“She didn’t get to tell everyone the way she’d planned. Her mom asked her loudly at dinner because she wouldn’t take a drink, and everyone overheard. It was awkward. I was going to ask her on the way home, but her mom had been drinking so she drove her home instead of riding with me. Every day since, someone has been at her house, so I haven’t had a chance to speak to her alone. She’s been different. Distant.”
“Are you sure it’sherwho’s been distant? Maybe she doesn’t know howyoufeel? Have you told her? Have you talked about it?”
As they pulled to a four way stop, AJ picked up his phone and handed it to his brother. Niko saw it was AJ and Poppy’s text thread.
Niko scrolled through all the messages that AJ had sent her. All the articles, spreadsheets, cribs, strollers, bassinets, etc., then handed the device back.
“Okay, well, that definitely shows that you want to be supportive, but have you actually talked about it?”
“No.”
Niko was trying to come up with the right advice to give his brother when AJ asked him, “Why is Gianna here?”
“What?” Niko turned his head to AJ. “She’s not.”
“Yes. She is.” AJ pointed to the woman heading into Brewed Awakenings Coffee Shop, her back now to them.
As if she sensed their gaze at that exact moment, the auburn-haired woman glanced over her shoulder, giving them a full view of her face, which was perfectly spotlighted by a ray of sunshine as if God himself was her lighting tech.
“What thefuck?” Niko cursed.
“Is she here for you?” AJ asked.
Niko and Gianna had been on and off again since their freshman year of college. They’d spent a good decade in a toxic cycle, but since turning twenty-eight, he hadn’t entertained it. He’d spent the past four years engaging in even more self-sabotaging behavior, if you could believe that.
“Fuck no. She’s probably just here on vacation.” Niko shook his head, dismissing his ex’s sudden appearance in their grandparent’s hometown as they drove past the local coffee shop and turned the subject back to AJ’s situation. “I know that you two crazy kids didn’t really date, but did you guys talk about wanting kids before you knocked her up?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her I never wanted to have children.”
“You did?” Niko cringed at his brother’s bluntness.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t.”
“Fuck me,” Niko whispered under his breath as he ran his hands through his hair. “Has that changed?”
“No,” AJ stated calmly.
Niko pulled over to the side of the road and turned to his brother. “So youdon’twant to be involved in the baby’s life?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So youdowant to be involved in the baby’s life?”
“Yes.”
“But you just said you don’t want kids.”
“I don’t.”
These were the times Niko wanted to scream in frustration, yet his brother was the picture of calm. This is one of those times. “AJ, ifI’mconfused, and I’m your brother who has known you your entire life—literally, we were conceived at the same exact time—I can’t imagine how this poor woman who has only known you a few months must feel.” Niko shook his head and spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. “Do you know what you want?”
