Page 99 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

Ben led us to the living room, and we settled on couches, and chairs, wherever we could plant our asses and take comfort in being rooted.

He gave us cups of coffee and then sat down in front of me.

"So, your message seemed urgent. Is everything okay?"

I gulped and took a big sip. The liquid was still hot, and it burned my tongue. Maybe that spurred my answer.

"Ben, I'm pregnant."

32

SELENE

"I—wow, congratulations!" Ben's eyes widened, and he seemed unsure of what else he could say. But, bless his heart, he tried to be supportive. I'd give him that.

"It's just hit me unexpectedly," he explained before getting up and coming over to hug me. "But I'm so happy for you! When did you find out?"

"A while back," I replied, biting my nails nervously. "So much has been happening that I didn't have the chance to tell you. I should have done that sooner."

"No, don't worry about it." He sat back in his chair.

"You told me when you felt it was most appropriate, and I'm super happy for you, Selene. The father..." His tone became lessBen, my best friend,and moreBen, my big brother."You have told him?"

"A while back." I was painfully aware that I sounded like a broken recorder on repeat, churning out the same three words again and again. "They were happy to hear it."

He exhaled a sigh of relief. "Wow, great. I'm glad to know that. I was afraid you were planning to do this out of wedlock once again."

Ah, the age-old conundrum. I came here with the intention of telling him about me and the boys, but this, this jarring issue—it just made my walls go up.

I was done staying quiet. I was done telling Ben it was okay for him to keep bringing up the issue of marriage like ithadto be the most important thing in my life.

"Not that it makes a difference to you," I said, my tone suddenly low, "but why is this important?" The room's atmosphere changed in an instant. I could hear the boys breathing.

Dom was probably telling me to calm down mentally. But I didn't want to calm down. I wanted to fucking rage.

"I—what d'you mean, why?" Ben let out an uneasy chuckle. "Selene, you're about to bring new life into the world. Surely, you don't want them to grow up without a father?"

Niall groaned, and even Aiden muttered, "Ben, dude, time and place."

"What?" Ben looked at all of us defensively. "Is that not depriving a child?"

"You'd call it depriving even if the father was Dave, wouldn't you?" I replied, my tone just as low as before. "Even after what he tried to do, right in front of your very eyes."

"I'm not saying it was right," Ben said, his voice faltering for a second. "But, Selene, he was—see, I think he'd become an emotional wreck, and that pushed him to make such an extreme choice."

"Are you hearing the words coming out of your mouth?" I asked him. My voice was rising at an exponential pace. "Are you seriously going to sit there and justify my son's kidnapper doing what he did because he felt cornered?"

Ben opened and closed his mouth. "I just think the father should be involved."

I smiled viciously back at him. "Well, that's great. Because he is. All three of them are."

"What?"

Ben had never looked so shocked in his entire life, and he'd heard some pretty shocking stuff before. In fact, he hadn't seemed this stunned the day I told him I was divorcing Dave, which, for someone like him, meant the end of the world.

"Selene, what nonsense is this? Guys, do you know what she's going on about?"

"I—"

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