The atmosphere in the house feels tense long before my family even arrived.

I spend almost thirty minutes pacing the living room before the sound of multiple cars pulling into the driveway finally reaches us.

My stomach immediately twists.

"Oh God," I whisper.

Zane glances at me from where he’s standing near the window.

"You don’t have to tell them today."

"Yes I do."

"El...."

"They’ll find out eventually."

"And?"

"And Noah will probably burn this house down when he does."

That actually almost makes him smile.Almost.

A few seconds later the front doors open and chaos enters immediately.

"Well damn," Caleb says while stepping inside first. "Security around this place gets scarier every time."

"That’s because people keep trying to kill us," I mutter.

"Fair enough."

Ivy rushes toward me instantly and hugs me tightly.

"You look stressed."

"I am stressed."

Noah walks in behind her already looking annoyed simply from existing inside this house.

"I still hate this place," he mutters under his breath.

Lucas enters last, calm and Quiet.

His eyes immediately sweep across the room taking in everything in seconds. Then his gaze lands on Zane and instantly something shifts.

Not hostility exactly but tension.

The kind that never really left between them.

Still, Lucas walks toward him anyway.

Zane straightens slightly as the two of them move off toward the corner of the room almost immediately, speaking in low voices.

I watch them quietly and sigh.

It’s strange.

From a distance they almost look close now, alllmost like brothers but I know better. Too much history sits between them, too much distrust and too many things left unsaid.

I drag my attention away before my thoughts spiral.

Then Noah suddenly grabs my arm lightly.

"Why exactly did you call us here?" he asks suspiciously. "You know I hate coming here."

"Wow," Ivy mutters. "Such emotional support."

"I’m serious," Noah says while looking at me carefully now. "What’s going on?"

Immediately my stomach knots.

Oh God. This is it.

I glance briefly toward Lucas and Zane still talking quietly across the room. Then back toward my siblings, my chest tightening.

I suddenly have no idea how to say this, no normal way exists to casually announce something life-changing. Especially to your overprotective brothers.

I open my mouth, cloose it. Then finally blurt it out before I lose courage.

"I’m pregnant."

Silence, complete utter silence.

Noah blinks once.

"What?"

I wince immediately.

"Noah..."

"What the fuck?!"

His voice explodes so loudly Ivy jumps. Across the room Lucas’s attention snaps toward us instantly.

"She’s pregnant!" Noah yells over my head furiously to Lucas . "Zane got her fucking pregnant!"

Oh God.

"Can you stop screaming?!" I hiss.

Too late.

Lucas’s face darkens immediately, actually darkens. His entire body goes still before he slowly turns toward Zane.

"You got my little sister pregnant?"

The room temperature genuinely feels colder suddenly. Zane opens his mouth, probably to explain or defend himself. He never gets the chance.

Lucas punches him straight in the face, thr sound cracking loudly through the room.

I gasp as Zane’s head snaps sharply to the side from the force.

"LUCAS!"

Befor anybody can react properly, Lucas pulls his fist back again clearly ready to hit him a second time but I rush forward instantly grabbing my brother hard around the arm.

"Stop!"

"Move, Elaine!"

"No!"

Lucas tries stepping around me anyway, fury practically radiating off him now.

"You got her pregnant?!" he snarls at Zane. "After everything?"

"Lucas please stop!"

Behind me I hear movement and I already know without turning that Zane straightened back up And if Lucas reaches him again?

It’s absolutely turning into a full fight beecause no matter how calm Zane usually is.....There’s no way in hell he’s letting somebody repeatedly punch him in his own house, especially if that person is my brother Lucas.

I tighten my grip harder on Lucas.

"Calm down!"

"Calm down?!" he snaps. "He trapped you with a fucking baby!"

"That’s not what happened!"

"Then what happened?!"

I can’t answer, not immediately because that’s exactly what happened.

Behind me there’s silence.

I finally glance back toward Zane and my my heart clenches painfully.

Blood drips steadily from his nose down over his mouth and jaw. The sight hits me harder than I expect, I hate seeing him hurt. Even now, esspecially now but I can’t move toward him. Because the second I let Lucas go, he’ll absolutely launch himself at Zane again and then Zane will retaliate, then this entire room becomes a disaster.

"Everybody calm the fuck down!"

My voice cracks loudly through the room, but nobody actually calms down.

Lucas is still trying to get around me to reach Zane while Noah paces furiously beside us muttering curses under his breath.

