Page 8 of Big Island Sunset
“Get out of here.” Cody sounded more weary than angry.
“Juniper?” she persisted. “You’re gonna have a baby? You and Cody?”
Tara turned in her seat and fixed her girls with a stern stare. “Go to your room. Both of you. Please.”
Paige stared at her with wide green eyes. “But they’re too young to have a baby! They’re not even grown up!”
“They’re grownup sized,” Piper said thoughtfully.
“Now!” Tara snapped.
With a sigh and the stomp of a foot, they disappeared down the hall.
“And close your door!” she shouted.
They shut it with a slam.
“Sorry,” she murmured, looking between Emma and Jun.
“No, I’m sorry,” Emma said. “We probably could have handled this better… though I’m not sure how.”
Cody looked at Juniper with a wounded expression. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just took the test a few minutes ago.”
“But you’ve been ignoring me for days.”
Juniper bit her lip and nodded. A look of anguish came into her eyes, and Cody immediately softened. He reached out and took her hand again.
“You want this baby?” he asked in a voice that was nearly a whisper.
“I want her to know that Ialwayswanted her.” Juniper’s eyes filled with tears. “Even though she wasn’t planned. Even though we were scared.”
Cody swallowed. He had gone as pale as Jun. “Her?”
“It’s way too soon to know,” she said hurriedly. “I just… it doesn’t feel right to sayit. And she feels like a her.”
“Right.” He took a breath and ran a hand through his overgrown, sun-streaked hair.
“I love her already.” Juniper’s voice was tiny. “I love our baby, but I’m so scared.”
“I’m here for you,” he said, and Tara’s stomach sank. “Whatever you need, I’m here.”
She felt queasy, watching the trajectory of her son’s life change.
It was horribly selfish of her. She should feel proud of him. He was a good man.
But hewasn’ta man. Not really. He was trying so hard to be one –hadbeen trying to fill Mitch’s role as the man of the house since he left – but he was just a seventeen-year-old boy with a man’s body and a still-developing brain.
She could hardly wrap her head around what this would mean for him, for his future.
But wouldn’t she feel even worse if he slunk away like a coward?
That wasn’t the man she’d raised. The realization was bittersweet. She loved him for it, and she respected him… but it was sickening to watch the future that she’d envisioned for him slip away.
And Juniper too. Tara’s affection for the girl was eclipsed by her concern for Cody, but she cared about her too. They were bothsoyoung.
“What do you need?” he asked after a long silence.
