"Okay, now you have to tell me a secret," Cole said, sitting up in his bed. He kept his phone pressed to his ear as he logged onto his computer. On the other end of their call he could hear Noah humming, thinking of something to tell him that he'd never told anyone else.

"Alright, I've got one. It's not really my secret but it's Ian's. Does that still count?"

"Definitely," he said.

"Okay, well, when he was in high school, Ian thought he got some girl pregnant. He made me promise to keep it to myself until he found out the truth. Thankfully, she wasn't pregnant." Noah laughed as he retold the story, remembering the terror on Ian's face as he told him about how he might be a dad soon.

"Oh man. That would have been horrible," Cole laughed.

"After he found out she wasn't pregnant, he told me he was never going to have kids. Wrapping it up was easier."

"That's what I'm saying! Ian gets it. We'll get a puppy. Those don't cry as much as babies do."

"But I wanna make you a mommy, Coley," Noah teased. He scoffed and crinkled his face.

"Only because you want me to call you daddy, huh?"

"Bingo."

"Keep your junk away from me. I'm too young to be barefoot and pregnant and babies are just the worst," Cole said.

"Robert would be so offended." He swung his legs over his bed and stood up, wandering around the room as he talked to Noah. There was a knock at the door and he poked his head out.

"Your mom and I want to talk to you," Cole's dad said. He nodded and held up a finger to tell him he'd be down in one minute.

"Hey, Noah?"

"You gotta go?"

"Yep, there's a house meeting downstairs. Want me to call you back when I get done?"

"Jeez, clingy. No, I'm kidding. You better call me back, because you owe me another secret." Noah's voice was playfully stern.

"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later," he smiled, hanging up his phone. Cole tossed his phone onto his bed and walked downstairs. In the living room, his parents sat on the couch, his mother wringing her hands nervously. Oscar looked just as uncertain as she did. Clearly confused, Cole took a seat in the armchair next to the couch and shrugged. "What's up?" Oscar took Janette's hand in his and rubbed her knuckles encouragingly.

"After those letters you wrote your mother and I, we think that it's best to have an honest, open relationship with you. It's what you deserve. We didn't give that to you when you needed it the most, and we're sorry. So, we're going to start right now, right here." Cole nodded slowly, looking between the two of them. He immediately began thinking the worst possible thoughts. Somebody in the family had died. The house was being foreclosed. They were getting a divorce for real this time. Cole hated waiting for someone to speak but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth. Janette cleared her throat.

"Do you remember when your friends came over a few weeks ago?" Janette asked.

"Um... yeah?" Was this something to do with his friends? Had Anthony ratted him out just to get back at him? Snitching to his mother seemed like something Anthony would do, Cole thought to himself.

"I was sick. Really sick," she continued.

"Are you still sick?" Cole asked. She didn't look that ill. That's when Cole remembered her family had a history of breast cancer. His heart raced, fueled by unadulterated fear. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't have cancer. Spotting the fear on his son's face, Oscar reached forward and took his hand as well.

Janette smiled, trying to reassure him and push away any fears he might have about her health. "No, Cole. I was sick, but I'm not anymore. Now, I'm... I'm pregnant. We're having a baby!"