A lovey-dovey story wasn't exactly a part of my plan. Now, that so many people are glaring at us, Patty, Dad, Deidre, Daniel, my mother and a couple of others who just happen to stand close to us, I'm not feeling too comfortable. It's come to the point where I can't think of any possible story to tell them.

I look at Annabelle, expecting to exchange looks of cluelessness with her, but on the outside, she looks like she's just enjoying this picnic. "My sister and his friend introduced us one night and we met again for Memorial Day. Things just took off from there. He needed help with Devon while he was at work and I was more than happy to help."

My Dad smiles warmly, but there's something behind his smile that expresses doubt. Either he's onto something or he is not exactly fond of Annabelle. "That sounds very sweet. How long have you two-?"

He doesn't finish a sentence, and he doesn't have to. Everything about it smells like a trick, a trap. What if one of us says this has been going on for six weeks, and the other one says less than a month? We'd be caught, busted, and dragged across the teeth of the predators I call family members.

Annabelle looks at me, smiling and shrugging a little, "It's only been a few weeks. It's hard to say when it really happened because these things just... happen."

Dad nods knowingly and looks at Deidre next to him, "That's how it usually happens. Relationships that just happen have a certain charm to it."

We both nod at my Dad, wishing for a natural disaster to cause a distraction. I wouldn't mind if a tsunami washed us away to some distant shore.

"But tell me, Annabelle, what do you do for a living?" My mother smiles politely, eying her more than obviously. I begin to worry my mother now switched to sleeping with women as well. After so many men and all the dicks she had up her hoo-hah, it wouldn't be surprising. "You are in excellent shape."

Annabelle flushes in embarrassment. I guess it's not an everyday thing that a mother of some random dude you fucked eyes you like you're her prey. "I'm a ballet teacher for kids, actually. Up to eight years of age."

Deidre gasps at that, "That sounds like bliss! So you have all the little girls in frilly ballerina dresses dancing there?"

"Something along the lines, yes. It's not all just dancing, but that is the fun part of it all."

"And you like working with children? I, personally, was never any good with them. The only kids I got along with were Daniel and Nathan. May, not so much."

I snort at that, "No one got along with May. No one does."

Deidre shakes with her head, sighing in a depressive manner, which is a very rare thing to see. She has always been up-beat, the fun and entertaining Deidre. I think all three of us adored her in our own peculiar way. "Give your sister a break, darling. It's not easy what she's going through."

"She's going through something?" says Daniel who kept his mouth shut for most of this conversation, probably mentally imagining sleeping with Annabelle! Quite a dangerous thing to do right in front of Pats.

"Maybe she's peeling the onion of her mental disorders."

"Nathan!" I get elbowed by Annabelle again. I am starting to suspect she agreed to come here just so she could do this all day.

Deidre seems to be the only one in the group to know what's going on. My mother and Patty both perk their ears; I am interested as well, but not really that much. May is a grown up, she can handle her own stuff, and it's not like she'd ever considered confiding in me or ask me for a piece of advice.

"It's very likely she and Thomas are gonna get a divorce."

Most of them just silently gasp, are happy for it or, like Daniel, very disappointed, but then there's me, with my heart rate giving me a brain stroke from which I'd never be able to properly recover, "What?! How?! Why!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Nathan. They still need to talk about it." My Dad tries to calm me down, even though he himself looks a little bit upset about it.

"You knew about this? And didn't care to tell me?" My mother looks at him accusingly, pretty much enraged, especially because of his seemingly calm appearance.

"Would you even care, Mum?"

"Stop it!" yells Patty, quiet enough for Aidan to still enjoy jumping around the inflated pool for kids. "May and Thomas haven't been on good terms for a while, because of finances. They have three kids, and expenses have been catching up on them. He is thinking about divorce because other things surfaced as well. Now, just leave them alone to work things out normally like adults do."

"So that shitprick of a jock wants to dump my sister and leave her alone with three kids because she told him he can go fuck himself?"

I expect to feel Annabelle's grip around my arm, but surprisingly it's not there like she agrees with me.

"As I've said, Nate, let them work this out. You can't fix things for them," says Patty shruggingly, but only a moment later realising what this sort of stuff does to me. "Leave them alone."

There's my mother right opposite of me, trying to give me a sort of priceless knowledge about adulthood. "Honey, May and Thomas need to do what's best for them, and they're the only ones who can figure that out."

"Are you all fucking serious?" I whisper angrily, which is worse than me screaming, "What's best for them? They have financial issues, are you forgetting the divorce costs money? And things surfacing? Things, like his dick, will be surfacing after the divorce when he'll get to fuck around as much as he'll please, while my sister will struggle with three kids! Don't tell me they need to work this out!"

