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God, I hope Uncle Derek and Aunt Chloe don’t know what happened between me and their daughter. I wouldn’t be able to look them in the eye ever again.
I push past those thoughts and force myself to tell Avery, “And Liv got pregnant.”
She sucks in a breath. “Oh my…”
“Yeah.” I rub my tired, burning eyes.
Shifting with unease, Avery prompts, “What happened?”
The fissured dam holding in my emotions breaks. Tears leak from my eyes unchecked. I try to control their flow, but they’ve been building up and won’t be held back any longer.
I close my eyes to avoid seeing my sister’s worried expression. The words spill out, “Olivia lost the baby. She lost the baby and didn’t t-tell me…” I choke on a sob. “I never even knew she was pregnant. I lost a child, but I didn’t even know until yesterday.”
“Oh, Derek.” Avery wraps her arms around me. I let her draw me toward her and rest my head on her shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Tears continue to fall. Dr. Cho is of the opinion men should let out their feelings more—that our lives would be much better for it. I tell myself I agree. That’s why I’m not ashamed of letting my big sister comfort me while I cry on her shoulder. Literally.
Avery doesn’t speak. She lets me unleash my sorrow, holding me tight in sympathy. Her presence is steady and reassuring. It reminds me that while I feel defeated at this moment, I’m not alone. I have a supportive and loving family who has stood by me despite the bullshit my life brings to their door. Avery, more than anyone. After all, she was the one Kyle put in danger with his foolish decisions.
I lose track of time, but I eventually pull myself together. I lean back, wiping my face, and notice the tear stains covering Avery’s sleeve. “Sorry about your shirt.”
She takes my hand and squeezes. “Don’t worry about it.” I see tears swimming in her own eyes as her hand moves to rest on her still-flat belly.
“Oh, shit, Avery.” I didn’t even think of how this information would affect my pregnant sister. I feel like an ass. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Not while you’re in your…condition.” The last thing I want to do is make Avery worry about the health of her unborn child any more than she already does.
“Condition? Good grief,” she exhales a weak laugh. “What are you, from the eighteen hundreds?”
I shake my head. “I shouldn’t have dumped this on you. You have enough on your plate.” Between her career and pregnancy, she doesn’t need to worry about my personal problems.
“Stop it. I’m your sister, and I care about you. I’m glad you told me.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. “Okay. Sure. But I’m fine. We don’t need to talk about this anymore.” I’m afraid of what Adam will do to me if he hears I upset his wife. The man was overprotective before her pregnancy. Now, I’m sure he’s an overbearing beast.
Avery ignores my attempt to end the conversation. “How’s Olivia?”
A fresh wave of pain washes over me. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?”
I sigh. “I found out she’d been pregnant because I found the ultrasounds. I asked her about them. That’s when she told me the baby was mine. After she confirmed the baby was gone, I left. We haven’t spoken since.”
“Oh, Derek…”
“I needed time to think,” I defend myself.
“But did you think of what Olivia might need?”
Anger, likely misplaced, flares to life. “No, I didn’t. Because it’s been well over a year and she didn’t think to tell me about the situation in the first place. Hell, she didn’t even bring up the fact we hooked up since the wedding.”
She frowns. “Why didn’tyoubring it up?”
“Because I didn’t remember it happened.” I go on to explain how the mix of medication and alcohol robbed me of the memory.
“Wow.”
“Yeah…” My shoulders fall in defeat. “Wow.”
Avery purses her lips, wearing a contemplative expression. “Did you know Olivia went to LA?”
