Out Of The Friend Zone (26 page)

"How far along are you?" Madilyn asked.

"I'm not sure. I have an appointment to go back this week to find out. My guess would be that I'm only a few weeks along."

"Well, if you need anything, be sure to let me know."

Brynn's heart swelled. "Thank you. That means a lot to me, especially since I lost my parents a while ago."

"Well, Mom, we better get going. We're anxious to show Willow her new room. We were up late last night working on it. If you need me, here's our new number," he said, as he wrote Brynn's phone number down on a piece of paper for his mother. "And, remember, the baby is a secret for now!"

"Got it! Congratulations, both of you, and I sincerely apologize!" Madilyn said, and the look of shame in her eyes told how sorry she was for her outburst.

"We understand," Brynn said.

Madilyn looked out the window at Willow. "I'm going to be a grandmother again," she murmured, a smile growing on her face. "Fancy that..."

Chandler gathered the kids out of the back yard and packed everyone into the SUV. During the short drive home, Chandler told Willow and Barrett that he and Brynn had a surprise for them when they got home. The kids chatted about it excitedly the rest of the way, wondering what it was going to be.

Chandler and Brynn sat them down in the living room when they reached the house, and told them that he and Willow would be moving in and living with Brynn and Barrett. Both of the kids cheered, enjoying the fact that they would be having sleepovers every night.

"But that's not all. Willow, you have a brand new bedroom. Brynn worked really hard to make sure it was something you would like," Chandler told her. "Are you ready to see it?"

"Yeah!" Willow shouted.

They stopped outside of the closed door to the former guest bedroom. Chandler told Willow to close her eyes before he opened the door. Seeing her eyes closed, he turned the handle of the door and slowly exposed the room behind it. Barrett's shout of how cool it was got Willow so excited she opened her eyes so she could see it.

Willow walked into her room slowly, looking around silently. The walls were painted an ocean blue, with bright colored fish and seahorses all over, as if they were swimming on the walls. Hanging in the corners were fisherman nets with big seashells and stuffed animals from the 'Finding Nemo' collection. Her toy chest had been painted to look like an underwater treasure chest, and there was an aquarium next to it with real, live fish.

Brynn began to worry as Willow walked around her new room. She touched all of her furniture, her new bedding, and the painted walls. Panic started to set in when Brynn saw Willow's face, so serious and contemplative.

Brynn bent down to Willow, and took her in her arms. "Do you like it?"

"I love it. This is my most favorite room ever!" Willow had big tears in her eyes threatening to fall. She hugged Brynn hard, then whispered, "Thanks, Mommy."

Brynn eyes filled with tears too. Luckily, Barrett broke the tender moment before the waterworks started.

"Can we have chicken for dinner?" he asked, laughing as he ran over and jumped on his mother and Willow.

Willow somehow got him into a headlock and began giving him a noogy, thoroughly frustrating Barrett. When he finally escaped, he started fixing his hair with his hands.

Brynn and Chandler watched as the two kids sparred. Finally deciding she'd heard enough, Brynn pulled Barrett out of the room to give Chandler some time alone with Willow, to show her where all her stuff was, and to make sure she was okay with living there. Brynn took Barrett to his room to have a similar talk with him, to see how he felt about Chandler and her moving in. Willow was so overjoyed that Chandler knew they were doing the right thing by moving in. He just hoped the kids would be as accepting of the new baby as they were of the new living arrangements.

A
fter a peaceful night, Brynn and Chandler woke up when their alarm went off. Almost as if it was on an alarm of its own, Brynn's nausea woke up too. Chandler followed her into the bathroom, trying to soothe her as her body revolted. When Brooklyn was pregnant, she rarely got sick, so the constant morning sickness that Brynn was experiencing was new to him.

The only thing he knew to do was rub Brynn's back and make sure her hair was out of her face. He got a cool cloth for her face, and poured her a glass of water for when she was finished.

"God, how can you stand to be in the same room with me when I'm getting sick? I'd understand if you didn't want to be here. I'd probably be pretty grossed out if I were you," Brynn groaned after getting sick for what felt like the millionth time.

It was just another example of how Chandler was so different than Nico. When she was with Nico, he tried to stay as far away from her as possible when she had her morning sickness. Most mornings, he would call to her from their bedroom, and ask her to quiet down a little so he didn't have to hear her.

"Honey, you're having our baby. I'm here to support you, good or bad. Besides, what's a little morning sickness in a relationship?" He grinned at her, trying to lighten her mood. "I'm here because I want to be. I promise you that you won't have to go through any of this alone."

Chandler gave her a kiss on her forehead, and started the shower for her, seeing that the nausea appeared to have passed.

"So that means you'll go to my appointment with me this afternoon? I know they're going to do blood work, and I'm not a big fan of needles," Brynn asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll be right there with you, holding your hand. I'll be at every appointment that is physically possible for me to make," Chandler promised. "How about we take Rylee to lunch today too? Will you be able to, since you're taking time off from work for your doctor's appointment?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll talk to my boss this morning, and see if there's something I can work out. We have actually been talking about a way for me to only work in the office part-time, and work from home the rest of the time. It might be a good time to finalize the details," Brynn said. "Are we going to tell Rylee about the baby?"

