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My sister huffs out a laugh. “Remember, I’m three hours behind you, hun.”

I look at the clock on the dashboard of my car and do the math. “Oh. Shit, I always forget that.”

“It’s okay. I have to do the time-zone math when I call Mom sometimes. Normally, I catch her in bed, but it’s only eight o’clock there.”

“Yeah, she and Dad have their routine, and very little can disrupt it.”

“Exactly. But I’m just driving Paige to her dance class, so I can talk.”

Paige is my niece, Sloane’s thirteen-year-old daughter. My sister got pregnant one year into college and married Paige’s father, Matthew, a few years later.

Honestly, she’s probably the person I should have talked to most over the past few months, but she’s also busy. She teaches at her town’s high school, helps her husband manage his consulting business, and constantly drives her daughter to extracurricular activities.

The fact that I got her on the phone right now is a bit of a miracle.

“So what’s up?”

“Am I on Bluetooth?” I ask, knowing that if Paige is in the car, she probably doesn’t need to hear some of the questions I’m about to ask my sister.

“You are, but I can change that really quick.” I hear her pressing a few buttons through the phone, and then she speaks again. “Okay, you’re in my ear only. Everything okay?”

“Honestly, Sloane. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Well, I still have five minutes before I get to the dance studio. Once I drop Paige off, I can talk all you want.”

I signal before turning down Easton’s street. “Okay. Call me back then, please. I’m about to pull into our driveway, and that’ll give me time to change and get comfortable.”

“Sounds good. Talk soon.”

She ends the call just as I shift my car into park, and then I race back to our bedroom to change out of my scrubs. I debate taking a shower too, but I’m not sure I have time.

Luckily, I decide against it because just a few minutes later, Sloane’s name is scrolling across my screen just as I settle into the couch.

“Okay. The child is nowhere near the car, so you can speak as candidly as you want,” she says as soon as she comes on the line.

I laugh. “Good to know. So, let’s start with this.” Inhaling deeply, I say, “I’m having some hormone fluctuations lately and I was curious if it was normal.”

“What kind of fluctuations?”

“The kind where all I can think about is sex?”

Sloane barks out a laugh. “Oh, yeah. Totally normal.”

“I figured, and all the resources say it can happen, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. The last thing I planned to do was ask in front of Easton at the doctor’s office.”

“He might have been flattered to hear you admit you can’t stay away from him. I’m sure he’s not complaining, is he?”

My stomach shakes with laughter. “Oh, Easton is having no trouble keeping up. Trust me.”

Sloane hums. “Gotta say, I wasn’t surprised to find out you two finally crossed the line.”

For one split second, I debate telling my sister the truth. But then I decide she should know. “Easton isn’t the father, Sloane.”

She’s quiet for just a few seconds. “Wow. Okay, well…”

I spend the next several minutes bringing my sister up to speed from the wedding to where we are now.

“Damn. That’s a lot.”