Page 59 of Bossy Ex's Brother

“Alright,” I said. “If you can convince Felix to whip something up, then I’d like some of it, please.”

“Convince me of what?” Feliz asked as he emerged through the cracked open door with Emmett not too far behind. That was strange in itself. Once Emmett started on his video games, nothing on this earth could drag him away from them willingly. He’d play deep into the night if I let him.

But there he was with Felix, both with identical expressions of concern on their face as they approached my bed.

“How are you doing?” Emmett asked when he was next to me.

“Great.” I reached out and took his hand, and he let me. Another surprise. Usually, he’d push me away. Emmett wasn’t particularly big into touch, and he valued his personal space. So the fact that he let me hold him was a miracle.

All my siblings were acting out of character, all staring at me as if I was going to drop dead anytime soon.

And then I realized. It was because they were worried.

I didn’t get sick often. I didn’t think I d ever gotten anything besides a minor cold before. Seeing me knocked out in the middle of the day must have scared them or brought back flashbacks of my mother in the same position after her drunken binges.

Was that what they thought? That I was turning into her?

“What were you saying you would get me to do?” Feliz suddenly blurted out, probably to break the tension in the atmosphere.

“Make soup,” Beth said. “She needs some.”

Rather than protest, as he usually did when we asked him to cook, he nodded. “I’ll make chicken soup. That should be better than anything else.”

“And I’ll run you a bath,” Beth said, getting up from the bed. “You might feel a lot better when you’re clean with the warmth of the soup in your body.”

“Do you want to play video games while you wait?” Emmett asked.

“I’m fine, guys,” I said, trying to sound reassuring, but the worried looks on their faces didn’t fade. They weren’t stupid enough to think I would be lying in bed if I were truly fine. And I was never very good at lying. They were probably imagining the worst right now.

I sighed, making up my mind to finally tell them what was going on. I wanted to ease their mind.

I debated for a second because it was embarrassing to let them know how badly I fucked up, but it was better than them thinking I was at the starting end of an addiction.

I took a deep breath.

“I was throwing up in the restaurant from morning sickness,” I said, choosing the direct route. “I went to the doctor, and there was nothing else wrong with me. I’m just pregnant.”

They blinked in unison, like cartoon characters, and dead silence reigned for several seconds as the shock ricocheted through the atmosphere.

“You’re pregnant?” Bethany voiced first, her voice disbelieving.

I glanced at her and nodded, relieved that at least one of them was talking. Felix hadn’t managed to get words out of his mouth yet, even though it was hanging open.

“But…” Beth shook her head like she simply couldn’t fathom the idea. “How?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to or particularly care to tell them the whole sordid tale, which was more than a little embarrassing for a woman my age. Plus, there were kids here. So I gave them the PG-13 version instead.

“Because I was very, very stupid and careless, and you should learn from me,” I said. “I know I seem like I have it all together, but sometimes, I make dumb decisions. I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing, but it felt right.

None of them looked particularly mad, though. Only confused.

“Is it Luca’s baby?” Angel asked in a quiet voice, and I nodded.

“Yeah,” I murmured. “We’ve actually been seeing each other for some time now. I just kept it from you guys, but I didn’t mean to.”

“Are you going to marry him?”

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