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Sadie's shoulders relax like she's done with her interrogation. I hold my breath, waiting to see if she really is.
Then it's Jake's turn to cut the tension.
"So, uh...dinner? I'm starving."
Everyone laughs at Jake's sudden change of subject, and we all make our way to the kitchen. Sadie and Eli start putting the finishing touches on the meal they've been preparing, while Piper and I make ourselves useful by setting the table.
As we eat, the conversation flows easily--mostly thanks to Jake's ability to keep things light. We talk about Lily's milestones, Eli's latest silverwork project, the state of the bakery's business, and the upcoming holidays. The tension from earlier seems to have dissipated, and I can feel Piper relaxing beside me. My mom is on top of the world, sitting here with her big family, doting on Lily.
I don't think I've ever been happier.
Things can only get better from here.
Chapter seventeen
Piper
I'mstartingtothinkmy life might actually be changing for the better.
That this is perfect.
That I was meant to be a Hart after all.
For years, I struggled with Caleb. We cared about each other, for sure--and Caleb is a good guy--but I was so deep in my addiction, my trauma, that I couldn't be what he wanted me to be. It took a lot of growing up for me to figure out who I was, how to live with the past I had.
And through it all, there was Jesse.
On the rare occasion that I saw Jesse, we always hit it off. We would spend hours talking at family gatherings, catching up on where his travels took him and where my art took me. Then, when I started talking to him after Caleb ended things...we clicked.
Life has this funny way of making things work.
Hope--dangerous, scary hope--wells in my chest at the prospect that things are going to work out. I came into this with the idea that it was going to be a fight to get on Jesse's family's good side, but now they're all here and they...
...they actually like me.
My stomach twists and I reach down to pat my belly, the baby just as anxious as I am. I can feel it kicking, and I'm reminded that I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl--that Ididn'twant to know because this didn't seem real.
But now it's real...and I'm...
I gasp, stopping Jesse mid-sentence from beside me.
I'm in pain.
"Piper?" Jesse says, reaching out to touch my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
I shake my head. "Something's wrong."
Sadie's eyes are wide when she comes to my other side, holding my hand gently. "What is it, hon'?"
"My stomach is...ah!"I cry out at the twisting pain in my lower belly, like my muscles are clenching. Contractions? No...it can't be. It hasn't been long enough, it isn't time.
Jesse is out of his seat in a heartbeat, tapping out a number on his phone. "We need to get her down to the clinic," he says.
Sadie nods. "I agree, but..."
I look between them. "But what?" I gasp out.
"It doesn't matter," Jesse says. "I'm calling her."