"Not yet, unless you want to. I thought we were going to keep this quiet."

"I know, but you're going to have to explain all your absences to Rylee when you go to my appointments." Brynn pointed out. "But, she's your assistant, so you decide either way."

Chandler looked at Brynn as she prepared to get into the shower. He slowly shook his head. "Fine, we'll tell her today at lunch. How is it that you always get your way?"

Brynn laughed. "I'm glad you're seeing it my way now. Don't try to fight it, and we'll get along just fine."

"You think you're so funny, huh?" He bent his head down to catch her lips in a good morning kiss. Just when he anticipated that his lips would meet the soft caress of hers, an obstacle blocked the path between them. Chandler opened his eyes to see his lips connected to Brynn's hand.

"I know you were just sitting next to me watching me get sick. You can't seriously want a kiss right now," Brynn said.

"Sorry, I got lost in the moment. How about you brush your teeth, and we'll pick up where we left off?"

"How about I brush my teeth, then hurry through the shower to get the kids up and ready for school?" She reached for her toothbrush. As soon as her mouth was full of foam, Chandler spun her around and kissed her hard.

He backed away from her after the toothpaste kiss, satisfied. "Thank you, that's all I wanted. I'll leave you alone now." Then he left the bathroom with a smirk, to go to the closet and pick out his suit for the day, leaving Brynn standing in the bathroom shaking her head at his crazy antics.

Brynn and Chandler sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office, waiting to be called for Brynn's blood work. The longer they waited, the more nervous Brynn got. "It's going to be okay, I'll be right there with you," he said, trying to reassure her.

"I know. I just hate getting my blood drawn. I always have, I always will." When the nurse came out the door and called her name, Brynn's face went pale. As soon as Brynn walked through the door to the small room where they drew blood, she smelled the alcohol and sterile odor that got her every time. It was the scent that she associated with the agony of what was about to happen. The nurse told her where to sit, and as soon as she was in the chair, a swinging arm was brought around to the front of her to 'lock' her in. Chandler reached down, and held onto Brynn's hand. His eyes were telling her to calm down, but Brynn was still nervous. She gripped onto his hand tighter, wishing the moment to pass quickly.

As soon as the nurse jabbed the needle into Brynn's arm, Chandler could see her tolerance waning. He watched as the nurse tried to find Brynn's vein, not having much success. The more the nurse dug the needle inside Brynn's arm, the more blood rushed out of Brynn's face.

The nurse finally got the vein and the vial began to fill up with blood. Brynn was deathly quiet, and her face was far too white.

"She's going to pass out," the nurse said briskly, and then Brynn felt nothing at all.

"Oh shit," Chandler said as the nurse reached for a vial of something. She popped it open and held it under Brynn's nose. With the other hand, she expertly handled the needle, drawing the last bit of blood she needed before pulling it out and putting pressure on the area.

"Wake up, honey," Chandler said to Brynn, shaking her lightly. Brynn opened her eyes. She looked around hazily and saw Chandler and the nurse standing in front of her. She blinked hard a few times, trying to clear her eyes and get her bearings back. The nurse handed her a small cup of orange juice and told her to sip it slowly.

Brynn did as she was told, finally starting to feel better.

"Take her to get something to eat. Her blood sugar must be low," the nurse said to Chandler.

Chandler kept his arm around Brynn the whole way out to his SUV. "Well, let's go pick Rylee up so we can get some food into your body."

"Chandler, you know that's not the reason I passed out. Yes, I'm hungry, but you saw for yourself what that nurse did in there. Couple that with my fear of needles, and there you go, out like a light!"

"I know, I'm sorry. But you need more food. You are eating for two after all."

"Sorry. Passing out just doesn't put me in the best of moods," Brynn said, sitting back and crossing her arms. She was incredibly tired.

After picking Rylee up, she and Brynn chatted non-stop until they got to the restaurant. Chandler couldn't get a single word in as the girls took some time to get to know each other. Chandler was really happy that they clicked because it would have been challenging for Brynn to not like his assistant, especially one as capable as Rylee.

Chandler parked his SUV in the parking lot of the steakhouse and got out of the vehicle. Neither woman paid much attention to the fact that they had stopped. It was only when Chandler opened the passenger side doors that they realized they were at the restaurant. Rylee slipped out of the vehicle easily, while Chandler helped Brynn out. She was still a little light headed, and Chandler was worried she was going to pass out again before they had a chance to sit down in the restaurant.

To an innocent observer, it looked like Chandler wanted to be as close to Brynn as possible. No one would have realized that he was clinging to her to support her. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they were seated quickly in the restaurant.

"So boss-man, where were you this morning? Big top-secret meeting?" Rylee teased. "Nothing major happened, I took care of everything that came up."

"Well, that's one of the things we need to talk to you about," Chandler said. He looked over to Brynn and smiled. "I'll probably be missing a little more work than usual, at least for the next nine months." His smile broadened when he thought about the pregnancy. "Brynn is pregnant, and I plan to be at all of her appointments with the doctor."

"What?" Rylee asked, kind of in shock.

"Yep!"

She turned to Brynn. "You're really pregnant?"

"Sure am. We find out later this afternoon exactly how far along I am." Brynn beamed. She was really getting used to the idea they were having a baby together.