I see my mother opening her mouth, probably ready to say some other bullshitty thing. "No, Mum! If you didn't care about your kids twenty years ago, you don't get to care about them now, so spare me!"

Deidre smiles uncomfortably and puts her hand on my shoulder, "Don't think about this now, Nathan. These are all very uncomfortable topics, and don't frighten Annabelle with them."

She winks at her and Annabelle just shifts right where she's standing. More and more clogs are turning in her mind, and I don't think I like where this is taking her. I think I've already frightened her.

"If that's so, I'll need another drink," I mutter, desperate to get away from here. There are Daniel and my Dad, both of whom I haven't seen for far too long, but I don't feel comfortable next to Annabelle right now. If she's gonna come up with any theories or questions about me, I want her to do so while I'm away and not so close that I can basically hear her thinking about it.

I imagine she'd try to stop me since she's worried about drunk driving, but apparently, she's just as desperate to have some time alone, which is worrisome. I know I can be intimidating, plus hot, plus irresistible, plus charming, but why would she want to spend more alone time with Patty and my mother, than with me? Didn't I say I'll keep her away from them?

"If you're going for alcohol, let me come with you. I could use a martini." Deidre offers herself, but Dad's hand keeps her from walking along the garden trail with me.

"I'll go. You enjoy the party." He says, which makes Deidre smile widely like she's absolutely in love with him. Why didn't we kids fucking stay with them... Then he smiles at me, "Shall we go? The ladies are waiting."

I first hand Devon to Annabelle, otherwise, I'd get him drunk as well just so he could puke, which would give me a good reason to leave this party that is turning out worse and worse. It was never meant to be a blast, but I never thought I'd hear about my sister and her con of a husband!

I'd rather prefer to be alone, but having my Dad around is a paradise compared to my mother's company right now. He knows when I won't tell him a single thing and he'll stop pushing. With my mother, it's a whole other story, since I don't even allow her to get to the minor problem she wants to address.

Once inside the house, especially the kitchen, Dad breaks the silence, "What is going on with you, Nathan?"

"Nothing is? What, because I asked Annabelle to come along? She's Devon's babysitter, relax." I open the fridge and start looking for everything I need for Deidre's martini.

"Oh, just a babysitter?" He repeats my words and peeks through the window, "I don't remember Mrs Tulluper, your babysitter dressing up in short skirts and high heels."

I look back at him, while I'm still crouching down in front of the fridge, "So, she has style. What's your point?"

"Why did you really bring her, Nathan? You could've left Devon at home with her, or just bring Devon. There was no need for dragging her along."

"Is she bothering you?"

"No, not at all. I think she's a very sweet girl, but your reasons for coming here with her might be different from hers."

I roll my eyes and focus back on the fridge. What do I even need for a fucking martini? "She's just helping me out, Dad."

"Helping you with what?" He looks out again, "Daniel could be carrying Devon around, or Deidre, or any grandma at this party. What exactly is she helping you out with?"

Instead of speaking, I pull out my phone and looks up a recipe for a martini. I don't even have all the ingredients, so Deidre will have to deal with Rosé that is lying way back in the fridge.

"Nathan? Will you answer my question?"

I sigh, rise back to my feet and meet his eyes, "Patty... She-"

"You're making this about her now? Let her go already, this is getting too old, and too bothersome."

"It's not like that, Dad! I have my shit sorted out. Well, I had it sorted out, but then she took Aidan from me, she forbade Daniel from even talking to me! I just wanted to hurt her back." I sound like the most sensitive little bitch boy from every mainstream TV series.

My Dad nods slowly, listening and understanding me. "And to get back at her, you found a very pretty babysitter?"

I want to get the glasses from the cupboards, but it takes me a while to actually find them. Patty and Danny really turned this place upside down. "Just for the record," I stop for a moment when I actually find the wine glasses and get two out, "Annabelle knows about Patty and her being a nasty bitch for doing this to me. That's why she's dressed like... you know, like that."

He lifts a brow and first tells me to get another glass for my mother as well, to which I groan exhaustedly. I don't want to do anything for her. "Dressed like what? In a short dress?"

"Well, yeah, that compliments her figure and..." I look out the window as well, so I can see all the ladies converse, "And that shows some of her skin. It makes others envious. And the braid, 'cause it frames her face, it makes her smile look more charming." I look back at him, putting the bottle of rosé on the counter, "Just stuff like that. I mean, you can see it."

My Dad chuckles, "Can I, really?"

