The Birds And The Bees (The Baby Project #1) (REWRITING)

C.15~ Unexpected

"Brett? What are you doing here?" I finally managed to croak. He rubbed the back of his head as red flushed his usually pale cheeks.

"I'm the one that dropped the note off at Xavier's house." He replied. Xavier dropped his hand from my waist.

"W. . . why? Dude, we were expecting the baby's mom to be here and. . ."

"So? Why is it such a surprise that I'm the one that's here? She's my fucking daughter, Morgan." I could feel my eyes widen as Xavier held up the note in his hand.

"Are you the one that left her at the door step?" I whispered. Brett smiled, nodding slowly.

"Yeah." I heard a someone clear their throat and found one of the cooks gesturing for us to take a seat. Xavier took my hand and led me over to the booth Brett had been sitting at, gesturing for him to join us. Brett sat down a minute later, sliding the birth certificate toward us.

"W. . . why did you leave her? She was a newborn and you thought it would be okay to. . ."

"Calm down for a minute, Beatrice. Let me explain myself." He was staring at me with almost black eyes as Xavier stared down at the birth certificate.

"It was a year ago, at a beach party." Brett started, "I was pretty hammered and this girl kept hanging around, trying to get me to sleep with her. Obviously I didn't think it was a good idea, but after another beer I agreed." Xavier looked up from the paper as Brett went on, his eyebrows drawing in confusion.

"She was gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Had the body of a model." I could feel my breath catch in my throat at the description. That sounded like. . . like Norah.

"I didn't think anything would come out of it other than a one night stand. Not until she shows up out of no where nearly eight months later with. . . with this huge stomach. And I knew. God, I knew right then." He rubbed his face, leaving it in his hands as he continued.

"As I got to know her that last month and a half, I wished I had never slept with her in the first place. She was a bitch, she was annoying. She thought she was too good to have my kid. I knew she wouldn't hesitate to give her up for adoption." Finally he dropped his hands from his face and looked directly at me.

"But she would talk about the annoying nerd that she always hung around with. That was you, Bea. I had seen you around school anyway, and when I saw that you and Xavier were paired together for The Baby Project I had to take the opportunity. I knew you wouldn't give her up because Norah said you were a foster kid yourself, and Xavier. . . she liked him, so it was a win win situation to force you guys to take care of her." Brett had started to smile as he nodded at me.

"I was so happy when I realized you were going to keep her, and that you guys had actually started to get along. But Norah, she had to be a bitch and spread all those rumors." He reached across the table and squeezed my hands, "So I convinced Rachel to befriend you. She actually thinks you're pretty cool, Bea. I hope you can at least forgive her at the end of all this." He finished, finally letting his eyes meet Xavier's.

"So you left Lily at our doorstep because Norah was going to give her up for adoption? Why didn't you tell us sooner? Why. . ." The questions left my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Bea, I couldn't. You would have tried to give her back to me and I couldn't have that. I'm going to Stanford next year, I can't take a child there. She's better off in your hands, both of you." Xavier had shifted in the seat and was watching my reaction to what Brett was saying.

"Don't tell her." He pleaded, "She doesn't need to know she's adopted. Lie to her if she asks why she has blue eyes, say it runs in your family. Please, Beatrice. I can't let my life, my career get ruined because of a mistake." I stood up and blinked quickly to fight the tears in my eyes.

"But it's okay if my whole life, my career is gone, right? Because of your mistake, Norah's mistake?" I slammed my hand against the table, glaring at him, "You know what, no. Lily isn't a mistake. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I won't ever tell her about her real parents. Because honestly, Brett. Why would she ever want to meet the father that doesn't want her? Huh? Why would she want to meet the mom that could care less about ever being pregnant?" I stormed out of the cafe before either of the boys could say a word, feeling as if my whole past had just come back at me in a wave and had begun to pull me under.

I sat in Xavier's car for what seemed like hours before he finally came out, the birth certificate still in his hands. Once he climbed into the car, he let his eyes rest on me.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"I'm fine." I mumbled. He held the paper out to me, but I only pushed it back toward him.

"Read it, Bea." He demanded, shoving it into my arms. I looked down at the certificate, shocked. Xavier and I were both listed as Lily's parents, not Norah or Brett. They weren't anywhere on it.

"What?" I breathed out, "Why does it say our names, Xavier? Isn't that illegal?" I asked.

"Brett said that he planned everything out, even found a way to forge our signatures. That dude is either really strange or a genius." I nodded, feeling my stomach start churning as I set the certificate on the dashboard.

"Beatrice, look at me." When I didn't turn to Xaiver, he grabbed my face in his hands and forced me to look at him.

I had never seen his face so vulnerable. His eyes were red and puffy, almost as if he were about to start crying, his face was a sickly shade of white.

"Look, it's all okay now. We know everything and honestly it didn't really change anything." He said. I searched his eyes for a moment, trying to decide whether or not I should believe him.

"But it does. Xavier, what if you decide one day that you don't care about Lily, about me, and you leave? You disappear. What am I supposed to do? I can't raise her by myself, I'm not ready for that." I was on the verge of tears, my lips quivering. Xavier ran his thumb under my eye, catching a tear before it could fall on to my cheek.

"You're unbelievably strong, Beatrice. Don't underestimate yourself." He paused and leaned forward so there was only a few inches between us, "I won't ever leave you guys. You don't have to worry about that." He tried to assure me, catching all my tears before they could fall on to my cheeks.

"One day you're going to find a girl, Xavier. You'll love her and soon enough after that you'll forget about Lily and me. It's going to happen." I sniffled.

" You're amazing. You're caring, you love kids, you love your mother. You are actually like really smart and spiritual. Any girl would be lucky to have you, even Norah wanted you." Xavier shook his head as every word left my mouth, finally letting his thumb brush across my lip.

"You don't have to worry about me finding the perfect girl." He finally closed the gap between us, his lips brushing against mine, "I've already found her."

***AN***

*Edited*

Thoughts?

I'd love to hear them, as always!

~ChasingMadness24