10 Chapter 10

Daniel led Abigail into the living room, and he saw her instantly light up once she spotted Andrea, he smiled a little once Carter joined him he nudged him a little looking in the direction of his sister.

"She seems happy" Daniel whispered to Carter, Carter nodded once he saw Abigail's smile.

The two followed her in and the three sat down.

"Since Andrea fell asleep, how about we have dinner first?" Carter offered.

"That would be nice thank you" Abigail said with a smile, Carter led the way to the dining room, Daniel and Abigail following close behind, Abigail watched the two as she followed them. She had never met Carter, but he seemed quite close to her brother, so she couldn't help but feel curious.

The three sat down around the table and started eating. It was quiet at first, Daniel wasn't sure what to say, and neither was Abigail. Carter wanted to help, but he wasn't sure what to say either, he didn't know Abigail and he didn't want to cause any bad feelings between them.

"I am thankful that you invited me" Abigail said halfway through dinner, she had a small smile on her face.

"I know you are probably busy with your own lives, yet you didn't hesitate to take Andrea in, especially you Carter, you aren't related to me at all nor do you even know me but yet you took in my daughter and are raising her well - you are also helping my brother, so I feel quite thankful for everything" she said looking down at her plate a little.

"I caused you a lot of trouble, Danny... I am sorry" Abigail apologized while glancing at Daniel.

"It's okay, I am just happy you reached out for help instead of dealing with everything alone, it must've been hard being pregnant and hiding it from mom and dad" Daniel said with a reassuring smile.

"But once we are done eating, let's talk about everything, okay? Just enjoy your food, we invited you here because we want you to be here so don't feel guilty or pressured" Daniel said and Carter nodded, Abigail smiled a bit and nodded she went back to eating and so did Daniel and Carter.

Once dinner was over the three gathered in the living room, Daniel was holding Andrea who was ready to have her bottle, Daniel thought to himself for a second and then smiled turning to Abigail.

"Would you like to feed her?" He asked his sister who was a little surprised but nodded slightly she reached out her hands and Daniel handed over and Carter handed her the bottle he just made.

Daniel helped her at first showing her the ropes and then left her to do it on her own. As Abigail fed Andrea, both Daniel and Carter watched with small smiles displayed on their faces.

"Can I ask the reason you decided to leave her with me? We haven't met in years, you visited me once when you just moved here, but that was the last time we met. Why trust me with someone so precious" Daniel asked. Abigail looked up with a small smile.

"Because I trust you more than anyone else, I knew that you would be a great parent for her" Abigail explained, Daniel couldn't help but smile, he felt really thankful for her words.

"And her father wasn't upset at the choice of leaving her in my care?" Daniel asked, he had the thought since she left Andrea with him, wouldn't Andrea's father be upset?

"Well... he was actually an exchange student, by the time I found out I was pregnant he had already returned to his home country, and it was a one-night stand, so I don't think he even remembered me," Abigail explained and the two nodded.

"Then... in the future would you take her back?" Daniel asked, he had been worrying about it for quite a while, he wondered if Abigail would take her back or if she would leave Andrea in his care for the rest of her life, he wasn't sure, and he was scared of getting attached to her.

"No..." Abigail trailed off, "I am not fit as a mother, I never wanted children, I never had any maternal instinct at all even with our younger siblings, I am sure you saw first hand how I was around them, I thought maybe once I had Andy it would just naturally kick in since she was my child, but even throughout my pregnancy I didn't enjoy any part of it, the thought of raising a child was suffocating, and I couldn't imagine keeping her and having to experience not having a proper mother" Abigail explained embarrassed at her own words.

"I see, well there is no shame in that, every person has a different life plan, yours just doesn't include having children, it's nothing to be embarrassed of, I just wanted to be sure what would happen in the future and how things will go from here, if you won't be taking her back I would like to formally adopt her" Daniel smiled as he spoke, knowing that he would be able to keep Andrea, his heart felt overjoyed.

"I would appreciate that, knowing that she will be with you - I feel at ease" Abigail said with a fond face.

"If you wouldn't mind... well both of you I would like to join Danny in adopting her, I want to help Daniel raise her, and help in every way I can" Carter offered, he and Daniel spoke about it a little the previous night, and Daniel was in favor of it, but he wanted to have Abigail's permission about it first before going ahead and doing it.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would love it if she grew up with both of you, as it seems you both love her quite a lot already, and you seem to be a very good friend of Danny" Abigail said as she looked at Carter, she wasn't sure if the two were just friends, she had some suspicions, but she didn't want to assume anything though, so she just decided to let it be.

"Thank you" Carter said excitedly, Daniel tried his best not to chuckle at his friends' reaction.

"I will take Andy for a while and get her changed, how about you two have some sibling time and catch up" Carter said as he reached out for Andy, Abigail handed her over and Carter took off for the bedroom, leaving the siblings on their own.

"Want to go sit on the patio?" Daniel asked and Abi nodded. The two walked out the glass door and took a seat on the patio.

"So how have you been?" Abigail asked.

"I've been well, works going well and now with Andy in my life it feels a little more complete" Daniel said with a small smile.

"Then why do you seem bothered by something?" Abigail asked seriously, causing Daniel to look at her surprised.

"How did you know?" Daniel asked.

"Well it's simple, you are my brother who I spent a few years with, I can tell if something bothers you" Abigail said with a smile.

"Ah I was caught~, actually there's something that happened yesterday, and it's been on my mind for the majority of the day honestly" Daniel with a sigh.

"Hmm then tell me, I won't tell anyone" Abigail said nudging Daniel.

"I was at the mall yesterday with Carter, we went to get groceries and all those things, and I happened to see Carter's fiancée... She said something, and I recorded it. I've been wondering if I should share it with him or not" Daniel said, a little frustrated.

"Well, it depends, what was said?" She asked and Daniel fished out his phone from his pocket, he unlocked it and quickly headed to his recordings, he made sure the volume wasn't too high and then handed it to her, so she could listen.

Daniel observed her, her face went from straight and expressionless to enraged, Daniel was sure he could see steam coming out of her ears.

"Tell him, he needs to know about this Danny" She said seriously, while handing it back to him.

"You think so?" Daniel asked and she nodded.

"Yes, tell him before he gets married to that person, because she can ruin his life if he gets married to her" Abigail told him, Daniel nodded a bit.

"I will, oh before I forget we got you a gift" Daniel rushed inside and collected the flowers and necklace and handed them over to Abigail.

"For me?" she asked as she opened the box of the necklace, she was surprised to see it.

"Yeah, you gave us Andy, it means a lot to both me and Carter to have her in our lives" Daniel said with a smile, which Abigail mirrored.

Seeing her brother and his friend care so much for Andrea, made her really happy.