When the Walls Come Crashing Down

“Nick will be here in an hour,” Faith said to Joe as he and Kevin came down the stairs to join them in the living room.

“Alone?”

“No… Charlotte’s coming too,” she said, not breaking contact.

“Alright,” Joe said, sitting on the arm of the couch and kissing the top of her head. “Hey Dani, where’s that picture? I didn’t get a good look at it.”

“Here!” Dani said excitedly, pulling the picture out of her purse and handing it to Joe. “Faith do you want us to leave when they get here or would you rather we stuck around?”

“Honestly it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t think it will be a big deal because Nick and I have already had this conversation.”

“But Charlotte hasn’t,” Lizzy pointed out.

“You don’t know that. I’m sure Nick would have filled her in at some point,” Faith said and Joe and Kevin looked at each other. “What was that look for?”

“What look?” Kevin asked.

“The one you two just shared. I saw it.”

“Well,” Kevin said, looking at Joe who nodded his head.

“Nick tends to keep secrets,” Joe said, looking at Faith. “Especially if he thinks he knows something that will hurt someone he cares about.”

“You think this will hurt Charlotte?” she asked, looking between the two brothers.

“Not really,” Kevin said, looking at Joe and shrugging his shoulders.

“No but I think that Nick thinks it will and that’s something he’d stick with. I could be wrong but I think that there’s an eighty percent chance she doesn’t know about this arrangement that you and Nick came up with,” Joe said, giving Faith’s shoulder a squeeze before handing the sonogram back to Danielle.

“I don’t want her to be mad,” Faith said, biting her lip.

“I don’t think she will be.”

****

Almost exactly an hour later the doorbell rang and Faith felt butterflies in her stomach. She stood up and put Bryson in his little bassinet they kept in the living room before following Joe to the door as Kevin and Danielle moved into the kitchen with Lizzy and Meg. Faith could feel her heart pounding in her chest as Joe opened the door and let Nick and Charlotte in. She put a smile on her face as she hugged them both and led them into the living room. Charlotte immediately went over to the bassinet to look at Bryson who was squirming.

“Look how cute!” she exclaimed, bending down to get a better look at him. “Faith, he looks just like you.”

“Aw thank you,” Faith said. “I think he has Nick’s chin though.”

Joe cleared his throat and Faith turned to look at him. He tilted his head towards the couches and she rolled her eyes. Nick noticed and put his hand on Charlotte’s back.

“Let’s sit down,” he said, on the verge of needing to pry her away from the baby.

“But he’s so cute,” she said in a baby voice, allowing Nick to lead her to the couch. They sat down and Joe and Faith sat on the couch across from them.

“So what’s up?” Nick asked. Faith gulped and Joe nudged her side.

“Nick, do you remember that conversation we had a few months back?” she asked quickly, her heart racing.

“What conversation?” Charlotte asked, turning to look at Nick.

“After Faith and I got divorced she said to me that if the baby was mine… she wanted me to move in to help take care of him,” Nick said slowly glancing towards Joe whose face stayed expressionless.

“Oh,” was all that Charlotte said in response. Faith watched as she looked down at her hands resting on her lap. Faith looked at Joe who just shrugged his shoulders.

“Babe, you okay?” Nick asked, wrapping an arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly.

“Charlotte, if you’re uncomfortable with this we can work something else out,” Faith said slowly, trying to compromise but Charlotte shook her head.

“No, I’m fine,” she said, looking up to lock eyes with Faith. “It makes sense and it’s what’s best for Bryson.”

“As of right now it’s just for while you and Joe are gone and when you two come back we can talk about plans for the future.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Nick said, shrugging his shoulders. He pulled Charlotte into him and kissed her forehead.

“So how would this work?” Charlotte asked, looking at Faith and Joe.

“Well, Lizzy actually had a great idea,” Joe said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “She said she’ll move into the basement until she leaves for college and Nick can stay in her room.”

“It’s literally two doors down from our room and it would be easy to move Bryson’s bassinet for when it’s Nick’s turn to have to wake up,” Faith explained.

“That was nice of her,” Nick said, letting out a smile. Just then Bryson started crying. Joe started to get up but Faith put her hand on his knee and stood up.

“Come here baby boy,” she said, picking him up and patting his butt. “Or should I say stinky boy. I’ll be right back.”

“Can I… help you?” Charlotte asked, standing up. Nick nodded his head behind her for Faith to see.

“Uh, sure. Just follow me,” Faith said, cocking her head towards the stairs.

