello?"


"Hey Drew, its Vicky. We’re on our way to the hospital now. I guess J thought it 
was a good idea to get lost." Drew could hear J’s protest in the background.


"Whose we?"


"Um...me, J, Jeff, and Dee."


"Nick isn’t coming?"


"I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Drew. He probably doesn’t even know what 
happened. But I left him a note at the apartment. I think he’ll come out here as 
soon as he sees the note." Vicky’s words reassured Drew.


"I hope so. He should be here. I want him to be here."


"I know you do. Don’t worry. I gotta go. I’m using J’s cell. He’s flipping 
out. I’m racking up the bill. Send Annabelle our love and best wishes. Bye, 
Drew."


"Bye, Vicky." Drew hung up the phone. "That was Vicky." Drew told Annabelle.


"Oh? What did she want?"


"She said everybody was on their way to the hospital now."


"Even Nick?" Drew sighed aggravated. 


"No. He hasn’t gotten home yet. But they left him a note. He’ll be here."


"Are you reassuring me or yourself, Drew?" Annabelle’s tone was hostile like 
before.


"Anna, what have I done?!" The nurse picked that moment to come in with the baby.


"Look, baby, there’s your mommy." she said in a voice only used to speak with a 
child. Drew ran a hand over his face before sitting down on the chair he occupied 
earlier.


The nurse brought the baby over to Annabelle, setting him in her arms.


"Hi, little Tyler." Annabelle said to the baby. Drew stood up and stormed out of 
the room. 


"Hmm? What’s his problem?" the nurse asked.


"I don’t know. He’s being a real prick lately."


Drew walked down to a vending machine. He didn’t have any money so he sat down 
by it, putting his head in his hands.


TO BE CONTINUED...