Noah snaps at Zane. "Are you actually fucking insane?"

"Enough!" I shout.

That finally gets everybody’s attention.

Silence drops heavily across the room. I look between all of them breathing hard, anger and stress boiling together inside me until I genuinely feel like screaming.

"I am so tired of everybody acting like I’m not standing right here!"

Lucas blinks.

"El...."

"No!" I cut him off sharply. "You don’t get to storm in here and start punching people without even asking me what I want!"

Lucas’s jaw tightens.

"He manipulated you obviously."

"And I’m angry about it!" I snap back instantly. "But that still doesn’t mean you get to treat me like I’m some helpless little girl!"

Nobody speaks. Good. Because I’m not done.

"I’m the one pregnant," I continue, voice shaking now from emotion. "Not you. Me."

I point toward myself hard enough my hand trembles

"So maybe stop making decisions for me for five damn seconds!"

The room stays silent

"El..."

"No, because I’m serious," I say, tears stinging my eyes now. "All of you keep acting like things are happening around me instead of to me."

Lucas finally speaks quietly.

"He betrayed your trust right?."

"Yes."

"Then why are you defending him?"

"I’m not defending him!

Emotion climbs painfully into my throat and my chest feels too tight. I press a shaky hand briefly against my forehead.

God. I’m exhausted already, emotional and angry.

And somehow underneath all of that...I’m Still weirdly protective over the tiny life growing inside me already.

I swallow hard. Then finally whisper:

"I want this baby."

The confession changes the room instantly.

Noah’s face shifts first. Shock replacing some of the rage.

Lucas goes completely still, even Zane behind me says nothing as I look down briefly at my hands.

"I didn’t think I would," I admit quietly. "At first I was terrified."

My throat tightens harder.

"But now..." I press a hand unconsciously against my stomach. "Now I can’t stop thinking about her."

Her.

The word slips out naturally. My eyes sting immediately afterward...I pray it’s a girl.

"And I know this situation is messy and complicated and insane," I continue softly, "but this baby didn’t do anything wrong."

Silence fills the room agai as finally Caleb steps forward.

"Okay," he says calmly while rubbing a hand over his face. "Everybody needs to sit the hell down and chill out."

Thank God for Caleb honestly.

Noah scoffs angrily.

"I’m serious," Caleb says firmer now. "Look at her."

Everybody’s attention shifts toward me again and I suddenly feel very aware of how shaky I am and how hard my heart is beating.

Caleb points toward the couches.

"Sit. All of you."

Surprisingly....they actually listen.

Probably because Caleb rarely raises his voice unless things are genuinely bad.

Lucas backs away first.

Still furious but atleast calmer now.

Noah follows after muttering under his breath while Ivy quickly rushes toward me and wraps an arm carefully around my shoulders.

"You okay?" she whispers.

I nod weakly.

Lie.

Across the room, Zane grabs a towel from one of the staff members and presses it briefly against his bleeding nose. The sight makes guilt twist painfully through my chest again.

Lucas hit him hard, really hard. A part of me thinks he got it good though for tampering with my pills.

Caleb notices me looking.

"Go sit," he tells me gently.

I finally move toward the couch slowly, Ivy staying glued to my side while the tension in the room remains thick enough to choke on.

Nobody knows what to say now. Then suddenly....a wave of nausea slams into me so violently my breath catches. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Oh no.

I freeze instantly.

Ivy notices first.

"El?"

My stomach twists sharply, dizziness crashes through me immediately afterward.

The room tilts slightly.

"Oh God."

I slap a hand over my mouth fast as everybody shoots upright instantly.

"Elaine?" Zane’s voice cuts through the room sharply.

I barely hear him as another violent wave rolls through me.

Then suddenly I’m bolting toward the nearest bathroom.

I don’t even make it fully there before I collapse down near one of the side tables and start throwing up hard into the nearby trash bin.

"Oh shit," Caleb mutters somewhere behind me.

Everything hurts and my throat burns.

Tears spring into my eyes instantly from how hard I’m gagging. Then suddenly hands are everywhere.

One rubbing my back, another pulling my hair away from my face. Voices overlapping loudly around me.

"Move...."

"She needs space....."

"Get water!

"El breathe....."

I can barely process who’s touching me until I glance up weakly. Zane crouches beside me looking genuinely panicked.

Noah’s right behind him equally horrified.

And weirdly enough? That almost makes me laugh.

Because apparently nothing unites angry men faster than a pregnant woman violently throwing up in front of them.