“Your house is beautiful,” Charlotte said softly as they walked up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

“Thank you,” Faith said, lying Bryson down on the changing table. “Um, would you like to change him?”

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked, hesitating to step forward.

“If things are going as well between you and Nick as they seem to be you very well may be Bryson’s step-mother,” Faith said, winking at Charlotte.

“Faith!” Charlotte exclaimed, placing her hand over her mouth as she laughed.

“What? You don’t want to marry him?” she asked, stepping aside so Charlotte could change Bryson.

“Well… I don’t know,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “We haven’t been dating for very long. And I don’t want things to be awkward.”

“They wouldn’t be awkward,” Faith said, reassuring her. “All that matters is that Nick is happy and that you’re happy and clearly you two are happy together.”

“I am happy,” Charlotte said with a sigh, turning to Faith and smiling.

“Good,” Faith said, smiling back and reaching a finger out for Bryson to grab a hold of. “Charlotte?”

“Yes?” she asked, buttoning Bryson’s onsie back up and picking him up.

“You’ll be okay, with Nick moving in here while you and Joe are away, right?”

“To be honest, it does seem a little weird,” she said, bouncing her body up and down as she held Bryson. “But he is Bryson’s father and with Joe gone you will need someone to help you take care of him. I actually think it’s a good idea.”

“You do?” Faith asked, her eyes widening. Charlotte nodded her head and Faith smiled. “What a relief. I was so worried you wouldn’t like it.”

“It will be fine,” she said with a smile. “Now, let’s go back downstairs. We only have three days left with our boys and I don’t know about you, but I want to make the most of it.”

“Absolutely,” Faith said, nodding her head and taking Bryson back from Charlotte.

****

“That went a lot smoother than I thought it would,” Joe said, sitting on the couch next to Faith after Nick and Charlotte had left about an hour or so later. Kevin and Danielle had left sometime during the visit to tell Kevin Sr. and Denise about the twins.

“Way smoother,” Faith said, slowly nodding her head in agreement as she cradled a sleeping Bryson in her arms.

“Do you want me to take him upstairs?” Joe asked softly.

“No he’s fine. I just love holding him. He’s so soft and has that amazing baby smell.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he said, leaning over and gently kissing the top of Bryson’s head.

“So how’d it go?” Lizzy asked, walking into the room and sitting on the couch across from Faith and Joe. Joe held a finger up to his lips and pointed to Bryson. “Sorry.”

“It went fine,” Faith said quietly. “Better than I thought it would. Charlotte’s fine with it. She’s a little weirded out but she completely understands.”

“Yeah well, I don’t blame her,” Lizzy said, shrugging her shoulders. “So, when do I get to move my stuff into the basement?”

“I can help you do it now if you want,” Joe said, standing up. “Will you be fine sleeping on the couch down there?”

“Hello, have you ever fallen asleep on that couch? It’s like a cloud,” she said, standing up and walking to the stairs, Joe following behind her.

“Surprisingly, I haven’t,” he said as they climbed the stairs, their voices slowly fading out.

“You’re missing out dude,” was the last thing Faith heard Lizzy say and she let out a small laugh before looking back down at Bryson.

“You look happy,” Meg said, causing Faith to jump slightly and jostle Bryson. He stretched his arms out and let out a large yawn but didn’t cry.

“I am happy,” Faith said, smiling at her mother as she sat down on the couch next to her. “For the most part?”

“What’s bothering you?” she asked, taking her grandson and cradling him in her arms.

“Part of me still wishes that Joe was his father but obviously I can’t change that,” Faith said, shrugging her shoulders. “It would just make everything so much easier. I wouldn’t have to worry about Nick moving in here while Joe is gone. I wouldn’t have to worry about Joe feeling nervous while Nick stays here or about Charlotte feeling nervous for that matter. I just… I want everything to work out in the end.”

“Everything will be fine,” Meg said, kissing her daughters temple. “Joe will be Bryson’s father. And so will Nick. You’re a strong woman, honey. You’ll survive having Nick live in here and so will Joe, and Charlotte for that matter. Besides, I will be here to keep him in line. And you know Danielle wouldn’t hesitate to give Nick a piece of her mind if anything were to happen either.”

“Mom,” Faith said, letting out a laugh. “You’re right. I have to stop worrying. Everything will be fine. Joe and I are going to get married. Bryson will have two Dad’s who love him… and possibly two Mom’s if things continue to work out for Nick and Charlotte… and we’ll all be one big happy family. Right?”

“Right,” Meg said, placing her hand on top of Faith’s and giving it a squeeze.