“I am.”
“This really isn’t funny.”
“No shit.”
Piper could do nothing but stare at her sister, her pregnant and college-quitting sister. They were still staring at each other when they heard the front door open and close.
And then Gavin was coming up the stairs. He started down the hallway, but stopped short at the sight of them in the opened bathroom. His shirt was on inside out and his shoes dangled from his fingers. He was wearing a smile that Piper hadn’t seen in ages.
“Now, see,” Winnie said, pointing at her brother. “That I find funny.”
Gavin eyed them both. “You told her,” he said to Winnie, and Piper gaped at him.
“You knew?” she breathed.
“Well, yeah. She’s been eating like she’s growing an entire litter, and she’s actually been mostly cheerful. Hasn’t tried to kill me either.”
“So you . . . just guessed?” Piper asked.
“No, she told me.”
“When?”
Gavin looked at Winnie.
Winnie grimaced. “From the beginning.”
Piper stared at her in hurt disbelief.
Winnie tossed up her hands. “I’m sorry! But I didn’t tell you sooner because I knew you’d freak out. And hey, Gavin’s sleeping with his ex! Why aren’t we all talking about that?”
“You suck,” Gavin said.
Piper held up a hand. She honest to God felt like she was thirteen and in over her head all over again. Or still. “You could’ve told me.”
“Sure,” Winnie said. “But we all know how that conversation would’ve gone. And I get it, I’m the baby of the family. I’m the extra, the one who doesn’t have to grow up as fast, or try very hard.” Her smile was sad and regretful. “And that’s all me. Because what did I do when I found out I was pregnant? I came home with my tail between my legs.”
“Oh, Winnie,” Piper said softly. “I—”
Winnie shook her head and held up a hand. “I know that I barely remember Mom and Dad, that we had a whole life on the other side of the planet that I also can’t remember. But I know how much I owe you, Piper. How much trouble and angst I’ve caused over the years. So, yeah, I should’ve told you. You certainly deserved to know. But I guess I just wasn’t ready to hear the spiel. That I’m smart, but don’t apply myself enough. That I’ve got a whole bunch of potential, but never live up to it. That I need to focus on what’s important. But see, Piper, I do. I am. I’m very focused on what’s important to me. You just don’t always agree with me.”
That this might be true shamed Piper. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I never meant to make you feel bad about your choices. I just didn’t want anything to hold you back, ever.”
Winnie gave a crooked smile. “Have you met me?”
Piper gave a soft laugh and so did Winnie.
“So . . .” Piper paused. “What are your plans?”
Winnie took a shaky breath. “I’m still absorbing all of this myself, and I know we need to talk about it, but I hope you can try to understand that I’m not quite ready to.” Never comfortable with deeply emotional moments, Winnie proved it by pointing at her big brother. “So CJ took you back, huh?”
“Nice diversion,” Gavin said, but smiled. “And yeah. He took me back. For now anyway.”
“I didn’t realize you two had even remained in touch,” Piper said carefully. Gavin had been the one to leave CJ, but that didn’t mean he’d gotten off pain-free. Because he hadn’t. And in fact, he still grieved over losing CJ, and she wasn’t sure he was strong enough to survive it again. “I’m not sure this is a good idea—”
“Stop,” Gavin said gently. “You’ve spent enough of your life worrying about me. You don’t need to do that anymore. CJ and I both know what this is, and what it isn’t.”
She hoped that was true, because she didn’t want to see either of them hurt. But then again, she and Cam also knew what they had and what they didn’t, and that wasn’t going to stop her from being hurt when it was over.
“Seriously,” he said quietly, giving her a one-armed hug. “You’ve got other things to worry about.” He jerked his chin in Winnie’s direction.
“Hey,” Winnie said. “I’m fine.”
“Right. We’re all just fine.” Piper sighed. “Who’s the baby daddy?”
Winnie’s smile faded. “That’s one of the things I don’t want to talk about right now.” Or ever, her expression said.
Piper paused, surprised. “Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
Piper was confused. “Of course it matters.”
“It doesn’t,” Winnie insisted. “I’ve got this, Piper. I do. I mean, how hard can it be?”
“To be a mom?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
Piper didn’t want to scare her, but neither did she want her to look at this with rose-colored glasses, with absolutely zero idea how hard parenting could be.
Winnie was watching her and shook her head. “Don’t discount me, not on this.”
“I’m not trying to, Win. I’m trying to be supportive.” While not freaking out completely. Because she’d already raised two chicklets. She was in the home stretch of being free. Or at least, she had been. “What about college? You’ll need a degree if you’re going to raise a kid. You could get another semester under your belt before you give birth.”
Winnie shrugged. “Maybe I’ll do it online, but I like fixing things. I want to do that instead.”
“You’re getting good at it too,” Gavin said.
Winnie beamed at him.
“We’re selling this place,” Piper burst out.
Her sister gasped. “What?”
“Why?” Gavin asked.
“Think about it,” Piper said. “We’d each get a third of the money. Winnie, you’d be able to pay off some of the college debt and have a nice nest egg for your baby. And, Gavin, you’d have financial security.” She paused, expecting excitement.
“But I want to raise my baby here,” Winnie said. “Be a family. Like we were.”
Gavin looked like he agreed with that.
Okay, so no excitement. What was happening?
Gavin drew a deep breath. “God knows, you deserve to get something out of all the work you put into this place. But if you’re doing this for me, don’t. The last thing an addict needs is financial security and discretionary money burning a hole in his pocket.”
“Okay.” Don’t panic. “So what do you need?”
“Honestly? To be right here in this house with both you crazy people.”
Wow. This was not how Piper had seen this going. At all. “So we’re, what, going to live together, until we’re old and gray?”
Gavin and Winnie looked at each other and then at Piper. “Yes,” they said in unison.
Winnie put her hands on her still-flat belly. “I need this, Piper,” she whispered.
Gavin nodded, and at the touch of fear in his gaze, Piper softened. Ached. “But—”