? ? ?
Brooke waited on the front porch while Natalie went back inside to talk with Kyle, who had already put the kids to bed. “She’s still here,” Natalie told him. “Can you give us some privacy? She needs to talk.”
“What about?”
“She’s pregnant,” Natalie said, keeping her voice low. “She literally just told me. She’s out there crying and scared and feeling like she doesn’t fit in with us. Something you didn’t help by treating her like she was in a deposition.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Well, you did. And being late was great. Thanks for that.” Natalie knew she was being harsh, but she didn’t care. “Can we talk about this later, please? She’s standing on the porch.”
“Fine,” Kyle said. And he turned and left the room.
Natalie rushed back to the front door and opened it. “Come in,” she said, motioning for Brooke to reenter the house. Her sister’s face was splotchy and red, streaked with mascara. She kept one hand placed over her stomach, as though protecting her baby; Natalie recognized the gesture from when she had been pregnant with her kids. Natalie hung up Brooke’s coat again, and they returned to the living room, but this time, the two sat on the couch facing each other, just a few feet apart.
Brooke glanced around. “We’re alone?”
“Yep. Kyle put the kids to bed, and he’s gone upstairs, too.”
“You sure he doesn’t mind?”
“Of course not,” Natalie said, hating that her husband had made Brooke feel that he might not be okay with her back in the house. Natalie shifted her position on the cushions until she was comfortable. “Okay. So, start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”
She gave Brooke an encouraging nod, and then listened as her sister, in slow, halting sentences at first, described meeting Ryan and the months they’d spent together with Brooke staying in the shadows because of his impending divorce, and how that was fine with her because she never let the men in her life get too close to her anyway. As she became more comfortable telling the story, her voice relaxed, and she told Natalie how she’d discovered she was pregnant, her at-home tests and subsequent trip to the clinic, how she’d felt when she heard the baby’s heartbeat. Finally, she detailed Ryan’s reaction when she told him she planned to keep the baby.
“I just don’t know what I should do,” Brooke said. “If I can be a good mother.”
“I think a lot of women feel like that with their first pregnancy,” Natalie said. “I know I was terrified I’d screw Hailey up. Or at the very least, drop her on her head.”
“Really?” Brooke asked as she sniffled and wiped her cheeks with a tissue from the box on the coffee table.
“Absolutely. It’s totally normal to be afraid. I think it just shows how much you already care. When Henry came along I was much more at ease, because I knew what to expect. It’s the unknown that’s scary.”
“But I don’t have a clue about any of it. Being pregnant, childbirth, breast-feeding or bottles, or what kind of diapers I should use. Not to mention where I’m going to live. I can’t keep a baby in my shitty little apartment.”
“I highly doubt your place is shitty. I also don’t think you have to decide all of that right now. Certainly not tonight.” Natalie gave Brooke what she hoped was a comforting look. “How far along are you?”
“Almost fifteen weeks.”
“Okay,” Natalie said. “So, first thing, we need to find you a doctor. And get you on prenatal vitamins.”
“I have a doctor. She scheduled an amniocentesis for me next week, since I’m over thirty-five.”
“All right, good. I can go with you, if you want.”
Brooke lifted her eyes back to Natalie’s face, her chin trembling. “Why?”
“Why, what?”
“You don’t even know me. Why do you want to help?”
“Because you’re part of my family.” Natalie felt her own jaw tremble then, and she had to struggle to keep back her tears. “That’s what sisters do.”
Brooke stared at her for a moment, unblinking. “You want to find her, don’t you.” It was more a statement than a question, spoken in a dull voice.
Natalie cocked her head to one side. “Find who?”
“Our mother. That’s the whole reason you found out about me. You were looking for her.”
“Well, yes. Sort of. I wanted to know more about her, but once I knew you existed, I started to look for you, too.”
“And now that you’ve found me?”