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It turned out, Lucy hadn’t gotten into the school she’d pinned her hopes and dreams on and was crushed.
And Becka hadn’t even noticed.
She’d promised herself right then and there that she wouldn’t walk their mother’s path. She wouldn’t keep being a burden on her sister the same way their mother was. She’d be independent and strong and take care of her own problems.
A promise she’d mostly kept over the years. Sure, Becka developed a wild streak in college that never quite went away, and she knew her sister worried sometimes about her resistance to the idea of settling down, but those were small sins compared to the kind they’d grown up witnessing.
At least...they had been small sins.
Until now.
She shook her head, suddenly aware that Aaron was looking at her like he expected some kind of answer. “I’m sorry, I missed what you just said.”
“I asked you if you had ever wanted kids.”
She pushed to her feet. “No. I never wanted kids.”
Aaron watched Becka walk away with her shoulders bowed, looking like someone had just kicked her puppy. Things had been going well. Better than well. They’d been going good. She’d teased him a little, the sex had been outstanding and they’d managed to share a meal and half a conversation.
It’s possible you need to set the bar for “well” a little higher.
He wanted to chase her down, to try to talk her into telling him what put that haunted look on her face. It was more than not wanting children. Even as the words came out of her mouth, she looked conflicted, as if it wasn’t quite the full truth. She wanted kids. She wouldn’t have gone forward with the pregnancy otherwise.
Which meant there was something holding her back, some reason she thought she shouldn’t want kids.
He could call Lucy, but that meant letting her in on the fact that Becka was pregnant, and if Becka didn’t want her sister to know yet, it wasn’t his place to share that information. He’d threatened to, of course, but what had been said in anger and frustration before would be a betrayal of trust now. No, that wasn’t an option.
Not to mention, he wanted Becka to trust him enough to let him in and let them both get to know each other. He couldn’t do that if he kept fumbling shit so thoroughly.
Aaron weighed his options against the inherent risks that went with any path forward. It was possible that if he left things alone and maintained the course, she’d come to him again.
He couldn’t risk being wrong, though. The stakes were too damn high.
So he did the slightly less risky option and called his baby sister. Aaron had always been closest to Trish, partly because she never allowed him to take himself too seriously and partly because their age difference meant they were never competing quite the same way he and Mary did through their younger years.
That mattered, of course, but the reason he called her now instead of Mary was because at twenty-four she was the closest in age to Becka—and the closest in personality. Though Becka was all thorns and prickly edges and Trish was both softer and sweeter, they both harbored free spirits and avoiding being tied down. It was comfortable to be the older brother to that kind of personality. It was significantly less so to be having a child with someone like that.
The line rang several times before it clicked over. “Hey, Aaron. Is everything okay?”
He glanced at the clock and cursed himself. It was almost midnight—way too late for this to be a casual call. “Yeah, everything is okay. I just need some advice and didn’t think to check if it was too late to call.”
“My big brother asking me for advice? You’re right, that’s not remotely serious at all.” She laughed softly. “I’m awake, and you have me on the phone, so stop thinking about how you’re going to make some excuse and call me tomorrow.”
Since he’d been about to do exactly that, he gave a rueful grin. “How are you?”
She sighed. “I’m fine. Just as fine as I was a couple weeks ago when we talked, though I’m about to start chewing through the wall if I don’t get out of this house soon. I love Mom and Dad, and they’re trying to be supportive and not push me, but it’s driving all of us crazy.”
Trish had moved back home after college until she could find a job and it...hadn’t gone particularly well. He made a sympathetic noise. “Well, I have some news that will get you out of the doghouse as least favorite child.”
“That sounds like trouble.” She lowered her voice. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s not, but it will be.” He had to believe that. He couldn’t allow for any other outcome. Aaron had half a second to wonder if this call was a mistake, but he had gone too far to change his mind now. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Trish. There’s this woman, and we connected, but she won’t give me the time of day and...” She’s going to have my child.
