When I got home, I found Katie in front of the stove, stirring something in a pot. I moved to stand behind her and tucked my chin into the crook of her neck, my arms around her with my hands on her small belly. Unless she wore a tight shirt, it wasn’t noticeable. If anything, she just looked like she’d put on a little weight, but only in her midsection. I couldn’t wait until she was bigger, though I’d never admit that to her. She already felt like a beached whale, so she didn’t need me making it worse.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a giggle, trying to turn her head to see my face. When I refused to back away, she went back to stirring the broth in the pot.

“That smells good. What are you cooking?”

“Nothing. I’m heating up a can of soup. Want some?”

“Sure.” I didn’t move from my spot behind her with my chin on her shoulder and hands on her stomach. And before I knew it, I’d closed my eyes.

“Oh my God, Gage.” Humor lilted her voice. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to feel what it’s like to be pregnant. Standing like this, I can almost convince myself I’m rubbing my own belly.”

“You’re so weird. Too bad you can’t experience the other parts of pregnancy, too. Like the mood swings, the hormones, cravings, exhaustion, achy feet…you’re truly missing out.”

If only she knew that I’d gladly deal with those for her if I could.

“Seriously, though. If you keep touching me like that, I’ll have to take another shower.”

“Stop moving,” I said into her soft hair. “I wanna see if I can feel him move.”

“She’s sleeping.”

“Then wake him up.”

“She doesn’t want to be woken up.”

“You’re gonna give him a complex if you keep referring to him as a girl.” I stepped back, but only to turn Katie around to face me. I lowered myself to my knees in front of her and grabbed the hem of her baggy T-shirt to lift it over her stomach.

“Stop. I’m making lunch.” She tried to swat me away, but I wasn’t having it.

“Just let me talk to him. Maybe he’ll hear my voice and get excited and start moving around so I can feel him.” I managed to get her to stand still long enough to lift her shirt. Before I could even say the first word to my son, I noticed the waistband of her jeans. “What’s this?”

“It’s a rubber band. What does it look like?” Dismissing me, she lowered her top and turned back to the stove.

“No shit it’s a rubber band, but why do you have one looped through the hole and hooked to the button? Did you accidentally buy the wrong size? Why not just return them?” I stood and leaned against the counter next to her. “Oh, I know why. You stole them, didn’t you? So you couldn’t take them back for the right size. Trying to improve your résumé, Houdini?”

“My what?” A deep crease divided her brows, which would typically be a bad sign, but the corners of her lips were curled up, so I was safe.

“Your résumé. You know…your rap sheet.”

“No. I didn’t steal them. And do I even want to know where Houdini came from?”

“He was a master at tricks, and since you’re a pro at turning them, I felt the name was fitting.” I stepped back when her hand swung through the air, but unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to keep from being smacked in the chest. “You know, sooner or later, the guys will start to have suspicions that you’re beating me.”

“And I’m sure they’ll all agree that you deserved it.”

“Whatever. Back to your stolen jeans. Why are you using a rubber band to fasten them?”

“I thought that was obvious. They don’t fit. I can’t button them thanks to you.”

“What’d I do?” Everything was always my fault.

“You planted your seed in me, and now my stomach won’t stop growing.”

“Then why don’t you just get bigger pants?”

“I don’t see the point in spending money on clothes I’ll only wear for a few months.”

“What do you plan to do when the rubber band trick doesn’t work anymore?”

She shrugged and scooped chicken noodle soup into two bowls. “Sweatpants, I guess.”

“That’s ridiculous. Just go get a couple pairs of jeans to hold you over. You don’t have to go crazy and fill your closet with them, just enough to get you through a few months. And if you’re gonna buy new ones, I suggest going with the plus size.”

She turned wide eyes my way…this time, there was no smile on her lips. “Plus size? Did you just tell me to buy plus-size jeans?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong with that? If you’re going to spend money on clothes, you might as well spend it on ones that are made for pregnant women. At least you know they’ll last you until he comes. If you just get a bigger size, you’ll outgrow those and then be in the same boat you are now.”

“You mean maternity clothes?”

“Yeah. Do you have something against them? I’m sure they aren’t all bad.”

“Maternity and plus size are two different things.”

“No, they aren’t. Gah, do I have to teach you everything? The plus refers to the symbol on those sticks you guys pee on when it comes back positive. Positive means pregnant. Therefore, plus-size jeans equal pregnancy jeans.”

“Yeah…wow, Gage, I have no idea what I would do without you.” She took both bowls to the table and sat down, not bothering to see if I followed behind her. “Regardless, it seems like a waste of money when you have a few pairs of sweatpants that fit me.”

