Chapter 13

Author's Note: I hat a bit of a writers block, but I think I'm sllooowwwlllllyyy getting past it. I forsee four or less more chapters to go before the end. Yes, Amy is going to find out, I plan on her finding out either in the chapter I'm writing now or deff. By the next one. Enjoy the new chapter!

By the time four o'clock rolled around, Ephram felt as if he was about to loose it. In fact, he was pretty sure he had already lost it. The past three days had gone smoothly with the exception of the first day, when the baby had had his crying fit. That, however, was nothing compared to what his day had been like. The morning started off as it had every other morning the past few days, Andy had gone to work, leaving Ephram to watch the baby. The baby had been calm. Quiet. He had honestly thought he had gotten the hang of things and would be able to handle whatever else came his way. Boy had he been wrong!

By nine o'clock, the baby had begun fussing. Ephram, having learned a thing or two from the past few days, had tried the things he had found worked to settle the baby down. That worked a little at first. Less than an hour later, the baby's fussing had turned into full out crying.

Ephram walked around the house trying his best to rock him in hopes to quieting him. "Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," he assured the baby, who looked up at him, his little eyes filled with tears. Ephram sighed, feeling at the end of his rope. He looked around the room, trying to find something that would quiet him. Having had her fill with the baby the past few days, Delia had opted to go to a friends house for the day, leaving Ephram alone to take care of the baby. Now he had wished she had stayed home.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" he asked the baby. His ears were now past the point of ringing, and his head now ached. He switched the baby to the other side, wanting to give his left ear a small break. He walked over to the diaper bag, taking out some weird looking toy that made noises when you squeezed his foot.

"Here, want this?" he asked. The baby grabbed the toy and threw it to the floor, then continued crying. He had already thought to calling Nina for some back up, she was sure to know what was wrong with the baby, but she was at work today, leaving him back at square one.

He sighed, running out of options. He had even tried putting the baby down for a nap earlier; no such luck. He had been too worried that he'd choke from crying so hard or something that he had went back in and picked him up after a half an hour or so.

"You've been normal all week," he said to the baby. He looked up, racking his brain for an idea. Any idea. Sadly his limited knowledge of babies was blocking him from doing this. He had tried a movie earlier, putting one of Delia's old cartoon movies in that she had enjoyed when she was younger; that had quieted him for a good five minutes before he started crying again.

"Please just stop," he begged the baby. Every part of him was on edge, wanting nothing more than to quiet the baby. "I'll do anything!" Usually he kept calm in stressful situations, trying to find a solution. But he had definitely reached his point today. Another hour of this and he'd-

Just then, his father walked through the door. He hadn't even heard the car pull up.

"Thank god your home!" Ephram said quickly walking over to Andy.

"What's the matter? What's wrong with him?" he asked, looking down at the baby as he took his coat off and put his things down.

"I-I have no idea. He's been this way for hours," he said over the crying. "Here. Take him." He handed the baby to Andy, who quickly took the baby into his arms. "I-I gotta get outta here." He scooted past his father and the baby and vanished out the door without so much as a glance back.

Even outside, he could hear the faint sound of the baby crying. What had he done wrong? He had done everything he had done yesterday. He didn't understand it. Even as he stood outside his house, he could hear the baby still crying. Glancing back at the house of horrors, Ephram felt his world spinning out of control. What had he done to deserve this? Would he ever escape the mistakes of his past?

"Ephram?"

Ephram turned around to see Bright approaching him. "Hey, man. I thought that was you. I was just coming' to see you…" Bright noticed the expression on Ephram's face and frowned.

"You okay man?" he asked. Ephram glanced back at his house, before looking back at Bright. Undoubtedly he could hear the baby crying inside. Should he tell him what was going on or continue to keep it a secret?

"I'm glad to see you. I gotta talk to someone about this," he said, desperation in his voice. "I can't take this anymore."

A few minutes later, both boys sat on the couch in the studio as Ephram retold all that had happened in the past week or so, starting from when he found the baby on the doorstep to the very bad day he had experienced with him earlier.

Bright sat there for a second, a stunned expression on his face. "Woah," he said after a few moments. "Like…this is…" he trailed off. He looked at Ephram. "So is this kid really yours?" he asked.

"I don't know. Madison said it could either me mine or Jay's. We won't know for sure until the tests come back." Ephram looked down at his hands, which rested between his legs.

"So what are you going to do if this kid turns out to be yours? Like, are you going to take it with you guys to New York and take care of it?" he asked. Good question. Ephram had been thinking about that since day one.

"I have no idea. Madison signed adoption papers already….but…" he paused. "I dunno. I mean if it's mine I'd feel weird just giving him away, ya know?"

"Yeah, but giving it to good parents is better than it having a crappy life," Bright pointed out. They sat silently for a few moments. "Have you told Amy yet?"

Ephram looked up at Bright. "No. Not yet."

"Man, this would kill her," he said.

Ephram sighed, feeling as if Bright had dropped kicked him. "I know." He stood up. "I-I-I mean, I want to tell her. So much. But I'm afraid that it'll break her heart." By now, Ephram was pacing back and fourth in front of Bright.

"Everything is so messed up right now. It's like… Is this baby I'm taking care of my son or is he Jay's? Should I cancel my plans to go to New York with Amy in the fall because I'll have to stay here and raise this kid or should I go ahead with it?" Bright watched Ephram pace back and fourth, letting him vent. "I-I just can't believe Madison would do something like this!" Ephram exclaimed. "And when did she sleep with him? I just can't get that thought out of my head. We weren't exactly getting along t-towards the end, but I never though she'd…" he trailed off. "And not only that, but she doesn't even tell me she's pregnant… she just leaves!"

"Ephram-"

"Then! Then, because she decided to sleep with Jay while we were together, she has no idea who's kid this is, so she dumps him on my doorstep like he's trash! I-I I hate her! I can't even believe I once loved her! I-"

"Woah!" Bright said, cutting in on Ephram's rant. "I know this is all messed up, and your all tweaked out and whatnot. But bitching about what Madison did isn't going to change anything."

Ephram paused, knowing Bright was right. For once, Bright was looking at things objectively while Ephram was all over the place.

Finally, looking up at his best friend, Ephram asked, "So what would you do?"

"Me?" Bright paused, thinking about it. "I'd probably be doing the same thing as you are," he admitted. "You just gotta keep it together, man. Keep a clear head." Ephram sighed, glancing over at the piano sitting in the middle of the room.

"And… I know your not going to want to hear this… but.." Ephram looked back over at Bright, "..you gotta tell Amy what's going on."

"And risk her walking away from me? No. No way."

"Ephram, what the hell are you talking about?" Bright asked. "Amy loves you; I mean, for real. She's ass backwards, head over heels in love with you. Yeah, this will probably hurt her, but I can't see my sister walking away from you because of this," Bright told him honestly.

"But you don't know that for sure. And for right now, I just can't take that chance. And, I mean, I don't know what I'd do if the roles were reversed; how can I know for sure what she's going to do when she finds out?"

"Actually, if the roles were reversed, she'd know if it was actually….her kid…." Bright trailed off as Ephram shot him a look. "Never mind," he mumbled.

Ephram's gaze slid over to the window, looking over in the direction of the house. He was sure his father had already managed to calm the baby down and was probably picking up the kitchen. It was probably safe to go back inside. Maybe he could sneak up the stairs…

"You going to be okay?" Bright asked. "Hey, why don't you come back to my place for a while? Ya know, get away for a bit to calm down." Ephram looked over at Bright. "I got my PS2 hooked up now."

Ephram couldn't help but smile, even a little. "Sure. Why not. Beats going back in there…"