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Chapter 1
RACHEL
“Mom?”Ibreathe.“What are you doing here?”
Mom’s eyes widen at my swollen belly before darting back to meet my gaze. “Rachey, why didn’t you tell me you’re pregnant?”
I grimace. Well, I should have expected that question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing a lot these days. And yes, I should have told her. I completely forgot she was on the phone when I fell and had to be rushed off to the hospital. In my defense, I had been so busy trying to recover and lower my blood pressure so I could return home that I completely forgot about Mom. It’s no wonder she’s here now, arriving unannounced. I don’t even know if I have any missed calls on my cell, given I left it home. Although one would think she would try contacting the bros to get information out of them.
I have no clue what answer to give her, and as I stand there, staring back at her. I feel even more guilty about my actions. She’s my mother. She has the right to know. I’ve never not told her what’s going on in my life. She had always been there to help me through any break-ups, school drama, and skinned knees—always with a hug and a plate of warm cookies. But that was when she and Dad were still together; when she didn’t seem like such a stranger, like she does now. That was back when things seemed so simple and carefree.
“Rachey?” Mom says, her tone stern as she takes a step toward me.
I have no clue what to do. So, me being me, I decide the best thing to do it snatch my present and make my way up the stairs, taking them as briskly and as carefully as I can muster. I hate to admit it, but I’m not prepared for this. I only just got home from the hospital. Stress and drama are the last two things I need, and those are the very things I know my mother will cause. I know she doesn’t mean to do it, and I am partly to blame for this, but I need my space. I need to get as far away from her as possible.
“Rachey!” I hear Mom shouting behind me. “Come back here this instant!”
Shit, I think with a wince. I make the landing and stalk down the hallway. If I can just get to my room and shut the door, that should be enough. I’m sure Lucas will be able to explain everything—or the others. Lucas seemed pretty upset when Mom arrived. I don’t know what they had been arguing about. Perhaps he was frustrated she arrived without saying anything. That seems to be the type of thing Lucas would be upset about.
“Are you really running away from me?”
I glance over my shoulder, my eyes widening in horror and my heart slamming in my chest as I see Mom taking the last few steps up the staircase. She scowls back at me. That look in her eye reminds me of the times I would come home late from a night out with friends, or if I received a C on a math test. It’s not good. I know I am in for it now.
“We need to talk about this,” Mom says as she stalks toward me.
I face forward and walk faster. Not now, I want to say. We don’t have to talk about this now. I just got back from the hospital and all I want is sweet words and support. I don’t want to hear what she has to say. I know it won’t be anything good. She’s not the same mother from my childhood. These days, she feels like a complete stranger to me. Was she ever that person I grew up with? Or is she now letting out the woman she’s always been?
I make it inside my room and place my present down on the vanity nearby. I move to shut the door, but before I can close it, Mom wedges her foot in the way and squeezes inside with the grace of a snake chasing after its prey. I stumble backward, worried I might fall, but my bottom meets the bed and I bounce slightly while Mom straightens her hair.
“Jesus, Rachel,” Mom huffs while sliding her hair behind her ears. “When are you going to grow up?”
I grimace into my lap. It’s impossible to look at her when she’s like this. My hands lace together as my eyes prickle with unshed tears. Don’t cry, I tell myself. That won’t help anything. It will only angry Mom more.
“Did you really think running away from me was going to work?”
I shake my head, not trusting my voice to work.
“Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you going to leave it us a surprise for me to discover later at the kid’s first birthday party.” Mom gasps and adds before I can respond, “Were you intending on me discovering this at the wedding? Were you going to bring the baby and say ‘surprise, Mom’?”
“I didn’t mean for you to find out this way,” I rush out.
Deep down I know it’s the truth, but when I meet Mom’s gaze, I can see that she doesn’t believe me. Does she really think I would try to “steal her thunder” on her wedding day? I’m not so cruel. I would have told her shortly before or after the birth. I wanted to tell her sooner, I really did. But I didn’t know when would be the best time given her wedding planning, and then me being in the hospital.
Like I can really tell her that, I think with a wince.
“And why didn’t you?”
I sigh, not knowing where to begin. So I say, “Things have been crazy.”
Mom rolls her eyes. “Things are always crazy with you, Rachel. You would think with a child on the way, you would understand that it’s kinda something you shouldn’t keep secret from your own mother. Does your father know?”
Her glare makes me think she seems to believe I’m on Dad’s side of their little war. It’s not really all that far off. I do feel sorry for him, and I do think Mom is the jerk who cheated on him. But it’s kinda hurtful for her to be putting me in the middle all the time. Although Dad does it too. I guess I give him a bit more leeway since everything in his life has gone up in flames since the divorce.
“Well?”
“No, he doesn’t know,” I say in frustration. “I haven’t gotten around to telling anyone. I’ve been in the hospital,” I rush out when I see Mom opening her mouth.
“The hospital?” Mom shouts.