I squint my eyes slightly while I blindly search for the screw in the drawer. "Yeah, you just look at her, and it's right there."

He doesn't stop chuckling, which eventually turns into cackling sounds, "Was that the only reason why you brought her here? Because she's pretty?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Nathan, you brought a ballerina dancer to a party where you introduced her to your pregnant ex."

I fiddle the corkscrew in my hand and look up and away from the bottle, "That does sound like it's all about her weight. Well, if it makes Patty feel bad, it's fine by me. But Annabelle has an opinion of her own and she's not afraid to give someone a taste of their own poison."

"Sounds like you have spent some time with her. No one just gets these things from seeing someone twice."

I look up at him, slightly irritated by this, "We've told you. She's been a babysitter for a couple of weeks now. And if I had to work over the weekends, she offered to help me out."

I open the bottle of rosé and start pouring it in glasses, emptying the first two which I refill immediately. Dad, on the other hand, barely moves, "And what did those weekends look like, exactly?"

"Oooh, I know where this is going. There was nothing inappropriate, Dad." Except on the couch. "She was with Devon while I was doing the designs and then we ate lunch all together." After we came on my desk. "I know what you're aiming at, and I hate to disappoint you, but Annabelle and I are not happening."

"I didn't say that, Nathan. You two just have good chemistry, that's all."

"Well, it'll stay just that. You know I don't want any love thing, and currently, she's not capable of being with someone either."

He then furrows his brows, "What do you mean she's not capable?"

"She is in a rebound. She was with a guy for six years, they were engaged and all, but he dumped her anyway. This party is basically just a distraction from everything." I can't imagine what kind of hopes I've just shattered with this explanation. He doesn't even begin to form a question when I get a glass of rosé for myself as well, "Will you get the one for..."

"Yeah, I'll get this to your mother." His voice sounds slightly agitated as if this huge revelation about Annabelle and I not being exclusive really bummed him out.

Outside, I hand the glass to Annabelle, and she gracefully takes it, though she is a bit surprised by it. "Oh, thanks."

She is more weirded out by the fact it takes me a moment to realize Devon has disappeared, "Uhm, where is-?"

She smiles softly, takes a small sip and looks in Patty's and Deidre's direction where Aidan is the one holding Devon with Patty's help, "I think you should head there."

I observe it a bit worryingly and lean to her from the side, "How did he... take it?"

"He was actually super happy that he has a brother." She says in an up-beat tone, smiling graciously. I guess that is adorable and a way better scenario than if he had completely lost it. "But primarily, he was looking for you."

"I'd hate to leave you all alone again."

"It wasn't half as bad, actually. They are all really nice to me and not nosy at all, but I understand you have your own feud with them. Except with Deidre." She goes silent for a moment, while we both look at Aidan and Devon 'meeting' each other. "You had a thing for her, didn't you?"

"For Deidre?" I ask in a slightly high-pitched voice, which betrays me before I even try to defend myself. Annabelle just smiles knowingly and eventually nods, ushering me to humour her with my answer. "I was around ten when Dad introduced her to us and at first I thought that she was an angel. Wearing white outfits is her thing, though it did make her wedding look a bit underwhelming."

Annabelle laughs a little, "She looks and behaves like every day is her wedding day. Just a bright woman in general."

"Yeah, but you know, she and Dad went to live in Chicago and the next time I saw her was around eight months later. I developed a huge crush on her."

She tilts her head to the side and gawks at me, "Awh, that sounds so adorable. I can actually imagine a young Nathan blushing every time she smiled at him."

I snort a bit and look at her from the side "I think you're enjoying this party more than me."

"They're all nice to me. The way you told me about them, I prepared myself for the horsemen of the apocalypse. Besides, you brought me wine, and this is your last glass; you're still driving." She finishes her glass and eyes mine judgingly.

"Apparently I have a guardian angel on my side." I smile a bit, but Annabelle cringes at it.

When she finally swallows down rosé, she continues to cringe "I can't be an angel. I'm a ginger, I have no soul." Then she leans and hangs on my shoulders, looking up at me pleadingly, "May I have your glass as well?"

If people thought we were just fuckbuddies before, this would really make us look like a couple.

I look at her pleading eyes and try my best to keep up with my cold expression, but eventually, I break into a smile. I don't know how, but somehow her eyes watered a little bit and shone even brighter.

Speechlessly, I hand her the glass, which she takes with both hands before taking another sip. I think I'm getting her drunk.

"We don't want you completely hammered either, alright?" It could be that she has finally relaxed after being tense for most of this day, but there was no that red streak in her cheeks before I brought her that glass of wine.

"I'm not really that drunk, just tipsy. And it's hard to stay up in those heels."

