Page 19 of The Homewrecker's Fate

“Do you think that brother or sister would want to be around you if you hate their mom?”

“No,” she whimpered.

“Then what do we need to do?”

Braxton continued to kneel down on her level as she thought for a few minutes. Then the little girl leaned forward and moved around Brax to make her way to me. She tapped my knee and then poked her lip out as if seeing my tears was going to make her cry.

“I’m sorry I was mean to you. Please don’t make my sister hate me.” Well, it was obvious which gender she wanted her sibling to be. I shook my head at the little girl though.

“I would never do that,” I insisted. “I’m so sorry that your heart is hurting and that I am part of the reason, but I would never, ever be mean to you. I would never hurt you, your brother, or your mom and I wouldn’t dare tell this baby anything but good things about their big sister and brother.”

“And Uncle Brax,” she added for me.

“And Brax,” I offered with a watery smile.

“Okay, how about we all get settled and eat this food that Brax made for us before it gets cold?” Mel said, taking the heat off her daughter and me. The sweet little girl reached up and patted my slightly pooched-out belly and smiled up at me. I leaned in and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“Thank you for being my friend,” I whispered to her.

“Thank you for giving me a sister,” she said.

“No pressure or anything,” Brax teased and all of us adults laughed.

I supposed that was as good a time as any to let them know that Gwen would be getting what she wanted. “You know what?”

“What?” She asked shyly.

“You are having a little sister. The doctor told me already and now you get to know, too.”

“Oh my God!” She squealed in excitement. “Mommy, did you hear that? I’ll have a sister and I can dress her up and put little bows in her hair and push her around in a stroller.”

“Hmm,” Mel hummed in amusement. “Somehow I didn’t hear all that, but I’m happy to see you so excited about your baby sister.” Mel winked at me. “She’s not a baby doll though. You will have to be really careful with her when Miss Aviva lets you hold her.”

Suddenly she turned worried eyes back on me. “You will let me hold her, right? You won’t be mad because I was mean?”

“Oh, sweetie, I could never be mad at you. Of course, you will get to hold your sister. She’s yours and your brother’s to love and protect. You know what the best part is?”

“What?” Wonder filled her voice as she did.

“She’s going to love you right back for all your lives.”

The biggest, sweetest grin sprouted on her face as Brax came over and put his hand on my shoulder. “Ladies, I think we better eat soon.” As if on cue, my stomach grumbled in response, and everyone laughed again. That laughter worked some kind of magic because I felt lighter than I had in a while, as if some of the heavy stress I’d been carrying just melted away amidst the giggles of this quirky, oddly strung together family we had become.

Chapter 10

After lunch, the children gave all three of us a hug, even if the ones they offered me were a bit tentative, before they ran off to play. I supposed it could have been much worse. I was thankful they weren’t angry teenagers yet, because I don’t think any amount of logic would have gotten through at that point.

“That started off rough,” I finally admitted as I helped rinse the dishes to put in the dishwasher.

“That was why we needed for this lunch to happen now, rather than later when feelings had a chance to fester,” Mel offered sagely.

“I hope that I can be half the mom that you are one day.”

“Aw, thank you, but honestly, I was a bit lost on how to handle all of this. The biggest secret to being a mom is knowing when to call in the big guns to help out.” She tipped her head back toward Brax as he walked back into the room after going to see that the kids were doing okay.

“Are you sure you don’t want to trade your husband in for him? If you ask me, you picked the wrong one.” Brax and Mel both started laughing.

“We were only ever meant to be friends. The one night we were together was because we were drunk and even then, it was still a bit awkward, especially once I sobered up.” Mel caught a dish towel to the face.

---