I fell into the chair across from her, giving up on the argument of clothes. “Fine. I was just trying to help. But I guess since you’re a woman, you know more about being knocked up than I do, so I’ll let it go. But I’m a guy, and guys know about cars, so let’s discuss yours.”

“Oh, yeah? How much do you know about cars?”

“I didn’t say I did. I just said guys do, so by default, I fall into the category of people who know about them. Stop trying to change the subject. The body shop said that without insurance, you’re looking at spending more money to fix it than the car is worth. Normally, insurance would cut you a check for the value had it not been smushed together like an accordion, but since you don’t have insurance, your best bet is to let the shop buy it for scrap parts. It won’t be much, but at least it’s something.”

“So I don’t have a car? Mine’s totaled?”

“Looks that way. But no need to fret, Maytag. In the meantime, we can share mine as long as you don’t mind dropping me off and picking me up from the stadium or airport.”

“There’s no other option?”

I leaned over my bowl to eat and talk at the same time. “I doubt I can convince any of the guys to come all the way out here every day. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re kinda in the boonies. I could Uber it, but that seems like a waste. And I don’t think hitchhiking would be very safe. We’re surrounded by undeveloped land, lots of trees. Newsflash, I’m pretty. I could be picked up by some kind of sinister criminal—you should know, you are one.”

She smacked her hand on top of the table to make me stop talking. “No, I mean there’s not another option to fix my car? Wouldn’t her insurance company pay for the damages since she’s the one who hit me?”

“Oh, yeah. But they won’t pay for the damage caused by you hitting the person in front of you. And honestly, that’s where most of the cost is since it jacked up the engine compartment. You should really count yourself lucky. First, you hit the jockpot by landing me and my offspring. Then you hit a car and walked away without a ticket. The secondary accident is considered your fault because you’re supposed to stay a full car length away at all times. Clearly…you did not. And if they had decided to ticket you and found out you were driving without insurance, you’d lose your license, as well. I guess you should be happy it was only your car you lost.”

“The old woman’s insurance will pay for the back, right?” she asked, completely ignoring everything else I said. It was a shame, too, because I made some very valid points, and in my opinion, proved just how intelligent I was.

I sucked a noodle between my lips with a smack. “Yeah, but what’s the point in having a trunk if you don’t have an engine? Sure, you’d have plenty of room for luggage or bodies or whatnot, but it’s not like you could drive anywhere. And trust me, you don’t wanna get caught with bodies stuffed in your trunk. Without anything under the hood, you’d basically be a sitting duck. But hey…that’s your call, jailbird.”

“No, what I’m trying to say is, if her insurance covers the back, then I only need to worry about the front damage, right?”

“Technically, but I have to agree with the mechanic—it doesn’t make sense to spend that kind of money on a car that’s not worth it rather than use that cash to put down on a new one.”

She rubbed circles around her temple with her elbows propped on the top of the table. “How much money are we talking about here?”

“He said he wasn’t sure without really getting in there and taking a look, but based on the year of the car and what issues he could see, somewhere in the ballpark of five thousand. Although, that’s not counting the airbags. You had two that blew, and they’re about a grand each to replace. The mechanic wasn’t sure if that would fall on you or the woman’s insurance. So really, it could be seven thousand.”

“What if I don’t have them fix the airbags?”

I began to feel like she had crossed the bridge into Desperationville, but I wasn’t sure why. Rather than question her, I decided to just give her as many answers as I could so we could go back to figuring out how we’d work around only having one car. “They won’t do that. It’s a liability. Even I know that.”

“Gage, there are plenty of shady people who’ll do shit for a buck if you pay them under the table in cash. I’m sure there’s a shop somewhere that’d be willing to patch it up enough to make it drivable.”

I leaned forward until the edge of the table bit into my ribcage. Katie couldn’t be serious. There were so many things wrong with what she said that I didn’t know if I’d be able to address them all. “Why would you want them to? Airbags are there for a reason. Not to mention, you’d have to find a really questionable body shop to do that, and by then, what makes you think they’d do a decent job fixing the other things the right way? You’d take that kind of risk to save two grand?”

She covered her face and bowed her head. That was when I noticed she hadn’t touched her soup. I was about to ask if she was hungry when she said, “Did he happen to say how much they’d pay for the car?”

“He didn’t give me a quote, but he said somewhere around two or three hundred.”

“That’s it? How is that supposed to be a down payment?”

“It’s not. The money you’re saving by not having it fixed is your down payment.”

She hadn’t taken her hands away from her face, so I had no idea what she looked like—although her shoulders weren’t shaking, so I assumed she wasn’t in tears. However, she was silent, not saying a word or making a sound, which in my experience, was worse than crying.

“It’ll be fine. You can drive Stevie until we get something figured out.”

“Who’s Stevie?” She didn’t even sound like she cared to know.

