Max (A Carter Brother series Book 4)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “I take it Joan didn’t get around to the kitchen?’’ I ask, peeling a wrapper away from the stool.

  “Yeah, she did it yesterday morning. This is from last night,’’ he says, absentmindedly looking into the fridge. He starts shoving things around before grabbing the loaf of bread out of the bread bin and I watch disgusted as he makes a jam sandwich. No one should be forced to eat jam, especially on a sandwich. I used to hate it when the school dinner ladies made us eat them.

  Opening my mouth to give him shit, I watch as he shoves the sandwich into a container before throwing it into the fridge. He then continues to throw a foiled – what looks like a baguette – under the sink. I’m stunned to silence then watch as Myles rushes in freshly showered and dressed.

  “You could have told me it was half ten, dickhead. I’m late,’’ Myles snaps at Max.

  “You’re pregnant?’’ Max gasps wide-eyed but an unamused Myles ignores him, heading over to the fridge.

  “Shit. Max, I’m going to make you pay for doing what you did. I know it was you. Call it twin intuition or just common fucking sense but I know you did that to Kayla and now I’m the one paying for it. She switched my sandwich to jam,’’ he moans, slamming his head against the closed fridge door.

  “Your girlfriend makes you sandwiches?’’ I ask shocked. They’re like a married couple. Jesus! They’re barely out of nappies.

  Ignoring me, Myles walks over to Max, shoving him against the sink. “I’m going to get you back,’’ he yells, right before he slams the jam sandwich at Max’s chest.

  “Well then, that went well,’’ I mutter, jumping off the stool.

  “Where are you going? You want to lick the jam off me?’’ Max winks and I look to him in disgust.

  “There is nothing powerful enough on this earth to get me to put jam in my mouth.’’

  “Oh, but the licking me part is still in? That’s cool,’’ he nods, grinning.

  I groan, walking towards the front door, listening to his bare feet paddling after me. “See you later, alligator.’’

  “In a while, crocodile,’’ he shouts back, making me smile.

  “In an hour, sunflower,’’ I chuckle, carrying on the rhyme my mother would always say.

  “Fuck, I got nothing after the crocodile,’’ he shouts when I reach Joan’s. He’s still standing on his front porch and I turn around laughing. “But an hour it is.’’

  “Go away,’’ I laugh. My fist rises to knock the door when I’m pulled in by a frantic looking Harlow.

  “Um, morning,’’ I wave, feeling uncomfortable. As much as I’ve gotten close to Max in a couple of days, the others, not so much. Jesus, a couple of days? It feels like I’ve known him longer. It’s weird. Then again, an hour in Max’s presence and it will feel like a month.

  Snapping back to reality, Harlow’s mouth is moving but she’s talking so fast I don’t understand a word coming out. She’s pale and looking frantic, her eyes moving everywhere in the room, but at me.

  “Slow down,’’ I break in.

  “Sorry.’’

  “Okay, now tell me what you said, but remember, slowly,’’ I coax her. She looks around warily before grabbing my hand and leading me up the stairs. A snarky remark about ‘this is too soon in our relationship’ wants to escape, but I hold it in. Judging by Harlow’s spooked, pale expression, I can tell whatever it is that she needs to get out is serious. I’m just wondering out of all people she has around her, why it’s me she’s chosen to talk to. I’m actually feeling pretty privileged.

  It could be because you’re outside the circle, my thoughts tell me, but I tell them to fuck off and go away.

  She leads me to my room and starts pacing the tiny space. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I wait patiently for her to get her shit together. She’s takes a few more minutes before taking another deep breath.

  “Okay, so a few months ago, a month before you arrived, I’d been really ill with the flu. You know, the normal flu.’’

  Cause there’s a deranged flu, I think as I watch her start pacing around again. It’s starting to make me feel dizzy, though, I don’t voice that.

  “I thought I’d just gotten that back again. You know with you being ill and all that. I didn’t think much of it, but then this morning, Malik asked me when I needed to get my birth control prescription. Everything started to hit me, but now I’m panicking. I did some onlineresearchanditsaidthat…’’ she rushes out without taking a breath.

