Page 63 of Don't Leave Me

“You’re screwing with me,” she says slowly, not sure if she even believes herself. “Stop it, Peck.”

I take the chair next to Wyatt and bring my face into the frame. Sydney lets out the loudest gasp I’ve ever heard and covers her mouth.

“Stop yelling at me. I was getting to know Wyatt. I thought you’d be happy I smoothed over your mess.”

“Wyatt…” she whispers as tears well in her eyes. “Holy crap, you two look like twins.”

“That’s what we keep getting told.” Wyatt chuckles. “It’s going to make things awkward if Peck and Sophia get married.”

“Why?”

“Hold on…” Wyatt stands up and opens the back door, he calls Charlie and Sophia out, then takes his seat again. Charlie of course is on his lap just like she always is. Sophia settles on my lap and I wrap my arms around her waist. All four of us are in the frame so Syd can see us.

“I don’t even know what to say,” she whispers. “It’s like you’re clones of each other. Are you sure you’re not screwing with me, Peck? Are you somehow duplicating everything?”

“Should we get Jax and Cody to come over and really mess with her head?” Wyatt smirks.

“Who are they?”

“My twin brothers,” Sophia laughs. “Syd, this is my sister, Charlie! She’s pregnant with your niece or nephew!”

“I'm going to be an aunt?”

It hits me with her comment, she isn't an aunt yet. I’ve been an uncle for so long, but she’s never had that. She was only seventeen when she got pregnant with Danny. I was shocked when Rob stood by her and they got married as soon asthey turned eighteen. She made me an uncle when I was only fourteen years old.

“Maybe we can come visit you after the baby is born. As long as Sophia doesn’t mind us crashing at her house.” Charlie smiles.

“I’d love it. I need all the baby snuggles!” Sophia curls up on my lap, laying her head on my chest.

“Really? You’re willing to come all this way with a newborn?”

“We’re both off until the end of February. Even with a newborn, it’s probably easier for us to come to you,” Wyatt says softly. “We want to meet Danny and Bree too. Plus, I have a feeling Sophia isn't moving home without Peck, so I’ll want to see my other sister too.”

Wyatt grabs Sophia’s ankle and squeezes it. I love how close they are. After hearing Wyatt’s story, they went through a horrible rough patch, but it’s great to see them close again.

“I’d love to meet all of you… I'm sorry you found out the way you did. I feel terrible. I didn’t know you were Sophia’s brother-in-law. She said your name was Wyatt, but I didn’t make the connection.”

“You have no reason to apologize. I'm not sure there’s a good way to break it to someone they’ve been adopted twice.” Wyatt chuckles. “Charlie made me realize it doesn’t matter where I came from, only where I'm going to from here. We’re all good. We’re family and there’s always extra forgiveness there.”

I hug Sophia a little closer and grin down at her. I don’t know what I did to deserve such an incredible woman with an equally as amazing family, but I'm glad I did.

Chapter 28

Pecker

We slip into the row behind the glass and take a seat. I glance around, surprised that Sophia and her family don’t like to sit in a box or club seats.

“Do you guys always sit here?” I lean in closer so Sophia can hear me over the noise.

“Yes! I like to be right in the middle of the action!” She places a drink in the cup holder for us to share.

“What she really means is she likes to scream and yell at the opposing team when they try to slam Jax and Cody into the wall.” Wyatt smirks and leans back into the seat on the other side of me.

Charlie was planning on coming to the game, but she decided to stay home. She didn’t want to deal with the crowds or the noise level when she only has a few weeks left of her pregnancy. I can't say I blame her. Honestly, it’s nice to spend some time with just Sophia and Wyatt.

Wes and Addi are here, but they’re on the other side of Sophia and are happy letting us talk amongst ourselves. They’re reallykind to give me time to get to know Wyatt better before I go home.

Sophia wasn’t joking when she told me Wes is the world’s greatest dad. This morning, he handed me a cup of coffee and motioned for me to go outside. He spent over an hour talking to me. He wanted to know how I felt about Wyatt being my brother. How I liked Mulberry Lane. If I was truly willing to move here, or was I entertaining the idea to make Sophia happy.

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