“My Jeep. Stevie Nix.”

Rather than mock me like I’d expected her to, she pushed away from the table to leave. When I stood and grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away, she simply muttered, “I’m sorry. I need to lay down. I’m tired and stressed. But thank you for going to the shop today to handle this. I appreciate it.”

I could’ve corrected her about where I’d been, but I chose not to when she wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed the side of her face to my chest. She very rarely showed me this kind of affection outside of trying to play on my pogo stick. It was enough to calm my earlier fears of her wanting to leave.

A guarded smile lingered on her lips when she pulled away. “I’m sorry for ruining your only day off.” Her eyes cut to my shoulder, and before I could make a comment regarding her apology, she narrowed her gaze at whatever she saw and brushed her fingers along the fabric of my shirt.

“What is it?” I asked, unsure what it was she tried to wipe away.

Katie took a deep breath and fought hard to keep the smile on her face. When her eyes met mine, the pale blue lacked the light I was so used to seeing. “Nothing.”

“Did you get it?” I tucked my chin and tried to see the part on my shirt around my neck that she had picked at. Whatever had been there, did something to her. I wasn’t sure what, considering she wasn’t a ball of energy before seeing it, but it had turned what little bit of contentment she’d had into something dark and cold, distant and protective, even though she tried to hide it.

“Yeah. I got it. It’s gone.” She stepped away until my arms fell to my sides. “I think I’m just going to lay on the couch and watch some TV in the living room. Staying in bed all day makes me feel lazy and worthless. Maybe lounging on the couch will be different.”

Hearing her admit that she felt lazy and worthless gave me an opening to take Ellie’s fantastic advice. “If you’re feeling up to it, maybe you can run a load of wash. And I don’t know when the last time the floors were swept. Oh, and if you have time after that, the fans are dusty. Don’t worry about the lunch dishes, I’ll get those before dinner.”

She stared at me, blinking and nodding so slowly it made me wonder if she’d fallen asleep standing up. She did say she was tired, so it wasn’t out of the question. “Sure. I can do that.”

“Thanks,” I said with a pat on her ass as she walked past me to the couch.

Feeling somewhat accomplished, I headed upstairs to make a few phone calls. There was something about Katie that didn’t sit well with me, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. It started with the whole job situation, so I figured my first call would be to Bill, my money guy—he had a real title, but I thought it just made him, and me, sound a bit pretentious.

“I wasn’t expecting your call today. Is everything all right?” He had me on speakerphone; he sounded like he was in a tunnel.

“Yeah, I just had a couple of questions, and I was hoping you’d check on them for me.”

“Sure, what are they?” His fingers tapped away on a keyboard in the background.

“Katie Crisp, the nurse I hired about five years ago to assist with Granny.”

“Yeah, what about her?”

“When is her next quarterly bonus supposed to be paid out?”

He was quiet for a moment, nothing but the taps of his keyboard and clicks of his mouse. “Um…well, there isn’t one.”

“There has to be. I gave her four bonuses a year to keep quiet about who she worked for. I didn’t want the press to get personal information about me, so I specifically remember making that part of the salary.”

“Yes, but it’s showing that payroll account is closed. You’re no longer paying her, which means she no longer receives bonuses. I assume it was scheduled to end when your grandmother passed away. Ms. Crisp was hired to take care of her, and now that she’s gone, she’d no longer have that job. I can’t see the details of the account, but if you want to give me a bit to look into it, I can call you back.”

“I just don’t understand…”

I didn’t remember that clause being in the contract, but it had been years since I’d read through it. If Katie hadn’t received a paycheck since Granny died, then she’d gone almost a year without any sort of income. The bonuses I’d given were generous, but I had no idea how many she had saved over the years and how long they would’ve lasted her. I assumed she didn’t have much left when I thought back to her desperation over paying to get her car fixed, her refusal to discuss buying a new one, and how her insurance had lapsed.

Suddenly, my heart about pounded out of my chest. “She still has health insurance, right?”

“Yes. You provided health insurance during her employment, and in the event she was still working for you at the time of your grandmother’s passing, she would remain covered under her current plan for twelve months or until she found another job, whichever came first.”

“That would mean her health insurance will end next month.”

A long sigh filled the line just before, “Yes. That’s correct.”

“She’s pregnant, Bill. She can’t lose that.”

“I’m sorry, Gage, but that’s how the agreement was written.”

“Any way to fix it?”

More silence. More tapping and clicking. More tightness in my chest. I was such an idiot. I’d thought she was trying to get a job so she could leave me, when this whole time, it was because she wasn’t getting paid. And then I took Ellie’s horrible advice and asked the poor woman to clean the house so she wouldn’t be bored.