  “Wow, wow, wow, slow down there,’’ I warn her, grabbing her shoulders and sitting her down next to me. The door flies open and Denny rushes in out of breath. She looks between us and her shoulders relax.

  “There you are. When you texted saying it was an emergency I rushed over as quickly as I could.’’

  “I called you two hours ago,’’ Harlow shouts, standing up. Denny pauses, taking a step back. She looks to me for answers but I shrug my shoulders not having any clue as to what’s going on. All I’ve managed to get so far is the flu.

  “I had to do my makeup…’’ she pauses seeing Harlow’s stormy expression and back peddles. “I mean I had to feed and change Hope.’’

  “Whatever.’’

  “So? What’s the big emergency?’’

  “As I was saying, Malik asked me this morning about my birth control pill prescription. You remember when I was ill a few months back and had to go on antibiotics?’’ she asks Denny.

  “Yeah,’’ Denny urges, nodding her head.

  “Well, Malik and I had unprotected sex,’’ she blurts out, covering her eyes.

  My eyes shoot to Harlow and then down to her small, flat stomach.

  Holy fucking shit on eggs.

  “And? You always have unprotected sex,’’ Denny deadpans and I feel like I’m getting in the way. They don’t need me, a complete stranger, here while they talk about unprotected sex. More to the point, I don’t need to be here to listen to them talk about unprotected sex.

  “My God, will you listen, I WAS ON ANTIBIOTICS,’’ Harlow shouts, her face bright red. “I did some research and antibiotics mess with the pill, so they don’t work. I haven’t had a period now in two months. I was due on yesterday.’’

  “Holy crap,’’ Denny grins and then begins to jump up and down like a lunatic squealing. I watch, feeling out of my element, and decide to move around them to my clothes and grab some clean ones before discretely get changed behind the wardrobe door.

  “This is not a time to be happy. I can’t be a mom. I’m not old enough to be a mom. I can’t even look after myself, let alone a baby for Christ’s sake. What the hell am I going to do? I’ve got my whole life ahead of me,’’ she cries, tears begin falling down her face.

  I rush to get ready, not wanting them to notice me dressing when Denny smacks Harlow in the arm.

  “I’m a mom and we’re the same age. What are you trying to say?’’ Denny asks offended.

  Oh no! Please don’t let there be a cat fight, please don’t let there be a cat fight, I chant as I put on a clean pair of socks. There’s one thing I can’t stand and it’s girls fighting. They don’t fight fair and they pull fucking hair. With someone who has a lot of it you can see why I hate girls getting into fights. That shit hurts.

  “I don’t mean you, I mean me. You’re mature and it’s different.’’

  “How is it different? We’re the same age, we both have boyfriends and, may I add, you’ve been with Malik a lot longer than Mason and I have,’’ Denny starts, counting them off her fingers.

  “Because it just is,’’ Harlow cries. “How can I bring a child into this world when the mothers in my family leave their child in one way or another? Gram’s basically let mom walk out of her life and then my mom left me; she died and she’s never coming back. She’s not here for me to cry to, to ask advice to and I need her. I need my mom,’’ Harlow sobs, falling to her knees on the floor. “She’d know what to do. She’d help me.’’

  “Hey,’’ Denny speaks softly, be
nding down to kneel on the floor. I sit on the floor next to Harlow, needing to show her my support. I didn’t know her mom had died and it saddens me, but it’s mostly seeing Harlow looking distraught. She’s always so well put together. Seeing her like this is heartbreaking.

  When Max said they had crazy parents running in the family I presumed that’s why Harlow lived here with Joan, not that her parents were dead. My eyes water, filling with unleashed tears as I listen to her sob into her hands, wishing I could do something to make it better. But I’ve got both of my parents. Not in a way I can go and see them, but they’re alive so I have no idea how Harlow must be feeling right now.

  “It’s going to be okay,’’ I assure her but she doesn’t hear me over her own tears.

