Zane nodded. “Yeah, they might.”
“There’s nomightabout it! Mike was your best friend since before you were Parker’s age. And youscrewedhis girlfriend!” She felt a pang of regret at her words, but a tiny, dark part of her soul was enjoying the fact that the children would now know what their father had done.
“He was already dead!” Zane boomed, the veins in his neck protruding.
A terrible silence followed, allowing his words to echo through the kitchen.
Finally, Ivy spoke up, her tone matter-of-fact. “Well, I guess it makes it okay then.” She turned to her mother. “Hey Mom, when Dad dies, you should screw Steven. He’s hot for an old guy.”
Zane glowered at his eldest child while Poppy burst into tears. “Dad’s going to die?”
Sienna got up and quickly rushed to her little girl, picking her up. “No, sweetie, Dad’s not going to die. Ivy was just trying to hurt his feelings.”
Parker sat across the table with his arms crossed, his jaw set, tears in his eyes. “So, are we going to get to meet our brother?”
“Not right now,” Zane said. “Someday, sure, but right now, it’s a little complicated, buddy.”
“Don’t call me buddy, you asshole.”
“Parker!” Zane barked. “Do not speak to me that way.”
Parker stood up. “Why not? It’s true! Only an asshole would cheat on his family!” He stalked out of the kitchen, then turned back and glared at Zane and Sienna. “Do you know what this feels like? I finally get a brother but I don’t get tobehis brother?!”
Sienna sighed. “Parker, I know it’s hard to understand right now, but I promise you it’s the best thing for everyone, including the baby.”
“What’s his name?” Parker asked.
“What?”
“What’s my brother’s name?”
Zane choked out, “Elliott.”
As if hearing the baby’s name suddenly made it real, Parker blinked quickly, clearly trying to stop tears that were threatening to make an appearance. “I can’t believeyou’d do that to us. I thought you were…better than this.”
He spun around and took off down the hall. Sienna watched, holding a now-sobbing Poppy, feeling utterly helpless. She looked at Ivy, whose cheeks were streaked with tears she wasn’t bothering to wipe away. She didn’t look almost grown in that moment. She looked like the four-year-old version of herself that still lived in Sienna’s heart. Sienna walked over to her and wrapped one arm around her while holding Poppy on her hip. “I’m sorry, my sweet girls. We’ll get through this.”
“No, we won’t,” Ivy told her.
“Yes, we will. I promise.”
“But not together.”
“Maybe not that,” Sienna answered.
Zane stood up and started toward the hall. Sienna let go of Ivy. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
“I need to try,” Zane said.
“I’ll go to him. You’ll only make it worse.”
His face crumpled. “Well, what should I do then?”
The answer came from Ivy. “Leave.”
And now, as Sienna sobbed into her best friend’s silk blouse, she felt like she’d been thrown a lifeline after three days of nearly going under. When she finally released Kylie, her friend glanced down at her shoulder. “I should’ve worn an old sweatshirt.”
Sienna laughed through her tears. “Do you even own a sweatshirt?”
