Though our words should have made her feel better, they seemed to only agitate her. She began to push against us until she worked her way out of the circle we’d formed around her and stood by the window, looking out over downtown L.A.
“Please, you’re smothering me,” she said. “I know you mean well, that you’re saying what you think I need and want to hear. But I am not some invalid who needs you to take care of me. I can take care of myself. I just have to make a new plan is all.”
I started to walk over to where she stood, but she flashed me a warning glance and held her hand up to stop me. I could see the emotions warring on her face. If there was one thing Sam hated more than anything, it was not being in control. And us trying to step in and do for her, while well-intentioned, was just that – us trying to control the situation we all found ourselves in.
“Just tell us what you need from us,” Luke asked.
“Yeah, what is it you want us to do?” Liam inquired.
She shook her head and thought for a moment before speaking. “I need you to let me stand on my own two feet and figure this out. For starters, I don’t even know which one of you is the father,” she said.
“Honestly, we don’t care about that,” Logan chimed in.
“How can you not?” she asked, an incredulous look on her face.
“Because,” I said. “We’ve told you a hundred times that we all care about you very much Sam. Every single one of us. We don’t care which of us is the biological father. That baby is an Anderson, and frankly, so are you.”
She looked at each of us and fresh tears began to fall down her cheeks. She suddenly looked exhausted, and I stepped toward her again. This time she didn’t resist when I took her into my arms. I wrapped her up in my embrace and held her close to me as my brothers stepped around her once again.
“Do you know who the father is?” I asked calmly.
She shook her head as tears streaked her cheeks.
“Sam, it’s okay,” I said. “Take a deep breath.”
“I have no idea what I was thinking in Vegas. None whatsoever.”
My eyes widened momentarily before she had a chance to look at me.
Oh shit. She was pregnant from Vegas.
“I don’t know whose it is,” Sam said, sighing.
She wiped at her tears as my hand fell from her face.
“I haven’t been with anyone since Vegas,” she said in barely a whisper.
“Sam?” Logan asked.
“Yeah?”
“Why haven’t you filed the divorce papers?” he asked.
My head snapped over to his, and I told him with my eyes to shut the fuck up.
“Because I’ve been busy dealing with a lot. Could you guys just—back up a bit? It’s getting hard to breathe.”
In an instant, all of us stepped back. Trying to give her the space she needed. She drew in a deep breath through her nose and wiped at the rest of her tears and it hurt my heart. She raked her hand through her hair, her loose bun working its way down her b
ack.
“I don’t know who the father is,” Sam said as she looked at me. “It could be any one of you. And I haven’t filed the divorce papers because the shock of this dropped into my lap before I could look at them. Everything is careening out of control. I can’t make one decision before something else kicks up dust. I’m stuck in a bit of a whirlwind right now, guys. And I need your support. I need you to stop with the questions and just give me a second.”
If there was one thing Sam fucking hated, it was not having control. And it made sense, being raised by her parents. They fucking controlled everything in her life. And when they couldn’t anymore, they cut her out. Off. Away from everything that had to do with their picture-perfect fucking life. I stepped back up to Sam, and she held her hand out, but I knocked it out of the way and wrapped my arms around her.
“Levi, I need space.”
“Just trust me,” I said.