I smirk when she mentions heels since my mind wanders in a completely different direction, but before I can give a hint of it to Annabelle, Aidan waddles to us with Devon in his little arms curiously looking around.

"Hey, buddy, how you doing?" I smile and crouch down to him. "Is he too heavy?"

Aidan shakes his head in a no that is not particularly convincing, "Mummy told me to give my brother back to you."

"Your brother?"

He smiles like he's never been happier and nods excitedly in the process, "Yes!"

I chuckle a bit, though bitterly. I can see how people could turn this around to make me seem like I can't leave Danny and Patty have their own life. "He's your cousin, Aidan, maybe you'll get a brother soon enough. Now, let's listen to your Mummy and give Devon to me."

Aidan distrustfully leaves Devon, who couldn't care less in whose arms is he. "Why is he so small?"

I cuddle Devon and let him get settled in my embrace now, "Because he's a baby, but he's going to grow."

"Why is he going to grow?"

"Because babies grow when one feeds them."

"Why do we feed the babies?"

I narrow my eyes at him, realising he entered that age where every sentence begins with why and drives everyone nuts. "For the same reason, your Mummy feeds you."

"Why?"

"Because she wants you to grow up one day."

"Why?"

I sigh to myself but remind myself he's a kid and that May was much worse. "You're her son."

"Why?"

"Okay, we're stopping here." I stop crouching and rise back up from the ground. Besides, I can't tell him he's Patty's son because his Daddy stuck his pee-pee in her.

"Why?"

"Aidan, enough, alright?"

"Why?"

Agh.

I think the only way to make him stop saying one and the same thing is to distract him with something. Why have I already given him that gift, it would be a perfect distraction for this crisis!

"Have you met, Annabelle!" I grin, startling Annabelle right next to me. For some reason, she looks more nervous and startled by being introduced to my nephew than to my step-mother!

Aidan peeks up, blinking cluelessly for a couple of times, but then he smiles so widely it looks like he closes his eyes in excitement, "You're pretty!"

Annabelle chuckles nervously, throws her braid off her shoulder, and then back on, "Thank you, that's very sweet of you."

"I'm Aidan!" He exclaims and jumps in place. "Are you a Mummy as well?"

"No, no, she's my friend!" I intervene while I still can. "Just like Leo is your friend, Annabelle is mine."

"But Mummy says boys and girls can't be friends."

"Well," How hypocritical of you, Patty, "your Mummy is wrong. Annabelle and I are good friends." Very good friends.

Aidan nods and stares up at Annabelle for a while, then looks back at me, "Why?"

God fucking...

"One day you'll have all of your questions answered, okay, buddy? Just not today."

"Why?"

"It's your birthday today." I feel bad for wanting to get 'rid of him' since I've missed him so much, but I need a break from all the whys. "And you have to get ready for a cake!"

His eyes light up then starts jumping in place at first and then around Annabelle, "Yay! Yay! Yay! Do you have my cake? Do you? Do you? Do you?"

Experiencing slight vertigo and confusion, she stammers, "Uh-m, n-no, I didn't?"

Abruptly he stops jumping and again glares back up at us, "Why?"

"Listen, buddy, she didn't know what kind of cake you like the most, okay?"

"It's chocolate!" He proudly announces and looks at her again as if suddenly she'll pull a chocolate cake out of her ass. Poor choice of words, right there.

She smiles in response, then fixates her bag on her shoulder, which she opens a moment later, "You know, I might have a thing for you." Aidan's eyes widen in curiosity and amazement. Even a magic trick wouldn't do a job as well as her suspense has. "How about..." His eyes keep on widening, and in the last few seconds it's getting concerning, but then Annabelle pulls out a tiny chocolate bar, "will this do?"

Aidan's mouth drops open and he reaches for the chocolate bar is if he were sleepwalking. He forgets to say thank you because he's busy gawking at it, before he yells loudly, "Mummy, Annbe gave me a chocolate bar!"

He runs off and Annabelle smiles at me triumphantly, but Aidan returns in a span of two minutes with chocolate smudged all over his face, "Uncle Nate?"

"What is it, buddy?"

He hesitates to say anything at first and is uncomfortably shifting while trying to reach for the chocolate on his face with his tongue.

I crouch down to him again and get a tissue from my pocket to wipe his face. Annabelle sees what I'm about to do, and takes Devon from me in time. "Come on, tell me."

"Can I go home with you?"

My eyes stop on him and his hopeful expression. Patty hears him from behind and when I look away, we have lengthy eye contact, neither of us sure what to do.

