Page 3 of Big Island Sunset
Juniper’s expression was set and stubborn. “I can find someplace to–”
“You’re not going anywhere. Not until you feel ready, and you actually want to.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “You mean it?”
“Of course I mean it! Juniper, you’re my family. I love you every bit as much as Kai, and I’m so sorry if I ever did anything to make you doubt that.”
“It’s just–” Juniper blew her nose and continued, “when my dad and Teddy were here, you kind of avoided him. Teddy, I mean. I thought you didn’t really want him here.”
“I would take Teddy in a heartbeat if I thought that was best for everybody. But I know my brother, and I know grief. I worried that if I stepped in and took care of Teddy, Ethan would lose his ballast. He wouldn’t have anything to keep him steady, and he wouldn’t be able to move on.”
“He moved on all right,” Juniper muttered. She must be thinking about Fern, the yoga teacher that Ethan had started seeing very soon after his wife passed away.
“He’s still grieving,” Emma told her. “Still processing. Just like you.”
Juniper took a few shaky breaths, looking like she might start crying again. Finally, her voice shaking, she asked, “Did they ever want me?”
“They loved you – love you – so much.”
“But did theywantme?”
“Of course they did.”
Juniper made a sputtering sound of disbelief and looked away.
“You may have been a… surprise,” Emma said. “But after that, you were achoice. They chose to stay together, even though they had zero support from their parents. They chose to have you. They chose tokeepyou. And yes, I’ll admit that the rest of us had a hard time understanding their decisions. Your dad might have a hard time with this one. But you know what?”
“What?”
“Your grandma and grandpa fell madly in love with you the second they saw you. We all did. Your dad will feel the same way.”
“He already has a baby.”
“You’re his baby too. Always. He’ll come around.”
“Eight months is a long time,” she said with more tears.
“Hopefully he’ll come around sooner than our parents did.” Emma tried to smile, but she didn’t want to imagine her brother’s reaction. She pushed the thought away to be dealt with another day.
“I’m scared to tell him.”
Emma just nodded. She wasn’t ready to think about that part either.
“Don’t people wait until, like, halfway through the pregnancy before they tell anybody? To see if the baby even makes it that far?”
“Sometimes.” A sudden dread pressed against her lungs.
“I don’t want to tell him yet,” Jun admitted. “Not for a while.”
Emma closed her eyes, trying not to imagine the fallout when Ethan finally learned that his seventeen-year-old daughter was pregnant… and that Emma had known, and they had hidden it from him.
She knew her twin so well that she could hear his voice as clear as day, could hear the indignation and the anger… and the hurt.
Then she forced herself to open her eyes and look at Jun.
This wasn’t about her brother. The girl in front of her needed her support.
“We’re getting way ahead of ourselves,” Emma said. “I’m going to run to the store for some tests. And a whole bag of ginger candy.”
