I was preparing dinner in the kitchen one night with Henry in his bouncy seat on the table, watching my every move with fascination, when CeeCee walked in and told me there was a phone call for me.
"For me?" I asked, confused because she was holding the landline phone in her hand, the one we barely used but that my mother insisted on having. CeeCee put her hand over the receiver and stage-whispered:
"It sounds like someone important."
I grabbed a kitchen towel and wiped off my hands before taking the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this Natasha Greeley?"
"Who - who may I ask is calling?" I asked, flustered by the business-like tone of the man on the other end.
"I'm a reporter with TKZ in Los Angeles and I'm wondering if you have any comment on the allegations that you recently gave birth to Kaden Barlow's baby?"
Pins and needles shot out from the center of my body to the tips of my fingers and toes. I jerked the phone away from my ear and pressed the hang-up button without responding.
"Don't answer that number again," I said breathlessly to CeeCee, "don't-"
"Why?"
"Just don't answer it. Look at me." I waited until I had my little sister's full attention. "Don't answer it. And if someone calls the landline again asking for me tell them they have the wrong number. OK?"
"But-"
"CeeCee!" I snapped, trying to slow down my breathing before the shock of getting the call turned into a full-blown panic attack. "Just don't take it!"
"OK," she replied, seeing how upset I was. "I won't." She went back to the living room to hang the phone up and I stumbled to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs, pressing my hand against my chest in a futile attempt to slow down my hammering heart.
How could anyone know? How could a tabloid reporter know? No one knew - no one except my family and Jen and Lena. And I knew with one-hundred percent certainty that not one of those people would even think about calling the tabloids, let alone go ahead and do it.
The reporter called again the next day and then next and the next. He started calling during the day and then again at night, around nine o'clock. It didn't take long for everyone to figure out that something was going on, so one night after dinner I sat Ray and Alisha down and told them who was making the calls.
I watched them exchange worried looks before Ray spoke up. "Do you have any idea who told them? I thought it was just us and Jen and Lena who knew?"
"It is," I told him. "I have no idea how they found out - it seems impossible."
"Well," Alisha commented, "he looks just like Kaden and a lot of people know you were with him. Didn't he show up at work one day? It wouldn't be too hard to put two and two together, I don't think."
"Either way, next time they call, let me take it." Ray said.
"What are you going to say?" I asked, hopeful that there was still some way we could make the whole issue go away.
"I'll tell them they're harassing you and if they keep it up I'll call the police."
The very next day, exactly that happened. Ray took the call and told the reporter he would call the police if the calls continued. They stopped for three days before starting up again. The reporter told Ray that they were going to publish the story with or without comment from me. I lay in bed that night with Henry sleeping peacefully beside me and tried to figure out whether it would be a good idea to make a comment or just to continue to ignore it. Alisha was probably right that it was someone making assumptions who'd called the tabloid in the first place. There had been no DNA tests because Henry's paternity wasn't in question, but no one except me and those closest to me actually had proof of anything. Perhaps I could just simply tell the reporter that it was a mistake?
Just as I was about to drift off to sleep my cell phone vibrated and, half-asleep, I answered it without checking to see who it was.
"Tasha?"
I froze. It was Kaden. The day where I wouldn't recognize that deep voice was never going to come.
"Tasha?" He asked again when I failed to respond.
"Uh, hi, yes," I stammered, keeping my voice quiet so Henry wouldn't wake up. "Hi Kaden. How are you? Is everything OK?"
"Things are - well, things are mostly fine," he replied. "I'm in Little Falls, by the way - at my parent's house right now. I'd like to see you tomorrow, if possible."
Chapter 31: Kaden
I saw Tasha before she saw me. She pushed the door to the café open and looked around for a few seconds before spotting me. My dad was right, she'd gained a little weight - but it only made her look better. More womanly. I had to look away as she made her way over to the table where I was sitting because I knew if I kept my eyes on her the look on my face would give me away instantly. How was it possible for one human being to have such a hold on another, even after so much time apart and so much water under the bridge?