Page 52 of Don't Leave Me

“You don’t need to go. If you want privacy, you can, but none of them care,” I say softly.

He glances around at everyone. They all nod in agreement and he happily settles back into the couch and answers the call.

“What’s up, Syd?”

“Peck! I just got the DNA test thingy back!” She’s practically shouting with excitement.

“Ok. Can this wait until later? I'm with Sophia’s family right now.” He keeps his tone soft. He loves his sister and isn't upset about hearing from her, but he’s trying to respect my family too.

“I really think you’re going to want to hear this, Peck.”

“It’s alright. It won't take long,” I encourage him to keep talking.

“What did it say?”

“Well, did you know we have a freaking brother!”

“What?” His brows draw together as he processes what she’s saying. “How?”

“Right before Mom died, she confessed some things to me. I didn’t believe her, but now I do. She told me she got pregnant before she met Dad. She couldn’t take care of the baby so she put it up for adoption.” Sydney’s practically bouncing with excitement at this point.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes! I didn’t think a thing of it until I got the results. The adoption was closed. There was no way for her to find her baby or for the child to find her later on. She was so upset about it when she told me. I thought the medicine was just messing with her head, but it wasn’t.”

“So, you know who our brother is?”

“Yes. And you’re not going to believe who it is.” She grins impossibly wider.

“Are you going to tell me or make me start guessing?”

“Our brother is Wyatt Everson!” She squeals.

My eyes widen and my gaze bounces between Pecker and Wyatt, just like everyone else’s in the room. She can't be serious.

“Are you sure?” Pecker asks slowly.

“Yes! Isn't that the baseball player you really like?” Sydney’s so excited and it’s adorable, but she doesn’t know the type of bomb she just dropped on this family.

Wyatt’s staring at Pecker with his brows furrowed together. We all know his parents died in a car accident, but we didn’t know they adopted him first. Blake adopted him when he was around ten or eleven years old. We know very little about his life before that.

“Yeah, he’s also Sophia’s brother-in-law,” Peck whispers. “I'm staring at him right now.”

“Oh, shit! Why’d you let me tell you then?”

“Well, it’s not like I expected him to be my brother. How was I supposed to know that’s what you were going to say?” Pecker frowns at Sydney.

“Great. Now I’ve made a crappy first impression and I wasn’t even there to see it.” She folds her arms over her chest and glares.

“Hey, Syd?” I push in closer so she can see me. “I think we’re going to call you back later on.”

I don’t wait for her to answer, I just end the call and place Pecker’s phone on the coffee table. Everyone is watching Pecker and Wyatt in silence, waiting for one of them to make a move.

“Did you know your parents adopted you?” Blake is the first to break the silence, which isn't surprising.

“Yes, I know you adopted me,Dad.” Wyatt’s always insisted on calling Blake and Kennedy his parents and doesn’t like to refer to what he thought were his birth parents as mom and dad.

He realized early on that Blake and Kennedy would always be there for him and Charlie helped him see family is so much more than who gave birth to you.

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