Page 71 of Another June with You
A hint of a smile touched Jamie’s lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to be part of your family.”
“You have to tell him, Jame. You don’t know what might happen when you do. Because no matter who this girl is he brought home, he cares about you. I know it. You should’ve seen his face when you left. He was so worried about you. He made me promise to check on you and make sure you were okay.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Jamie shook her head. “No, I can’t hold onto false hope. How would I do this on my own? I don’t have any family here. I can’t afford a nanny or day care. Not to mention the cost of actually having the baby. Doctor appointments. Food. Diapers.”
Shannon could sense that Jamie was working herself into a frenzy. “Our family would help. You know we would.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Jamie covered her face and cried some more.
“I’m here for you,” Shannon assured her. “You’re my best friend, and I want you to be happy.” She squeezed her eyes, fighting back tears of her own. “But Duncan is my brother, and if you don’t tell him, I can’t promise that I won’t.”
Jamie’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “What? Shannon, come on.”
“He has the right to know.”
Jamie scrambled up from the couch and stared at her. “Please don’t do that. Not yet anyway.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Yes.”
“Before or after?” Shannon couldn’t hide the edge of anger in her voice. And when Jamie didn’t reply right away, Shannon didn’t hold back. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?”
“I don’t think I have any other choice.”
“You do have choices. Don’t do anything rash.”
“I can do whatever I want. It’s my body.”
“That’s true. And I can sit here and tell you what I hope you’ll do and the way I hope things will turn out, but there are no guarantees. I don’t know how Duncan will react when he finds out … and he will find out. Whether it’s from you or me.”
Jamie made a face.
“If you end this pregnancy and he finds out after the fact, he might never forgive you.”
Jamie stared at the floor.
“But here’s another option for you to consider.” Shannon breathed in and out deeply. “Adoption.”
“I don’t know.”
“I want to adopt the baby,” she blurted.
Jamie’s eyes widened again. “Wait, what?”
“The reason I broke up with Micah all those years ago was because I found out I can’t have kids. He wanted a big family. It was a dream of ours. So I let him go so he could have that with someone else.”
“Oh, Shannon.”
“It breaks my heart that you’re going through this right now, Jamie.” The tears filled her eyes again. “I’m so sorry my brother was so careless with you and your feelings. But if you don’t want it, and if he doesn’t want it, I will be this baby’s mom. I want children. I always have. And if I can raise a baby that’s biologically part of our family, I would be so honored to do that. You can be part of its life and so can Duncan.” Shannon didn’t know where any of that had come from. She’d thought about adoption over the years, but could she really raise her brother’s baby as her own? She was certain if Duncan knew, he would move heaven and earth for this child. There was no way he wouldn’t want to know about and raise this baby. So, while there was a part of her that was serious and would take responsibility for the baby if nobody else would, she really wanted Jamie to consider all her options before she did something she couldn’t take back.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Please, think about it, okay?”
