Unwrapped

“What scoop?”

“Why’s the parental unit flipping out?” Cait leaned closer. “No one’s pregnant, are they?”

Val smirked. “Just the same one who’s already preggers.”

“Heard that!” Marnie called out, snatching the phone away from Peter and tucking it behind her back. More wails.

Cait sighed. It didn’t take long for the spirit of Christmas to turn into a pounding headache. “So what’s up, then? What pissed Mama off?”

Val gave a jerky shrug. “Dunno.”

Definitely suspicious. “Sure about that?”

“How should I know? And Jesus, why should you pretend you care? You only make your token appearances when you have a few minutes to spare from your perfect little life in your perfect little loft. It’s not like you care about any of us. We’re just your poor, pathetic family.”

Val only stopped spewing her venom when she realized the room had gone silent. Even the toddlers were watching her, gap-mouthed.

Cait shrank back, but not because Val had snapped. The vein of truth in what she’d said stung. God, she’d come here asking them to accept her when this was how they thought she saw them? Worse, she did think of her visits there as her good deed for the day more often than not.

She was a terrible person.

With trembling fingers, Cait nudged her hair away from her face. She’d tied it back in a loose ponytail, but a few pieces escaped. Just like her dwindling nerve. “Can we talk privately? Please?”

“I’ve had enough private talks today.” Val jumped to her feet. Without another word, she booked for the door, slamming it behind her.

Cait cleared her throat and glanced at her sisters and their kids. That none of them would look at her said a lot.

“She’s had a rough morning,” Ginny said after a moment.

&nbs

p; “Why?”

More silence. Not for the first time, Cait felt like a stranger in her own family. What was new, however, was them treating her as if she didn’t belong.

“It’s not true, you know,” Cait said, well aware everyone was staring at her. She tried not to fidget. “I love all of you. Maybe I don’t do the best at showing that, but I’m sorry. I’m going to try to do better.”

“Why?” Marnie asked, offering Peter his phone. He seemed more interested in Cait’s speech.

“Because…”

She looked at her hands. Because what? She’d had an epiphany? Falling in love—and admitting it—had shown her sometimes dreams changed and you had to change with them?

“I just worried that maybe choosing love over ambition wasn’t the best idea, if you weren’t sure it would work out,” she said, her voice fading as she met Peter’s shining blue eyes.

But hell, maybe their love lives were tumultuous, but they had the love of their babies and their babies to love right back.

Helping your child become so much more than you could be had to be one of the most fulfilling things ever. And not just helping them to succeed financially. It wasn’t only about setting them up to get a good job, but teaching them how to be a decent person.

Something she clearly needed some help with.

“We gave up some stuff,” Ginny acknowledged, ruffling Tabitha’s sparse curls. “We gained a lot more.”

“Yeah. You really did.”

Marnie reached out to take her hand. “Are you okay, C.C.?”

C.C. had been Marnie’s childhood name for her. She hadn’t heard it in years. Grateful for the peace offering, Cait squeezed her sister’s hand, hard.