Darkness Before Dawn

rather not say too much because I don't want to say the wrong thing and make her feel bad that I'm not pregnant and she is. She doesn't deserve to not enjoy this time in her life.
    "She's cool, you'd like her. Real quiet, cooks a mean meal, over protective. I don't know, just a regular mom, I guess," he replies with a shrug.
    "What's her name?"
    "Cindy," he replies as he dips his nacho in the cheese sauce he heated up.
    "And your dad is Michael...my Uncle Michael." I state half-heartedly.
    He laughs as he crunches on the nacho. "Yeah, hopefully you'll see him again soon. He's always out of town though, spends more time in Boston than he does here these days. Anyway, you know my mom's Cindy, my dad's Michael and my son is Elijah, are gonna go over this again?"
    I smile at him, he talks more about his three-year-old son than he does anything else. It's cute, and makes me laugh when he says the things he does. It's hard to believe he rarely sees him since he lives a couple of hours away.
    "Didn't you say he's staying with you this weekend?" I ask.
    "He is, my ex is bringing him over on Friday. Should be fun," he says, the scar on his top lip expanding as he smiles widely.
    "So she brings him over and goes back home? How does that work?" I ask curiously.
    "Sometimes she stays, sometimes she goes back. Depends, I guess," he says with a small shrug as he flips through channels.
    "How come you've never shown me any pictures of him?"
    A smile plays on his face as he turns his attention to me. "You've never asked."
    He shifts on the couch and takes his cell phone out of his pocket and starts to sort through it, his blond brows furrowed in concentration until he reaches the photo he wants and smiles at the screen.
    "This is him last month at Navy Pier." He extends the phone to me and I take it in my hand, fumbling when I see the photograph.
    A loud gasp escapes me as my jaw unhinges on its own accord. "Oh my God. What the hell?" I ask looking at him wide-eyed.
    Connor chuckles and shakes his head. "Dean showed you a picture before, huh? I swear he shows him off any chance he gets"
    I uncurl my legs from under me and stand up waving the phone dramatically in front of him. "How could you not tell me?"
    His eyes widen before he begins to laugh. "Was I supposed to? What difference does it make?"
    I narrow my eyes at him, pursing my lips before realizing that it doesn't make a difference to me that my cousin is an ex brother-in-law with Dean. It's still a little weird though, and I can't help but to play out different family function scenarios in my head. Will he be there? Will his sister be there? How awkward will it be with Cole and Dean in the same room all the time? Is Dean even allowed to step foot in a Benson house?
    "What does your grandfather think of all that?" I ask curiously.
    "What's he supposed to think? Nothing," Connor says with a shrug. "He loves his great grand-kid, what's there to think about?"
    "Why aren't you with your ex then?"
    Connor lets out a breath. "How much time you got?" he asks with a laugh.
    "Loads," I reply with a raised eyebrow.
    "Sit your ass back down then!"
    I sit in the couch across from his and curl my feet beneath me before I click the button on his phone to turn it back on and continue staring at the picture of the smiley blond boy with brown eyes.
    "So?" I ask expectantly.
    "You can scroll through them, by the way. I don't have any naked pictures on there or anything," he says and laughs when he sees my horrified face.
    "You're such a clown. Continue—I believe you were about to tell me why it is that you're not with the beautiful woman in the pictures."
    Connor rolls his eyes. "There's not much to it, I guess. Sandra and I were high school sweethearts, got married right after graduation, had a kid two years later and separated a year and a half after that." He adds a shrug for good measure to try to bore me or keep his story as nonchalant as possible, but I'm not going to let it go.
    "Huh. So why the separation part? You're not legally divorced?"
    "Nah, divorces cost money."
    "Your uncle is an attorney, ass-wipe. Save the bullshit for someone who buys it. What happened?" I press.
    "Damn, you're nosey! Nothing really happened!" he exclaims. "What happened with you and Cole? From what I hear you guys weren't together for what? Like seven years?"
    I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, that was different, Cole's an idiot."
    "And you're not?" he asks with a sarcastic laugh.
    "Stop trying to change the