Chapter 9

Author's Note: here's the next chapter! Good news is that 1) new chapter, yay! And 2) I finally know and have actually started writing when Amy finds out. Bad news is that that doesn't take place in this chapter. Sorry, there is still a wait. Chapters 9-12 all take place in the same day, if this helps. I will try and get chapters out quicker, although there is usually a delay because if I caught up with where I am actually at writing (I just started writing chapter 14) I would get into my writing blocks and it would take heaps longer before new chapters would come out.

The next two days passed quickly, although the Brown house still remained the center for tension and awkward silences. Ephram went out of his way to avoid being in the same room as the baby, at least for too long of periods as Andy continued to care for the baby.

Then one morning, Ephram awoke to the sound of a screaming baby. A sound he never thought he'd wake up to again after Delia hit the age of three and it was safe to say she had, for the most part, outgrown that awful habit. The night before, Andy volunteered to put the baby in his room with him, saying he wanted to make sure he would be alright his first night in a strange place. Ephram hadn't argued. It had been three days since his world was shaken, yet he still hadn't grasped it. Not really. He had thought it was all a bad dream….

Until the crying began. Then he was reminded all over again, what had been delivered only a few days before…

He could tell by the amount of light coming from the window that it was very early in the morning, although he could hear his father getting up to take care of the baby. Knowing someone was tending to the baby, Ephram buried his head under the pillows and drifted back to sleep.

A few hours later -although it felt like it had only been twenty minutes- Ephram felt some thing-or someone- shaking his shoulder. As he eased out of sleep, Ephram began to feel annoyed with the shaking and batted the hand away.

"Ephram, wake up," a voice said, softly but firmly. Ephram opened his eyes; as his blurred vision straightened, he realized his father had been the one shaking him awake.

"What?" he asked with his sleep laced voice.

"I gotta go to work today," Andy said.

"Great. Don't let the door hit you when you leave," he said, wanting to get back to sleep. He had almost two months of summer left before college classes began; he had every intention of taking advantage of sleeping in until then.

"I need you to get up so you can keep an eye on your sister and watch the baby."

Ephram quickly sat up, feeling fully awaken now. "What?"

"You heard me. I need for you go get up and go downstairs, and watch your sister and the baby." Not giving him a chance to argue, Andy smiled and headed out the door.

"Wait a second!" he said, jumping out of bed and following his father out of his room wearing only a t-shirt and boxers. "What if something happens? What if the baby cries?" he asked as the two climbed down the stairs.

"Well then I would advise you to first check his diaper, then go from there." He grabbed his keys. "If a real emergency should arise, you can always call me at work, or call Nina; she's home today." He turned his attention away from Ephram as he stood at the front door. "Delia honey, Ephram's awake. I'm headed off to work. Be good, and I'll see you later!"

"Bye dad!" Delia called back from the other room.

"But-"

"Ephram, you can handle this. What if this child turns out to be yours? Your going to have to interact with him sooner or later. Now you have Delia here to help you out, and as I said, you can always call me at work or give Nina a call if you have a problem." He took a step out the door then stopped. "Oh, I fed him a few minutes ago; he should be good for a few hours. Delia knows how to do all that." He smiled at Ephram. "Good luck and have a good day."

Before Ephram could say another word, Andy disappeared out the door, leaving Ephram standing there in his boxers and a tee.

"Ephram, you might want to come in here! I think he pooped!"

Ephram threw his head back and groaned, wishing more than ever, that his father would have stayed home instead of going to work.

A few hours later, Ephram sat on the couch, now fully dressed, as the baby sat in the carrier beside him. Aside from a false dirty-diaper alarm, the morning had been fairly easy going.

"What do you think his name is?" Delia asked Ephram curiously, looking up at him. Again, something he should know, a voice said inside his head. He pushed the voice away.

"Uh.. I don't know," he said honestly. Did Madison even bother to give him a name? He sat there, wondering what kid of a mother Madison had been before deciding to give up and leave the baby on his porch.

"Maybe we should give him a name," Delia suggested. "It must suck not having a name."

"Stink," Ephram corrected, knowing Delia wasn't allowed to say those kinds of words, even though he said them on a daily basis. "And I don't know if it's a good idea to give him a name just yet."

"Why not? Dad said that he's going to be staying with us for a week or two. We should think of something else to call him besides 'the baby'."

Ephram sat there, unsure of how to explain this all to Delia. Would she even understand if he told her the truth; that the baby might be his, making him her nephew? How much had their father told her about why the baby was there?

"Delia… what else did dad say to you… about the baby, I mean?" He decided to ask, just to be on the safe side. Maybe Andy had already explained all he wanted Delia to know.

"He just said that until we find the baby's dad, we're going to take care of him." So Andy didn't say anything about how Ephram might be the father. "But I still I don't understand why his mom left him with us, even though Dad tried to explain it to me the other day in he store. Why didn't she just bring him to his dad?"

Ephram felt as if he had a spotlight shining directly on him. "I uh, I-I don't know." He looked around the living room for something. Anything to get Delia off this topic.

"Why don't you put in a movie?" Ephram suggested. He felt a calming sense of relief when Delia took the bate and got up to pick out a movie. As Delia turn on the VCR and put the movie in, Ephram looked down at the baby, who was busy gumming one of the toys Ephram had found in his diaper bag.

"That toy taste good?" he asked him. "It must, seeing as how your busy chewing on it." The baby looked up at him, still chewing on the toy, which was now covered in drool.

"Maybe he's hungry," Delia said as she sat back down on the couch, beside the baby.

"He can't be. Dad fed him something not more than two hours ago."

"Sometimes I get hungry two hours after I ate something," she challenged.

"Yeah, well he's a baby, Delia. His stomach is like the size of an orange." Delia shrugged and returned her attention to the baby as the movie began playing on the TV. Ephram scooted on the couch, getting comfortable as the movie began, feeling more thankful for movies than before.