  “Harlow, you have all of us. I know we will never replace your mom but you’re not alone. Do you really think your grams wanted your mother to go? No. And do you really think you’d leave a baby? Your mom died tragically, Harlow; it wasn’t her fault or your own. I promise everything will be okay.’’

  “How? How can you promise that? I couldn’t bear to let a child feel the emptiness I feel everyday from not having my parents in my life. And then knowing I was the reason for that pain? I don’t think I can do it.’’

  “Yes, you can,’’ Denny says sternly, looking pissed. “Don’t you dare do this, Harlow. I know you’re scared and you have every right to be, but think of all the love and life you’d be giving another human being. Isn’t that worth it? Isn’t it worth knowing yours and Malik’s love made something so beautiful?’’

  “Trust me, I remember the day clearly and there was nothing beautiful about how I got pregnant. I was still feeling ill, but we’d gone a week without touching each other and by the end of the week it built up, ya know. So everything happened quickly and ha-”

  “I’m going to cut you off right there,’’ I jump in, covering my ears. “How about you calm down, and then tell Malik the news so you can both talk about it together? If it was me, I’d pretend to be furious and throw the pregnancy test at him,’’ I laugh, but neither Denny nor Harlow laugh with me. “What?’’

  “I haven’t done a test,’’ Harlow admits sheepishly. When Denny and I give her a look she holds her hands up in defeat. “Hey, I was scared. I’d read all this shit on the internet and when I realised I missed two periods I began to panic. You can’t blame a girl for that.’’

  “So you may not even be pregnant,’’ Denny breathes, shaking her head and if I’m not mistaken she looks kinda disappointed.

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out,’’ I tell her, jumping to my feet. I help her up and shove her towards the door. “Go buy a test.’’

  “Okay, come on.’’

  “Oh, I’m going to watch a movie or something,’’ I wave her off, not used to hanging around with girls. Not that I hang around with boys but I’ve always found it easier to get along more with lads than girls. Girls can be bitches and fuckin’ ruthless when it comes to getting what they want and, oh my God, the lies they tell each other just to make themselves look good. It’s laughable and now I’m just babbling on.

  “Oh no, you’re coming with us. You’re one of us now,’’ Denny grins, grabbing my arm.

  “Brilliant,’’ I smile sourly, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

  **** **** ****

  Half an hour later I’m sitting outside Harlow’s bathroom door with Denny. We’ve been waiting now for a good five minutes, long enough for her to have peed on a stick and gotten the results.

  “Come on, Harlow. The suspense is killing me. Do I need to break down the door?’’ Denny shouts through the door. I stand up, my ass dead from the hard carpet. I’m not even fully standing when the door flies open, scaring the shit out of me. Harlow rushes out, tears streaming down her cheeks and makes her way down the stairs.

  “Oh no,’’ I whisper and run after her along with Denny.

  We call her name but it isn’t until she leaves the house and runs next door to Max’s house that I realise she must be looking for Malik.

  Harlow slams open the door, rushing in and leaving it wide open. We follow seconds after, Denny shutting the door behind us.

  Max and Myles are both sitting on the sofa playing Call Of Duty. It seems Max does a lot of that since he hasn’t decided if he wants to go to college or not. From what I’ve heard Mark say, Max doesn’t know what to do with his life. It sounded like he had been worried about it for a while too.

  “Wow, where’s the fire?’’ Malik asks, looking at a panting Harlow. When he realises she’s crying he throws the remote control to the sofa, but before he can stand up, Harlow throws the pregnancy test at his chest.

  She went with my idea, I’m so proud, I grin.

  “You asshole. You got me pregnant,’’ she cries.

  “What? How? When?’’ he shouts, standing up, his face turning a shade lighter than pale.

  “Now that is a mystery,’’ Max shouts out, interrupting. Denny and I turn giving him a warning glare to shut up. Harlow and Malik ignore us like we’re not even in the room and carry on having a domestic.

  I watch behind the sofa as Max leaves the room, walking into the kitchen. I wonder if we should follow to give these two some space but the death grip Denny has on me isn’t letting me leave any time soon. When I shake her off, in the end doing it roughly, she winces and mouths, ‘sorry’.

