“I still feel like I should have brought something.”
“Stop worrying about it. Listen, I just want to warn you that my family and yours are opposite in every way.”
“All right.” He glances over at me. “What are you getting at?”
“I just don’t . . . I know you’re used to fancy things, and our house is decent, but it’s no Manhattan mansi—”
“Syd, stop.”
My heart clenches.
“I know you don’t care about that stuff, but I do. You and I are different, Mark. What we can give this baby are two totally different lives, and I don’t want you to see this one and think it’s not good enough.” I point to the stop sign in front of us. “Turn left here.”
“Syd, just because our lives are different doesn’t mean one is better or worse than the other. You and I ended up in the same place, didn’t we?”
He has a point.
“I do apologize if I ever made you feel like my life was better than yours in any way. I never did anything intentionally if that’s the case.”
Typical Mark. Also, so reasonable, while I can be a hot mess from time to time. I just have so much to worry about and he . . . doesn’t.
I point to my parents’ house, a mid-size brown and white structure with a main level and an upstairs. The driveway is icy, and the yard is covered in snow with a few melted patches here and there. The two flowerpots on either side of the front door sit empty.
Like I said, we aren’t poor, but compared to Mark’s family, we definitely aren’t rich.
He turns off the engine and grabs my hand. From the corner of my eye, I see my brother moving toward us.
“I think that from here on out, let’s treat this as if we just met and are just getting to know each other. Slow. Honest, but slow. And no judging. No judging me and no judging yourself.”
His idea has merit . . . minus the fact I’m already pregnant.
“Okay. I like that idea.”
“All right. Good. Then let’s do this.”
“Wait.” I rest my hand on his arm to stop him from getting out. “My parents don’t know all the details.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, they think we have been friends for a super long time and that we’ve been in constant contact since we found out about the baby.”
He nods slowly.
“So, you want me to pretend we are best friends? More than friends?”
God, it sounds so stupid after we just agreed to take this slow.
“Best friends is good.”
“Sure. I can do that.”
He hops out and jogs around to open my door, but Hero beats him to it.
Is it too late to mention to Mark that although my parents don’t know the whole story, my brother does?
“So, this is the guy who cheated on his girlfriend and got you pregnant, huh?”
And we are off to a great start.