Finally, Bill came back on the line. “You have a couple options. You can hire her for another position and sign a new contract with new specifics, or you can just extend the current insurance policy. Since you caught this before the beginning of next month, it’ll be simple to do.”

There was no way in hell Katie would accept a new employment offer from me. Especially since I technically didn’t have a job for her, and she would more than likely have a problem if I tried to hire her as a nanny for my son. She’d see it as charity, and even though there was a chance she’d accept it, she’d never be able to look me in the eyes again. Regardless, she needed the insurance, so I told him to lift the cancelation note for next month and make sure it was set to be paid until further notice.

“It’s been forever since I looked at that agreement. What else is in there that I need to be aware of?” My throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe. I worried I’d find out about other things I wouldn’t be able to fix.

“Looks like her cell is covered under your plan as an additional line, though I assume you already knew that.” Actually, I didn’t. If the bills were left for me to handle, they’d never get paid. That’s why I had Bill. It seemed he gave me far too much credit. “There was a grocery allowance, but again, that would’ve ended at the time her employment was terminated.”

“By chance is there anything in there about a car?”

He hummed for a moment and then said, “I don’t see anything on the spreadsheet.”

At least some of her expenses were covered, although not all. She needed new clothes and a car, yet I didn’t have the faintest idea how to give her those without admitting I’d found out about her financial situation. If anything, it would only humiliate her, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands for so long I wasn’t sure what time it was when I finally dragged myself down the stairs. Katie was still on the couch, but she wasn’t asleep, so I took the seat next to her and pulled her feet into my lap.

“Don’t worry about cleaning. I can get it later.”

“It’s not a problem,” she droned on next to me. “I can do it.”

“You need to be resting, not dusting.” When she didn’t respond, I asked, “Anything good on?” I was surprised she wasn’t watching the sports channel. She had her face glued to it any chance she got.

“Nope. Unless you count a story about my accident on the local midday news.”

“What’d they say?”

She lifted one shoulder and then continued in the same unenthusiastic voice as last time. “Just that they’d received a tip about it being me—you know, Gage Nix’s rumored girlfriend. I guess a few witnesses made comments about me touching my belly, and then they reported that I’d been taken to the hospital for an evaluation.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. Exciting, right? They never said my name, though. So I’m sure it’s far from over. I just don’t know why anyone would dream of being under a microscope like this.” She hated it, and I hated it for her, but there wasn’t much I could do to make it go away. “Anyway, I take it you’re done with your call?”

I didn’t know she was aware I’d been on the phone, but with the wood floors, voices carried. I just hoped she hadn’t heard what was said. I nodded and mumbled, “Yeah.”

“She must’ve been quick.” It was nothing more than a muffled grumble, but I heard it all the same.

Although, I had to have heard her wrong. I wasn’t sure why she would assume I’d be on the phone with a woman, let alone while I was at the house with her, but with her current mood, I didn’t find it to be an important issue to press.

* * *

Katie’s somber mood lasted days, and I was nearing the end of my run of home games. I didn’t want to leave with her like this, although I wasn’t sure how to fix it. The rumors in the news had gotten worse. I didn’t care what they said; I was used to it, but she wasn’t. The day after her accident was reported, her name had been leaked. And it went downhill from there. They’d discovered her criminal record, and now, the media ran nonstop. The newest story was that I’d hired her—although not as a nurse for Granny, but as my own personal prostitute—and that’s how she got pregnant. Just seeing an article online or hearing a reporter on the TV made her fall even deeper into the black hole she’d been hiding in.

Luckily, I’d come up with an idea that would kill two birds with one stone—give me something to pay her for, and give her something to do with her time other than obsess over the numerous ways the media could spin a story about us.

“The one-year anniversary of Granny’s death is coming up.” God, I couldn’t believe it’d been a year already. So much had happened, both good and bad, and I hated that she would never meet her grandson. “It made me realize how far behind I am with settling her estate. I’ve basically only gotten as far as contacting the banks she owed money to for credit cards or whatnot. I haven’t even gotten to the part of going through all the legal shit or reading the will.”

“You haven’t read the will?”

I lifted one shoulder and then dropped it. “Nah. Didn’t seem all that important. Aside from my mom, I’m the only living relative she had left. And she took my mom out of it when I was a kid, so everything she had was left to me. She had the deed to the house put into my name before she died, and I have my own money, so it’s not like I needed to do it right away. Then Missy left, then you got pregnant, then I moved in, then the season started. It’s just been one thing after another, so the will has been on the back burner.”

“You should probably do that.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to.”

“Gage, you have to.” She stopped spreading mayonnaise on the sliced bread in her hand to hold my gaze. “There are banks that need to be paid, debt that needs to be cleared up. You can’t just wait forever. It doesn’t matter how much money