"Not today, okay? Another time." I start wiping his face and it's not soon before his chocolate lips from a frown. "I'll come around more often, don't worry about that."

"Is it because of him?" Aidan says and points at Devon in Annabelle's arms, who takes great interest into pulling on her braid.

Same, kid.

I sigh a bit and shrug, "There's a lot happening right now, and you'll soon get a brother or a sister. It's... it's for the best if you come and stay with me some other day. I promise I'll make it up to you."

At the last words, energy returns to his limbs and he nearly starts vibrating, "Will you take me to the amazent park? Will you? Will you? Will you?"

"If that's what you'll want, then yeah, we'll go to the amusement park." I finish wiping him and have a sudden flashback on our last visit to the park. I can't understand how he's willing to go back there.

"Will Annbe come too?" He exclaims, looks at Annabelle and starts frolicking, "Will you? Will you? Will you?"

I grab him for his shoulders and hold him down, "We'll talk about it, m'kay? Now, go and check what your Daddy is doing."

"A cake?!"

"I don't know! You gotta go check!"

"Okay!" He runs off again, now on a bigger mission than before. He tells everyone on his way how he's gonna get a cake, but also that he has to keep quiet otherwise Daniel might hear him and hide it from him. What a treasure of a kid.

"Did you just dunk Daniel in shit?" Annabelle asks me, swinging from left to right as she tries to stay steady on those high heels.

I snort, shrugging it off, "I'm the cool uncle, I do that for the kid's amusement."

"I'll forgive you this time."

"My God, am I worthy of such an honour?" I chuckle as I'm done trying to locate a trashcan where I could dispose of the tissue covered in chocolate.

Annabelle's look is slightly foggy like it's sagging a bit, which usually indicates she wants to say something of a more serious nature, but Patty beats her to it, "You handled that very maturely. With Aidan coming over and all."

"What did you think I was gonna do? Throw a tantrum?"

"Or accuse me of being the mastermind behind it."

"Well, you actually are. But you're welcome, your son doesn't hate you yet, all thanks to me."

She glares at me for a while, then smiles at Annabelle, while she's already pulling me away, "You mind if I steal him away from you?" Patty drags me close to the porch, where the crowd of parents and relative has cleared once the kids went to play in a sandbox together.

"Now, what?"

"I just want to clear this thing out privately. About Aidan."

"What about him?" For some reason I expect her to tell me that since I brought him such an awesome gift, she doesn't want me anywhere near Aidan on Christmas, where I'd usually stop after the party thrown in Wells & Hether.

She leans her back on one of the fence's pillars. I imagine the weight of the pregnancy is taking its toll on her back. "Whether I like it or not, Aidan loves you. And I don't blame him, you have your way with him, and he hasn't been this excited in a while."

"No shit, you gave him to May." Any other old nanny in the neighbourhood would do better than May.

"May is a parent, you're a clown, Nathan. That's why Aidan loves you that much. You have no rules, and if there are any, you break them." She takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes, "But that's not the point. I'll have to go to the hospital soon to give birth, which will most likely happen before the date the doctor has predicted. I don't want Aidan anywhere near, worrying where am I, and Danny was vaccinated against calmness in stressful situations."

I snort a little, "He made you even more nervous while you were in labour with Aidan."

"Exactly." She chuckles at it. It's a revelating moment for both of us when we realise that was maybe the first time she actually smiled at me since her dictatorship. "Anyway, if you're not too busy with your..." she sighs heavily, "boy, then maybe we'd drop Aidan off at your place."

I imagined this moment to feature me falling down on my knees in victory, laughing and yelling loudly, then hugging Aidan and just downright kidnapping him. But it goes exactly the opposite, I just smile. I just smile in a small-like manner, while the entire boulder rolls off of my chest. "I'll make sure I won't be too busy."

Her shoulders sag down in relief just as well. I suppose she expected me to laugh maniacally at her, slap her, or some other weird flex. "Okay, that's sorted then. Now, I have to stop Aidan from harassing Danny. I think I have you to thank for that!"

I chuckle and furrow my brows like a villain, "It's all going according to plan!"

Her lips twitch into a barely noticeable smile and before she leaves says "But honestly, I never thought you'd fall for a ginger."

A/N: And how did you people like this chapter? I have written it in advance and I couldn't wait to publish it! This was one of the rare chapters I actually wrote in advance and it feels so weird to just have it sitting there in my works! Anyway, I don't know how many chapters I'll manage to write in advance, but I'd just like to warn you once again that this may be the last chapter of June. Of course, nothing is for certain, but in case I won't publish anything, know that I'm struggling with multiple exams. Wish me luck!

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