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"No," I whispered, trying to hold back my own tears.
"What the hell? She was just going to kill our baby and never tell me?" He cursed as he stood up.
"Grady, calm down, please. Let me try to tell you her side. Please, that's only fair."
"She's a big girl, Bay. She can tell me her own side."
I sat up on my knees and grabbed his arm and pulled hard to get him to sit down, but he was too strong.
"Grady, you need to sit down. Now!" I demanded.
He shoved his free hand into his hair, a gesture I saw him do frequently when he was upset and trying to regain his composure.
"Please," I begged.
He stared at me, contemplating his options, and then kneeled next to me. He hid his head in my knees and broke down. I petted his head, giving him the only comfort I could. He had no idea the worst was yet to come. Tessa was leaving him, and there was nothing he could do about it. When he calmed down, he sat back up.
"I feel like I'm losing her, Bay. She's become so distant since she got her acceptance letter. No matter how hard I try to hold on, she just keeps pushing me away. I can't live without her. She's my life. I love her."
"I know, and I know she loves you, too, but we both know what a free spirit she is. The tighter you hold, the more she'll flee. This pregnancy scared the crap out of her. She needs time. You need to give her space to deal with it."
"Space is the death sentence for relationships, Baylor, and you know it." He raised his voice.
"What are you going to do then? Chain her to the bed? You can't keep her if she wants to go."
"Are you saying she wants to leave me?"
The panic that bore into me was too much. "I'm not saying anything. I'm just giving you advice like I always do. It's not like this is the first time she's gotten all weird on you. It's just a lot bigger this time because of the circumstances. You have to give her space or you will lose her, Grady."
He let everything sink in. "Why do you have to be a spitting image of her? Everything. If we ever broke up, it would be so hard to be around you."
"I really hope that doesn't happen for any of us because I love you, too, Grady. Aside from Tessa, you're my best friend. So, please, promise me you won't leave me. Ever." When he didn't respond, I added, "I'll go ninja on you if you try to leave."
He cracked a smile. "Oh, no, not the ninja. I wouldn't want that. Your high kick is deadly."
I was a track and field runner, so my legs were impressively strong, and I had the pleasure of high kicking Grady once when he was a little too drunk for his own good. Wearing his beer goggles, he mistook me for my sister and kissed me. It was before Brandt, or else it would have been Brandt laying him out. We had a good laugh about it after, but Tessa was less than thrilled he had kissed me.
"Look, I don't know what's going to happen with you guys. I don't have a crystal ball, but you don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you, and if you do separate, fate will bring you back together if it's meant to be."
"Yeah, I guess."
"I think we need a drink."
"Sounds good to me, but then Brandt will say, 'you're enabling the underage,'" he mocked.
"Whatever. This calls for a few."
We packed up and headed back to his place, on the way stopping by the store to pick up the contraband. We also picked up some pasta for dinner since we both had skipped lunch and were now ravenous.
"I see we are eating and drinking our feelings tonight," Brandt joked as he helped take out the food from the takeout bags.
I poured both boys straight vodka while I mixed mine with the vanilla soda. As we sat around laughing and joking, I couldn't help but take inventory of the memory. I loved this. With or without my sister, we could be happy. We could be a family. Of course, it would be better with her, but she had her own life to live. This was my life, and I wouldn't change anything about it. It was perfect.
