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“Yup,” Grease replied.
“I’m not a hoarder,” Callie said as they passed her, backhanding Grease lightly on the belly.
“If the shoe fits, sugar,” Grease said with a laugh as he walked away.
“Juice?” Rhett asked as they moved out of view.
“There aren’t that many papers,” Callie said to us with a huff. “Come in, come in. Sit down. Take your coat off.”
“I figured you’d have the entire family here,” Michael said as I shucked my coat and hung it on the coat rack.
“Thought about it,” Callie said with a grin. “But we decided we wanted to have Emilia and Rhett all to ourselves this time.”
“Hey, what about me?” Michael asked with a laugh.
“We see you all the time,” Callie replied with a wave of her hand as she sat on the couch.
“I’ve been replaced,” Michael said jokingly, leading me over to a chair.
As soon as I’d sat down, Callie’s gaze rested on me again. “Where’ve you been, honey? You look like you’ve gotten some sun.”
The laugh that burst out of my mouth was awkwardly loud and short, and I slapped my hand to my mouth to keep any other weird noises from escaping. Yeah, I’d been in the sun a bit.
“We were in Arizona,” I said finally, dropping my hand to my lap. I cleared my throat uncomfortably. “My parents moved us there when they found out I was pregnant.”
“Seems pretty dramatic for a teenage pregnancy,” she murmured.
I looked at Michael, but there was no help from that direction. His face was emotionless as he watched me.
“My dad’s company had a branch down there,” I said, winding my fingers together in my lap to keep from fidgeting. “And since I’d gotten into Arizona State, they figured I could just transfer there.”
“And did you?” Callie asked curiously.
“For a while,” I replied softly. I forced a smile. “And then Rhett came, and I took care of him.”
“And you did a good job with that,” Callie said, glancing at Michael. “Heather said he’s a real sweetheart.”
“He is,” Michael agreed quietly.
The room went silent for a few heavy moments.
“They didn’t want me to contact Michael,” I said, straightening in my chair. “It was part of the deal we made so Rhett and I could stay with them.”
“Assholes,” Callie said under her breath.
“They always followed through,” I said, fidgeting a little. “So if I had contacted him—” I glanced at Michael, who was staring at the carpet between his feet, and then back at Callie. “I knew they’d kick me out.”
“Awful people,” Callie muttered. “Just awful. I’m sorry, Emmy, but that’s disgusting.”
“Yeah,” I breathed.
They had been awful. Terrible, manipulative, mean people. But they’d also been my parents. They’d giggled with Rhett and bought my favorite ice cream, and made sure that I had everything I’d needed.
Except for Michael. He’d been the one thing they’d refused to let me have. The memory of those arguments, the tears, the sense of hopelessness, the fear, rushed back in an instant, making my stomach lurch. I shoved it away.
I was back in Eugene. Michael was sitting less than five feet from me. Rhett was currently giggling in the kitchen at something his great-grandpa was saying.
They’d kept Michael from us. Kept us from him. But they no longer had that power.
