Free Being Their Baby by Korey Mae Johnson Page A

either? Er… both, I guess,” she answered hesitantly.
    “No,” he told her firmly, as if requesting such a thing was a ridiculous thing to do. “Soda’s bad for you, young lady; there is absolutely nothing good about it, especially before noon.” He tapped her plate. “Now eat before it gets cold.”
    She turned her head to glare at Charlie as he poured coffee into a couple of mugs, grabbed the syrup bottle by her hand, and then literally drowned her pancakes with it. When he turned back toward the table and seemed shocked by the pool of sugar, she looked up at him with newfound bravery as if to say, “ Take that, Health Nazi! ”
    Josh came over and sat down next to her before Charlie could respond to it. Josh nabbed the syrup bottle out of Sophie’s hand like it was a loaded gun and set it out of her reach, saying, “Whoa! Would you like some pancakes to eat with all that syrup? Sheesh, bunny! We’re gonna have to peel you off the walls in another half hour!”
    Charlie put the coffee in front of Liz and grumbled as he sat down at the table.
    “So… You gonna ask any questions, or can I start?” Josh asked as he leaned on the table, crossing his arms in front of him.
    Sophie was slicing into her pancakes, but stopped to raise an eyebrow. For a second, she looked confused, but then she turned to Charlie. “You’re a celebrity? Like, you can’t be very famous though, right?”
    Charlie frowned, looking taken aback. “I’m a commentator for ESPN,” he replied defensively.
    “Charlie used to be this big football hotshot before he blew out his shoulder,” Josh explained casually. “Or rather, blew out his shoulder about five times . How his arm’s still attached to his body, I don’t quite understand. If I were his shoulder, I would have gotten up and left by now.” He stole a grape from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. “He used to be a quarterback in the big leagues for nine years, but now he just quarterbacks on Monday mornings. He got this big TV deal going on. They pay him just for yammering on like an idiot while drawing all over other coaches’ plays like he knows any better.”
    “Thanks, Josh,” Charlie said tersely.
    “I’m just explaining why you act crazy and all secretive anytime someone new walks through the front door. I can probably claim plausible deniability because I just reside in the pool house.” He pointed to the back yard.
    Sophie followed his finger. “Why do you live in the pool house?”
    “So chicks don’t know about the steady girlfriend I share with my brother when I bring them over,” he answered easily.
    “Josh has sex with everything that moves,” Elizabeth added with a grin in Josh’s direction.
    “So, like, all of us can go and have sex with anyone whenever we want?” Sophie asked, looking unsure.
    “No,” the men immediately answered before Liz could even open her mouth.
    “Well,” Liz hedged, “you can have sex with someone other than me, honey, but not just anyone .” She gave Charlie and Josh a chiding glance before she continued. “It’s just that we have a circle of trust. I’m only having sex with Josh and Charlie. Charlie’s girlfriend recently left us, but Charlie and I used to share her,” she admitted. “But Charlie only has sex with his steady girlfriend or with me. And Josh… Well, Josh makes sure he uses protection and gets tested very regularly. You see; if one of us gets a problem, we all get a problem, so we have to be careful. Right, Josh?” She turned toward Josh, eyeing him for support.
    Josh snorted defensively. “Oh, come on. I’m still getting crap about that? It was eight years ago, okay? It was Vegas, I was young, and it was only crabs. Let it go.”
    Sophie shuddered with disgust.
    “Never feel pressured to have sex with any of us,” Liz said, reaching over and entwining her fingers through Sophie’s. “If it happens, fine. If not, that’s fine, too. I plan to get much more out of this