The Secrets of You and I

Daphne pulled her heather gray hoody closed and zipped it up before stepping out of her black Lincoln Navigator. She was instantly hit by the chill in the air. She tightly crossed her arms over chest in an attempt to keep the warmth in. There was only one word to describe the day: gloomy. It was gray, gloomy, and an unexplainable sadness lingered in the air. No one would have been surprised if it started raining unexpectedly even though the weather anchor reported no rain. She quickly walked into her former high school and signed in with Mr. Moran, the hall monitor. They exchanged a few words and she then proceeded down the D-hallway towards the social services office.

She quietly walked into the small office and saw a young brunette sitting at the front desk. The gold name plate on the desk read Tammie Smith. Tammie smiled at her and Daphne smiled back.

"Hi, I'm Daphne. I have an appointment with Mrs. Salvatore at one pm," Daphne informed her.

"All right, sweetie. Just have a seat right there and I'll let Mrs. Salvatore know you're here," Tammie said in a southern accent and pointed to a chair next to Mrs. Salvatore's office. She then picked up her phone and pressed a button. Daphne could hear her former social worker through the door when she answered. Moments later, the door opened.

"Hi, Daphne. Please come on in," a tall thin woman with long dirty blond hair and a very warm smile said.

Daphne walked into the small office and Mrs. Salvatore closed to the door behind her.

"Hey, Mrs. Salvatore," Daphne said as she took a seat at a small table she managed to fit in the office.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet with me here. My other office is being worked on right now," Mrs. Salvatore said.

"Oh, no, it's fine."

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm not even sure where to begin," Daphne said in thought. She'd been seeing Mrs. Salvatore since her freshman year of high school. Back then, Mrs. Salvatore was Ms. Schneider and didn't have an eight-month old daughter. Mrs. Salvatore was the first person she told about Ever, she stood by her side the day they put Derek in the ground and she's been there for all the times in between and will still be there for all the times to come. Daphne trusted the woman with all her secrets more than anyone else.

After an hour of talking, Daphne left the office feeling a lot better. She said goodbye to Tammie and left the high school. She drove back home to the three-bedroom house she and her best friend were renting. Melissa and Ever were both napping on the couch with the menu to Ever's Blue's Clues DVD playing on the television. Daphne stopped the DVD and took it out of the player to put it away.

"Mama!" Ever shouted behind her. She climbed off the couch and wrapped herself around her mother's legs.

Daphne bent over and unwrapped Ever from her legs. She hoisted her up onto her left hip. "Hey, baby. Did you have a good nap with Aunt Melissa?"

"Uh-huh," she mumbled and nodded her head.

"It was the best nap ever," Melissa said and stood up. She stretched her limbs before checking her phone. "Shit, I have to get going or I'll be late for my class."

"Shit!" Ever repeated her godmother's word.

Daphne held back her laughter. "Ever, don't use that word. Mommy doesn't like it when you use that word. It hurts her feelings."

Ever made an exaggerated sad face. "Sorry, mommy." She reached over and placed a hand on Daphne's cheek.

"Hey, Daphne, guess what?" Melissa said as she tied her shoe.

"What?"

"The terrible twos are only six months away," she informed her best friend.

"Ugh, don't remind me just yet. Give me about three more months."

"At least you got yourself a really smart baby."

"Yay me. We can thank Derek for that really. Not going to lie." Daphne responded as she switched Ever from her left hip to her right hip. There was then a moment of silence that followed Derek's name. Even after all this time, it was still a sore subject for Daphne.

"So, um…" Melissa broke the silence.

"Yeah, uh…" Daphne tried to play it off.

"I should probably get ready to go to class," Melissa said.

"Maybe you should," Daphne agreed. "You could just always be late though…"

"I don't think that'd be too good of an idea considering I already missed the last class."

"True, you better get going then. Tonight I'm having dinner at Nick's house and I'm going to take Ever with me. I'm going to tell them the truth."

Melissa gasped and stopped reaching for her shoes. "Seriously? Are you sure you want to do that?"

Daphne nodded her head. "Yes, I decided I do. Nick and I are starting to get serious now and there shouldn't be any secrets or lies between me and him and his family. He has an amazing family and they're in this just as much as he is."

"Good luck. I hope everything turns out okay for everyone," Melissa said as she grabbed her car keys and books.

"Thanks," Daphne responded.

Melissa hugged Daphne and Ever before walking out the door and heading to class.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Daphne unloaded Ever from the backseat and grabbed the diaper bag. Nick walked out of his house and approached her.

"Here, I can take that," he said and took the diaper bag from her.

"Thanks, Nick," she responded and followed him inside.

They walked into the living room and Nick set the bag down.

"Ever's here!" Danielle announced to the whole house and made a beeline for the little girl everyone believed to be Daphne's little sister. Danielle took Ever from her mother and sat on the couch next to Kevin and attempted to start a conversation with the girl.

Nick sat on one of the chairs and pulled Daphne onto his lap. "So, how are you today?"

"I'm great, Nick. How are you?"

"I'm fantastic. I've been looking forward to this all day to be honest. I've missed you."

"Awe, I missed you, too." She leaned over and kissed him. Nick pushed her brown hair out of her face so he could see her brown eyes better.

"Next time I'll have to take you with me. New York is a pretty awesome place."

"I'm going to hold you to that," she responded as Denise Jonas walked into the living room. She said her hellos to Ever and Daphne and said that dinner would be ready soon. Daphne kissed Nick again and got off of his lap. She took Ever from Danielle and Kevin and took her to the bathroom to clean her up. She helped her daughter wash and dry her hands.

"Yay! Ever has clean hands now!"

Ever squealed and clapped her hands.

"That's my baby girl," Daphne said as she lifted her off the counter and placed her on her hip. They walked down the hall and into the dining room where Nick was getting the high chair ready for Ever. After being told they were having spaghetti for dinner, Daphne dug Ever's oversized pink bib and pink plastic silverware out of the diaper bag. Nick already had set her in the high chair so Daphne snapped the bib around her neck.

"Thanks Nick," Daphne told him when they were both done.

"No problem," Nick responded like it was nothing and it was something they did every day. Nick stayed with Ever while Daphne helped Denise with the food and drinks. After about five minutes, everyone was seated at the table and Kevin Jonas Senior had said grace.

Kevin and Danielle talked about how their plans were coming along for the house they were getting ready to build. Joe and Addison talked about Addison's father's wedding that had just taken place the night before. Then Daphne decided to talk about Ever.

Daphne set her fork down and looked at Ever. "There's something I need to tell everyone; especially you, Nick."

"What?" Nick asked wondering what it could be.

"It's about Ever. I know I told everyone that Ever is my baby sister… she's not. Ever is actually my daughter."