“Go ahead,” he scoffed. “Paint me as the bad guy like you always do.”
“Keep your hands to yourself and I won’t have to.”
This was going nowhere fast. Yes, they all loved me. Yes, they all thought they could get through to me. And yes, they all thought they were protecting me.
“Hey!”
When that didn’t cut through the growing arguing, I put my fingers to my mouth and let out one hell of a whistle. Finally, the bickering stopped and everyone turned to stare at me.
“While I enjoy being the topic of conversation around here, I don’t need anyone to interfere in my life. I’ve got everything under control.”
“You married a man in Vegas!” Dad shouted.
“Well, you got me there. I guess my life is over,” I laughed.
“Not everything is a joke,” Dad snapped. “Why can’t you just stop fucking around and get your life together?”
I held my breath as the hate-filled words left his lips. Dad had never spoken to me like that before, though he’d come close.
“Guys?” Lizzy squeaked out, her voice filled with fear.
We all swung our gazes to look at her, and then I saw the puddle on the ground at her feet.
“Um…I think my water broke.”
“Look out!” Jeff shouted, pushing past me as he ran at full steam right through the crowd of people with Wes hot on his heels. He slipped in the water at Lizzy’s feet, falling on his back. Wincing, he lifted his hand, shaking the water off.
“Who peed?”
I sat beside my sister,holding her hand as the doctor shoved the needle into her spine. She was as calm as could be, but I was most definitely freaking out. A needle that size did not belong anywhere near something as important as nerves that could mean you could walk or you couldn’t.
“How are you?” I asked, squeezing her hand again.
“Fine.”
“Fine? How can anyone be fine when they’re about to have a baby?”
She was taking this remarkably well, considering she was about to have a baby and then go home alone to take care of it. Maybe that part hadn’t hit her yet, and I wasn’t going to be the one to point it out.
“Here we go,” Mom said, walking into the room with a bottle of water. “I got you the good stuff.”
“All done,” the doctor said. “Let’s get you in bed. It won’t be long before this baby arrives,” he smiled kindly at her.
“Women have been doing this for centuries, honey. You’ll do fine.”
Lizzy took a deep breath, smiling slightly as Mom handed her the water. Her eyes flicked to mine, and something like panic crept into their depths. Lizzy and I had always known when the other needed to talk, and having Mom around was not making it easy for that to happen.
“Um…Mom, maybe you could find Caroline and see if she can tell us who’s going to be delivering the baby.”
“Ooh, good idea. She’ll get me all the details.”
Mom scurried out of the room, and once the nurse and doctor left, I turned back to Lizzy.
“Spill it.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she squeezed my hand. “I’m all alone.”
“You’re not,” I reassured her. “We’re all here.”