“Come in, dear,” Marjorie says, reaching for my arm.
I allow her to guide me into the living room, and although I note some décor differences in the home since the last time I visited, now is really not the time to mention them. It does hurt a little that Beth’s world is already changing, and this place isn’t the same as it will be in my memories when she shows me the door.
“Sweetheart,” Marjorie says, clamping my hands between hers. “You’re shaking. What’s going on?”
“I’m pregnant,” I begin.
“We know, dear,” Walter says.
“Please let me finish. The baby isn’t Brooks’s.” I look at Beth, watching her hand squeeze her husband’s. “The baby is Kit’s.”
No one says a thing, and I grow cold in their silence.
I keep my eyes locked on Beth because she’s so important to me, and I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone when a slow smile spreads across her face.
“You’re okay with this?” I ask, hope filling my voice, even though I know it’s going to be short lived since this is only half the news.
“I’ve been wondering how long you were going to hold on to the ridiculous lie that it was Brooks’s?”
“What?” Marjorie asks. “Beth, you knew?”
“From the moment I saw the pregnancy tests.”
If it were physically possible for my jaw to hit the floor, it would be sitting at my feet.
“What?” Tears bubble in my eyes as I shake my head. “I’ve been living with this lie for months.”
“And feeling guilty I hope, because you should for lying.”
Spencer squeezes Beth’s hand, a mild chastisement.
I bury my head into my hands, feeling betrayed in my own right because had I known it wouldn’t be a problem, I wouldn’t have taken the steps I did to get pregnant. If she is so fucking okay with the idea of Kit and me then that would’ve been good information to have because despite her smiling now, she won’t be soon.
“H-how?” I ask, still unable to look at her.
“Well, the two of you were sneaking off and disappearing at the same time, but if that wasn’t enough, the wedding pictures.”
“The pictures?” I ask, lifting my head.
“It was pretty obvious there was more than friendship between the two of you,” Beth says, reaching for the photo album on the coffee table. She flips the pages, landing on the one she’s looking for before handing it to me. “See?”
I shake my head. “We’re just standing there.”
“See the way his hand is on your hip?”
Marjorie gasps, leaning over my shoulder to look as well. “How did I miss that?”
His touch is intimate. It speaks of a man who is well acquainted with a woman’s body.
“Like I said at Sunday dinner, I’d always hoped you would end up with one of my sons, Jules.”
I close the wedding album, mostly heartbroken but still resigned to lay all of my lies on the table.
“It started out pretty fun. I canceled that Saturday so Kit could go in my place. I was waiting for either you or Brooks to confess the other night at dinner. I figured the pictures would’ve made it happen when it was just you and Kit.” Her eyes widen. “Kit does know doesn’t he?”
I nod. “He knows.”
“Little brat,” Marjorie hisses, but there’s a playfulness to her tone.
“I thought you would hate me if you found out,” I say.
Beth shrugs. “You’re both adults, Jules.”
“I promised I wouldn’t do anything with your brothers,” I remind her.
“When we were in high school,” she reminds me. “I didn’t want you using me to get to my brothers. Do you know how it was to sift out the girls that pretended to be my friend because they wanted access to those idiots?”
I shake my head.
“So calm those fears right now. Is that why you lied?” Beth asks. “If it is, get over it.”
“That’s not the only lie,” I blurt, holding her gaze because I refuse to be a coward even though I just want to crawl in a hole and pretend the second half of this doesn’t exist.
“You love him,” she says, her grin growing wider.
“I—that’s not what I was going to say. I got pregnant on purpose.”
Her eyes narrow.
“I’m so sorry. I betrayed everyone’s trust, and I completely—”
“Kit got you pregnant on purpose and had the balls to go along with not telling the family?” Beth asks, venom in her voice.
“I got pregnant on purpose,” I correct. “Kit got—”
“Laid,” Spencer fills in, cringing when he looks over my shoulder at Beth’s parents. “Sorry.”
“Sexual intercourse is an important part of—”
“Mom,” Beth groans. “Now is not the time for a sex-positive talk.”
“I’m so sorry,” I tell Beth before turning to face the older couple. “I’m so sorry.”
Walter shifts on the sofa, his eyes darting at Marjorie.
“Oh, honey,” the older woman pats my hand. “That’s a devious thing to do indeed.”