30: The Anticipation-2

Months- The word scared both of them but they refrained from admitting so. "It's better if I just stay with Em until you're back. Besides, I can't leave her paying the entire rent on her own until the lease is up, that wouldn't be fair." "I feel like you're going to keep saying maybe even after I get back." He was truly deflated from the whole conversation, like he usually was once it got this far. "Of course not. You- you just need to sort a couple things out before we think about taking the next step of moving in together." By then, she had walked around to stand behind him as he cooked. Katie wrapped her arms around him and stood on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. "As soon as you get back, I promise I'll move in, okay?" he nodded and allowed his lips to curl into a small smile. ******* "Andrew? Yeah sure, we're just on the way to Katie's apartment before we head to the restaurant." Colin puffed on a cigarette as he spoke to his brother on the phone. Katie pressed the button on her side of the door to roll down his window. "Katie, it's freezing." "I don't want the whole damn car smelling of smoke, thank you very much." It had been a couple of hours since breakfast and Colin's cheery mood had taken a turn for the worst. His cravings caused a sharpness in his demeanour, he lacked any patience and was easily annoyed but no matter how irritated he became, Katie would outdo him in sassiness any time. "Yes, the restaurant. That's why I'm calling, I should have asked you sooner but I've been a little... tied up here. I can't make it to lunch." "I guess we could try and do it another day- oh wait, I'm going away on Monday- does tomorrow suit instead-" "No, you guys need to come here, like, now." "What? Why?" he asked quizzically, surprised by Andrew's somewhat panicked tone. "I'll tell you when you get here." "Andrew- Hello? He just hung up on me the bastard." Colin scrunched his eyebrows in annoyance. "What did he say? Can he not make it today?" "He wants us to go to his place instead. It seemed like something was wrong..." "Sure, but you'll have to give me directions, I've never been to his place before." They both went up to Katie's apartment and said hi to Emily before Katie put some things in her laundry pile and packed fresh clothes for work on Monday. They chatted with Emily for a couple of minutes but realised the time and had to leave. It took some time to get to Andrew's house and Colin was terrible at giving directions. He was still in a very ratty mood even after they arrived. Colin knocked on the door to have no response. "C'mon for christ's sake." He said, a cigarette between his lips. He knocked harder this time. "Calm down Colin. He's probably in the middle of doing something." Katie rolled her eyes. It took until Colin finished his cigarette with a few violent puffs for Andrew to finally answer the door. "It's about damn time." He said as he threw the butt on the ground and stood on it. "Shh. Come in." they both noticed how serious he was and quietened down as they stood into his home, closing the door behind them. Katie looked around at the lavishly decorated house. Although it was not modern like Colin's apartment, it too was filled with expensive furniture and must have been thought deeply about by an interior decorator. "What the hell's going on Andrew? First you tell me you have to show us something and now we get here and we have to whisper and tiptoe around the place. Spit it out already, what is it that you want to tell us?" Katie nudged Colin in side when Andrew wasn't looking, which earned her an irritated look from Colin. "Promise you won't tell Mom and Dad yet, I haven't figured out how." "Alright, what the hell do I care if they find out or not?" "You'll have to come inside and see what I'm talking about, let's go." Andrew headed for the front living room, the couple close behind him. Katie was puzzled when she saw a white crib in the middle of the room, it looked so out of place. Andrew didn't have a girlfriend or wife, nor did he have any children so what was it doing there? "Andrew what the hell is that?" Colin asked in bewilderment. "I have someone I want you two to meet..." Andrew reached into the crib and picked up a small baby, cradling her with great care in his arms. Katie and Colin didn't know what to say, they shard a look of equal surprise but Colin was the first to speak.