Drama Momma (Surprisingly Perfect Sequel)

Fake News

Just as I leaned my head against the window, I could feel the little fluttering movements of my baby. I rubbed my belly and fidgeted. I need to get out of this dress. Are we home yet?

"Poppy?" Mom asked.

"I regret nothing and I'm not going to apologize for any of it. So you can save the speech," I said.

The car went silent. The gate opened. Ollie threw his ring of plastic keys to the floor, then let out this huge screech. Chrys gave them back and he quieted down for a second, but continued to fuss. She quickly made eye contact with me when she did so. Her eyes were still all puffy and red.

"I think we should hear her side of the story," Chrys said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What? She conned a guy for money and basically forced him to lie to our entire family for a month so she could keep this secret, which, by the way—" She turned around to look at me before pulling into the street. "How long did you know about it. You better be honest this time."

"He sent me a text right after I took one of my pregnancy tests. He thought I was some girl named Polly. Said he wouldn't use a broken condom when he screwed her."

Mom turned her head back around and we started the drive back home. I leaned forward and gripped the edge of the seat in front of me, where Blaze was sleeping in his carseat.

"How was I supposed to tell you guys that Jace did it on purpose? How could I do that when things between our families were kind of cooling down? When him and Chase were finally starting to get along a little better? We worked so hard and we've been super patient with them. I didn't want to screw things up more than they already were," I said.

"Poppy, that's an important thing that happened! You need to tell us something like that!" Mom said.

"I don't need to tell you guys every single thing that goes on in my life!"

"You do if something happened to you that's potentially a crime Poppy!" Mom said.

"I think it's only a crime if Chase did it, since he was the one she slept with," Chrys said.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Mom asked.

"The one of the person who's ex just pretended to care about them and their children for a month," Chrys said.

"Well it could've lasted longer if he wasn't being such a baby about what I was asking him to do. I thought he'd keep this up a lot longer," I said.

"Poppy, that's not the point!" Chrys said. "He didn't actually care about me or the boys. He was faking it because you were manipulating him."

"Ugh, this whole thing was a manipulation," Mom said, shaking her head.

"That's fake news. I forced a jackass to do some stuff for us after he made our lives insanely stressful and difficult a year ago. Sue me," I said.

"The money...all the money...the kind gestures...I don't even want that money anymore! It's dirty money. I'm going to take it out of the bank and give it back," Mom said.

"But...think of the boys. Think of the houses we've looked at. That one house has a pool. That would be so great for them," Chrys said.

"Hold up! We could potentially have a house with a pool?" I asked. They were quiet. "Keep the money, Mom! Our town house is bursting at the seams and my baby isn't even here yet!"

She sighed. "Okay. I'll keep the money...but only if you tell me what happened. I want the whole story, from start to finish. I want to know everything you made Jace do."

We were already in the driveway by the time I started from the beginning. We just sat in the car with the AC on. Blaze kept snoozing. Chrys held a fussy Ollie on her lap, and I, for once in my life, wanted to tell a story with no secrets.

I wanted to, but I just couldn't stop myself from making up a few parts of this amazing story.

I told them about going out to see Chase when he was in town, about how well he treated me and loved the boys, about the multiple pregnancy tests, about the night Jace lured me with ice cream into his car.

I told them about all the things he gave me to keep his secret safe. I told them how amazing it was to not walk on eggshells anymore and avoid the bullies. I told them Destiny was so depressed from the bullies picking on her, and now she was doing so much better.

I told them how bad my ice cream cravings were and how I had no more quarters on me, because I hadn't babysat in a while and I was low on cash.

"Just remember that I did all this for you guys. I did this to make your lives better, to make my life better, and to help out my best friend," I said, hoping they'd buy it.

"You know what was fake news? Most of that story," Chrys said, narrowing her eyes. Damnit, Chrys! "But if I had any balls at all, I probably would've done the same thing. I would've loved to boss Jace around after what he put me through."

"Are you girls kidding me? What's gotten into you both? I didn't raise you to think like that? When someone messes with you, when someone does something bad to you, what did I teach you to be?" Mom asked.

We both hung our heads low and said, "The bigger person."

"Right. That's absolutely right. Getting revenge on Jace, while satisfying, I'm sure, doesn't make us any better than him or his filthy-rich parents." She opened the car door. "Now come on. Let's go inside and dig into that box of ice cream sandwiches I got."

We all walked inside, the tension lifted. I changed into my sweats and we all squeezed together at the dining room table. Right as I was halfway through my store-brand ice cream sandwich, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it! We probably left something there when we ran out," Chrys said.

"Oh, Chase is such a good guy," Mom said.

She couldn't see from where she was sitting, but I could. Chrys opened the door and it wasn't Chase standing there. It was Jace. I took another bite. Were we about to get an encore performance?

"You forgot Ollie's diaper bag," he said, handing it over.

"Oh gosh, thank you...Jace," Chrys said.

Mom instantly got up so she could see this for herself.

"How did you know this bag was his?" Chrys asked.

"Because it had that stuffed brown dog he loves," he said.

He took out his hand from behind his back, which held Barks, the curly-haired puppy that could calm down Ollie no matter what.

"Oh my gosh, Barks! This had to be why he was so fussy in the car! Thank you so much," Chrys said.

You should be thanking me. He never would've known about Barks if I didn't make him actually take care of his kids.

They said their goodbyes, and Chrys gave Barks a squeeze. The toy let out the little "arf arf" sound that would be forever engraved into my brain. Ollie lost his mind and reached for it. He held it to his chest and started chomping on the ears, as usual.

Chrys sat down, immediately noticing my grin.

"Still doesn't make what you did right," she said.

I chuckled and took a bite of my second ice cream sandwich. "Keep telling yourself that."