My brother's best friend

Chapter nineteen

The slam of a door wakes me up the next morning. My eyes sting and I rub them as I try to make sense of where I am. I look around and see I'm still in Levi's room. I'm on the floor, a wool blanket spread out on the ground and my bedspread on top of me. 

I roll over and see Daniel on the other side of the blanket. He's facing me but is a whole arm length away from me. He sends me a smile, "Good morning, Sunshine, are you ready?" Before I can ask what I should be ready for, Will barges into the room, fuming. 

"What are you doing?" Will yells and pulls Daniel up from our makeshift bed. He throws him down a few meters away from me before he turns to look at me, "What were you thinking?" He turns back to Daniel, "And you, you promised to keep your hands off her." 

"Come on man, we were 18," Daniel says. Even I know he should have thought of a different defence. Will growls and tackles Daniel to the wall. I hear him grunt and get to my feet. "Will, please don't kill him. My baby needs a father. You don't want to be the reason I can only show the kid photos of its dad." 

Will turns around to face me, "He knocked you up, and then left you. Now he's with the other girl and-" I hold up my hand to stop him, "It was a mutual decision. We didn't know at the time." I lie through my teeth, but at this point, I'd lie about almost anything to keep my baby's father safe. 

Will looks over his shoulder at Daniel, "Don't speak to me." He leaves the room, but not before he gave one last punch in Daniel's stomach. Daniel curls over in pain and I hurry over to him, "Are you alright?" I ask rubbing his back. 

"I'm supposed to save you, not the other way around." He says, breathing heavily. I laugh, "I've never been the damsel in distress." He nods, "That's true." He sends me a smile, "Thanks, Linds." I nod and get to my feet, "I'll get you a cup of coffee." 

"I need you to take make your own breakfast." I say, placing Daniel's coffee in front of him "I have a morning class I need to get to." I grab a banana and start heading to the door. "Wait." I stop and turn to look at Daniel. His hands are wrapped around the cup of coffee and he's leaning against the door frame. 

"What?" I ask, half irritated at him for keeping me from leaving. "When are you going to stop the classes?" He asks. I roll my eyes, "The last month before the baby comes." I say and leave the house. 

At the studio I start typing up a letter telling the parents of my pregnancy and that classes will continue as usual. And luckily the baby is scheduled to come early January, so everyone will be on holiday so they won't miss much. 

I print out the letter and head to the studio where the little girls are waiting for me with their mothers. I hand out the letter and take the little ones into the class and shut the door. While I work with them I see the mothers talking very intensely, glancing into the class every now and then. 

After the forty-five minute class, I open the door and let the little girls run to their mothers. "Thank you for coming." I say smiling at the mothers. Everyone ushers their children down the hall to the exit. I hear a few congratulations as they leave, but no one really says anything. 

 Except for one mother. She sits her little girl down on one of the chairs and turns to face me. "Did we miss the wedding?" She asks, a bitter tone behind the forced politeness. I shake my head, "No, you didn't." She glares at me, "What example are you setting for our children?" 

"They don't know how things work." I say looking at her little girl, playing with the butterflies on her coat. "Yes they do, they see things. They pick up on things." I shake my head, "The girls won't be affected by this. Classes will run as normal and-" 

"And when you start getting fat?" She grumbles. I bite my tongue and try not to snap at her rudeness. "We'll face that problem when it comes if it comes." She rolls her eyes, "That's not a good plan." "It's the best I have. I'll tell them I'm having a baby and we'll move one." I glare at her, waiting for her to challenge me.