Maybe he would call Amanda, he thought. Even if she had a boyfriend by now they might not be at the stage yet where they were comfortable spending holidays together. She loved holidays so much. She might even want to see him at this traditional family time. He called her.
“Of course you should come home! Don’t be silly. You’re always welcome with me, wherever I am. We’re family. You should know that!”
It was very reassuring to hear. He bought a plane ticket immediately. She’d even sent him the money for it. She’d also said she had some good news that she wanted to tell him in person, so it was perfect that he was coming home. What could that be? Probably news of the boyfriend. Maybe they were even engaged. Well, if that’s what it was, he was resolved to be happy for her. In Daniel’s eyes, no woman on earth deserved to get what she wanted more than Amanda.
The weather was cold in Michigan, and Amanda was wearing her coat when she picked him up at the airport. She didn’t take it off until they got home. Immediately, Daniel noticed something was different. It wasn’t obvious, but Daniel had spent a lot of time looking at her. He knew something was off. Amanda saw him looking. His eyes got bigger as he looked harder and did the math in his head.
“I didn’t think I was showing yet. Maybe just a little because I’ve been eating. But yes, Daniel…” Amanda’s voice got very deliberate and she spoke with intention. “You’re going to have a baby brother. Or possibly sister. But I’m pretty sure it’s a boy.”
“You mean…?”
“That’s right. Like I said…” She was still being careful to speak slowly and clearly, “You’re going to be a big brother. Didn’t you always want to be a big brother? You know I always wanted a baby. Your father and I were trying to have a baby. Well now we get one. Lucky he froze that sperm sample. The clinic thought they’d lost it but they called me when they found out it had only been mislabeled.”
Daniel stared at her. “Oh. Yeah, that’s very lucky.” She seemed insistent that he play along, so he decided to, at least for now.
“He made me swear never to tell, pinky promise, and I never break a pinky promise. I’m sure you understand.”
“Yeah. That’s like, sacred.”
“That’s right. Baby and I are going to be just fine. So if you were worried I was going to be lonely, well you can just forget it. And I want you to know I’m happy. I’m really, really happy about this, Daniel. I’m sure you’re going to be the best big brother ever, and you can come visit as much as you like, and just get on with your life the rest of the time.”
Daniel wanted to say more, but he didn’t know what to say. She had promised him she was safe and he had believed her, in spite of every bit of sex education he’d ever had telling him the “rhythm method” was unreliable. Maybe she’d made a mistake in her calculations. He knew she always wanted another baby. There’s nothing like motivated reasoning. She seemed so determined to stick to the big brother line, but that couldn’t possibly be the truth. Looking at the timeline, it had to be his.