House of the Scotts

When my mom knocked on the door and told me that I had visitors, I was a little surprised when I saw who it was. Even though Justin didn't come alone, I couldn't prevent that my heart began to beat faster. I could see from their grave expression they wanted to talk with me about something serious.

"Can we talk undisturbed?" Justin started the conversation.

I nodded and let them step into my room. "What is it about?" I looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Davis has disappeared!" Izzy answered.

"Disappeared?" I echoed confused. "What do you mean?" I quickly glanced over at Justin, who had his head lowered. Again Izzy filled me in.

"We assume he is on his way to California. Justin gave him the address of Lydia in Santa Barbara and a short time later he was gone. He packed his things and left by car."

I looked at her startled. "Are you sure he wanted to go to Lydia?" I asked and then looked at Justin, who had a pained expression on his face.

"It's my fault!" He said, then sighed in frustration. "I shouldn't have given him the address. I should have known that he would do something rash and reckless!"

"That's not your fault," I said, touching his arm gently. "If you want to blame someone, it's me. I gave you the address."

"You only wanted to help."

"It doesn't help if you blame each other," Izzy intervened, rolling her eyes impatiently. "The fact is that he knows where she is and now he's on the way to her."

I rummaged the note with the address out of my pocket and looked at it thoughtfully. "All right, what can we do with this information?"

"We have to warn Lydia," Justin suggested. "Or we'll call the Evans right away and explain them our situation."

"Or we call the police and ask them to stop Davis," Izzy tossed in. "They are able to stop him before he can even reach California."

I looked at her indignantly. "You really want to get your brother arrested by the police?" I asked in disbelief.

"Bullshit!" Justin exclaimed. "What reason should they have to arrest him? He has a driver's license, and the car is..."

"...registered on Dad," Izzy completed, grinning mischievously. "We could claim that he stole it."

I frowned skeptically and then looked at Justin. "Yes," I agreed hesitantly, "that could work."

"Dad and Mom would eventually learn about it," Justin pointed out.

"So what?" Izzy shrugged casually. "Then he will stop doing such stupid things in the future."

I was suddenly distracted from the conversation when my cellphone hummed in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and opened it. "That's from Lydia," I said after recognizing her saved profile.

"Really, what is she texting?"

Izzy snatched my phone away before I could react. Shocked, she stared at that what Lydia had just sent me.

"Oh... my... God!" She gasped and then held the phone to us that we could all see what it was.

My heart skipped a beat. Even those who weren't medically experienced would immediately recognize what kind of picture Lydia had sent me. I stifled a moan. Why did she just have to send me the ultrasound picture of her baby? And then titled with, 'The first official picture of the Scott-Baker baby!' I noticed Justin's and Izzy's questioning and shocked gazes on me and cleared my throat. "I- I wanted to tell you, but..."

"Lydia is pregnant!?" Izzy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Scott-Baker baby?" Justin muttered, then jerked his head as he realized what that meant. "Oh God, no!" He exclaimed. "Does this mean that Davis is the father?"

I nodded hesitantly as I avoided his gaze. "She did the pregnancy test on the morning of her birthday, and it turned out positive," I said softly. "She didn't want anyone to know. But apparently it's no secret anymore."

"No wonder Davis drove off to California," Izzy said, rolling her eyes.

I shook my head. "He doesn't know about it," I said hastily. "For whatever reason he drove to Santa Barbara, it wasn't because of that." I glanced quickly at Justin, who ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you know what that means?"

"That I will become an aunt and you an uncle?" Izzy suggested.

He ignored her remark. "If he finds out, then I don't know what he's going to do. As impulsive as he sometimes reacts, he is capable of running his car into a tree!"

"I wonder what Mom and Dad are going to say about it?" Izzy mused.

"Nobody but you know so far," I said quickly. "So please, don't tell your parents!"

Justin nodded hesitantly. "The shock will come soon enough for them," he said, rolling his eyes. "They should enjoy their trip for a little while longer."

"So what are we going to do with Davis?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know." Justin shrugged helplessly and turned to Izzy. "Let's drive home. I have to think about it first."

"Take the address with you." I handed the note to Izzy. "I've already saved it on my phone."

"Are you writing to Lydia that Davis is on the way to her?" She asked.

I nodded. "I'll inform her about it. She's still waiting for my response about the ultrasound picture anyway."

"Can you send it to me?" Izzy asked.

"Of course." I looked at Justin, who didn't look very happy. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I should have been honest from the beginning. But I had to promise Lydia that I wouldn't say anything." As our eyes met, I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach. How I would have liked to send Izzy away that I could be alone with Justin. But there was no time for that. When both had left, I sat down on my bed, pulled out my cellphone and then started to write a text message to Lydia.