  “How? How? You stuck your penis in my vagina,’’ Harlow yells.

  “But we, you… You’re on the pill. How could this have happened? What are we going to do? How can you have a baby with me?’’

  “What?’’ Harlow asks, her voice calmer, but no less deadly. I freeze, wondering why the air in the room has shifted. The two stare at each other, the silence in the room choking.

  Max walks in with what looks like a fruit bowl full of popcorn. “Really?’’ I mutter, narrowing my eyes.

  He shrugs, sitting down on the sofa, already digging into the popcorn. Shrugging my shoulders I follow suit and sit down next to him. Digging into the pop corn, I watch in time for Malik to get his shit together. Somewhat, anyway.

  “You know where I come from, what blood runs through my veins, Harlow. What if I end up like my parents?’’ he whispers, looking pained. My heart actually beats harder for him and I wonder if this has anything to do with what Max was trying to say last night about his parents not being good people.

  Denny sits down, following suit and digging into the popcorn on Max’s lap; watching everything unfold in front of us. I’m still wondering if we should leave, give them some privacy, but I’m actually curious to know what’s going on.

  “I give it ten seconds before Harlow cries her undying love for Malik,’’ Max whispers, taking another handful of popcorn.

  “I give it fifteen,’’ Denny puts in.

  “You two are just,’’ I start but the sharp look they both give me has my shoulders sagging. “I give it a few seconds; she’s on the verge of an emotional breakdown.’’

  “And what if I end up like mine?’’ Harlow answers breathlessly.

  “Huh? I thought your parents were golden?’’ Malik asks, a hard edge to his voice.

  “My parents were the best but, Malik, they still left me.’’

  “Babe,’’ he says like that answers everything. I look dumbfounded over it all. It’s like a live reality TV show.

  “This baby, it’s a part of you, a part of me, and our love made her. I love her so much already and I’ve known about her for all of ten minutes. The thought of leaving her… It hurts, Malik, really fucking hurts. But knowing I’ve got you to share that with…’’

  “Well, they do say, a baby isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life,’’ Max butts in and we all look at him confused.

  “Shut up,’’ I grumble under my breath.

  “Jesus! I was just saying.’’

  “Well, don’t,’’ Malik snaps before turning back to Harlow, his expression softening. “I don’t kno
w what to say. Half of me is scared I’ll turn out like my parents, but the other half is over the fucking moon that we’ve been given this gift.’’

  “But we’re so young,’’ she murmurs, moving closer to him.

  “This is so romantic,’’ I whisper, grabbing another handful of popcorn.

  “Jesus! Please! Do not cry on me,’’ Max says horrified.

  “Well, my job here is done. Congratulations, yada yada yada, oh and Harlow, if you dare put on an ounce of weight before my wedding, I will kill you,’’ Denny warns, getting up.

  Harlow nods, waving her off, but her eyes never leave Malik’s. It’s quite sickening really. In a loveable and adoring way.

  Malik grins at Harlow, leaning down to whisper something in her ear, before he sweeps her off her feet, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the door.

  “You’re welcome,’’ I shout after them, but the door has already slammed shut and her giggling begins to fade off.

  “Want to play Call Of Duty?’’

  “You got anything else?’’ I ask Max as I take my shoes off and tuck them under me.

  “Grand Theft Auto?’’

  “Oh my God, I love this game,’’ I tell him enthusiastically.

  “We’re getting married,’’ he winks and my stomach does a summersault.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  LAKE

  A few weeks later I’m walking round to Max’s house so we can walk to the food bank together. We usually carpool with Joan but she had to go in early due to an emergency, so it’s just us today.

  Over the past few weeks everything has been hectic. Joan and Mark have been going bat-shit crazy over a newly expected arrival in the family and everyone has been arguing over the stag and hen parties for Mason and Denny. Mostly it’s been about the baby, about Harlow and what will happen when the baby is born. Joan is freaked out, saying she can’t build a house on her garden like Mark did. Harlow groaned, telling her they’ll find somewhere else to live, though, I’m positive Joan hates the idea.