Page 79 of Honest With You

I start to follow her again, to question why, when her bedroom door swings open and Stephen walks in.

“Are you for real, man? We can’t even get some privacy to talk?”

“Your fifteen minutes is over,” he answers gruffly.

I can feel my frustration climbing with every second that passes.

Ava stops making her bed, takes one look at me and gently nudges her brother out the door.

“Stephen. I’ll be right down, okay? We’re still talking.”

“Ava. Dad wants to have breakfast and talk before we head to the doctor’s office. He called in a favor. Uncle Will is here.”

She spares me a glance over her shoulder. “We’llbe right down. Jesse’s coming to the appointment.”

“What–'' I'm about to march over to Ava’s arrogant ass of a brother when she halts him with a gentle shove and a look.

“Fine.” He points a finger at me. “You’re on thin ice, Matthews. I won’t forget how you made my sister cry. And now this? I won’t ever forgive you, even if Ava does.”

I snort, because if he’s being a prick, then I can be one too. “Good thing it’s not your forgiveness I want then, Stevie.”

Ava sighs and finally shuts the door in her brother’s face before she glares at me .

“Did you have to goad him like that?”

“Ava. I’m the bad guy here, right? I got you pregnant and I broke your heart. I’m trying to do better and I get that it’s going to take awhile, but this is between us. I’m not going to apologize for making sure he knows that.”

Ava turns, slumping on the door. With a soft thunk of her head against the door, she looks at me pleadingly. “Jesse. He’s my brother. He’s the one person who has always been there for me, without fail. He’s important to me, and while I haven’t made my mind up about us yet, youarethis baby’s father and you deserve to be there. Just please don’t fault him for loving me too much.”

I drop my arms from where they’re folded against my chest and cross the room to her. “I’m sorry, Ava.” I drop a kiss on her forehead, relishing in the way her body relaxes into mine. “I’ll apologize to Stephen. I just…”

“I get it. I wish I could say everything is magically okay between us, but I can't just forget that you lied to me, Jesse. You omitted things on purpose and made me feel like some dirty little s-secret.”

Her little stutter at the end of that sentence is my undoing. The hurt she feels is so tangible, I want to grab it with my hand and shove it inside me so she never feels anything less than how much I love her.

“Ava. I love you so much,” I breathe. We step into each other and I wrap an arm around her shoulder. “I am sorry for everything. I’ve got you now. I’m not going anywhere.”

We meet Uncle Will at a private practice in Irvine. He’s since moved back to Seattle after his ex-wife Aunt Cat, my dad’s cousin, died a few years ago to be with his kids, Dan and Liz. Apparently, he’s still a partner at this clinic so even though it’s a bit of a drive for us, he’s family, so it’s discreet and we fly under the radar.

I miss Liz. She's a few years older than I am. We are both pretty introverted, so we get along the most out of all the cousins. We keep to ourselves a lot at family gatherings. I’ve been so caught up in my new life here that I haven’t had the time to call her and catch up. She’s currently attending the University of Washington. Stephen, on the other hand, is pretty close to Dan. He was the one who really encouraged Stephen to study medicine.

Uncle Will runs some tests, collects samples and almost three hours later, we’re driving back home with new prenatal prescriptions. It turns out that I have anemia from the pregnancy.

My phone vibrates and I see a Facetime call from Liz. Instantly, I brighten and pop my airpods in before I answer. She was always like a big sister to me, and although our interactions were limited to family gatherings, she always took the time to check up on me. Especially after we lost our moms.

Her smiling face greets me and we both squeal when we see each other.

“AteLiz!”

“Ava!”

“I miss you!”

“I miss you too!”

Her smile dims a bit as her eyes roam the screen and I can tell she’s seeing the puffiness of my face and the heavy bags under my eyes. “How are you feeling? No need to pretend here. Dad called me.”

I sigh, relaxing into the third seat of our Explorer. Jesse is sitting next to me asleep, his head resting on my shoulder, and when I shift in my seat he becomes visible on the screen. Liz’ eyes widen and I see her looking offscreen for a second before looking back at me.

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