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I was in the tack room looking through an assemblage of girths to fit a drum-barreled draft cross when I heard pounding footsteps. I glanced over my shoulder, not wanting to move too much given how slow I was these days. It was Piper. I couldn’t read her face, but knew this probably had to do with The Talk.

She approached, arms folded. “Chloe, I need you to look at me. Please, turn around!”

“Uh… okay?” I said a bit trepidatiously.

I dropped my task and turned. A mom and daughter passed, grabbing their pony’s tack, then retreated, sensing tension.

Piper nodded. “Okay. So, this is real. It’s not some sort of nightmare!”

“Piper, I’m so sorry. I feel awful that you just had to come home to this.”

She shook her head, then paced towards the corner. “It’s not that I’m mad at you. It’s like… that can’t be helped and I’m all for your right to choose this baby. But like… how? Why? Do you really think my dad is like… the one or whatever?”

I sensed her indignation was really protectiveness. She need confirmation this wasn’t a lark.

I softened and shrugged. “Piper, it’s all so fast. I don’t know if he’s the one I end up with forever. I love him and hope he is. And I trust this is something good even if it’s super inconvenient and not what I planned.”

“But like… you want me out?”

I furrowed my eyebrow. “Not at all, Piper. Never. I love you, kiddo. You are the brightest spot in the day when you’re here. Even when things weren’t messy and your dad talked about moving… it’s not what I wanted.”

I sensed another set of eyes. Cole appeared in the doorway. Given her position, Piper couldn’t see him.

“I just… I feel so alone. Like… my mom is having a baby but she’s making it clear she needs space. I don’t want space. I want my dad. I want to be a sister to these babies, okay? I know I’m like almost grown but please don’t assume I’m not in this family.”

This family. In a way, we had become a household over the past nine months. She was right. But the fact that she saw me as family overwhelmed me. It was true.

I approached, holding her tight. “We are family, Piper. And I would never want that. I want you in this baby’s life. You’re the big sister. Your dad and I don’t want anything to stop you from being involved. And we’d never assume you were too grown.”

“I’m still a kid,” she sniffled. “I know I’m really independent and all of that, but there are days I still need dad.”

“I would never want you to be without him. I don’t want to be a wall. I want you to be comfortable and loved. I know you can be.”

“This isn’t about you being excluded. It’s about us asking you how we can best include you. What are you comfy with, Pipes?” Cole spoke over my shoulder.

Piper pulled back, taking in her father’s words. “I want to be here—with all of you. Since we fled. Since we moved in here… it’s like Ravenswood is home. I am so happy, but I know what the big house and our life there meant to you, Dad. I didn’t want to tell you how I felt for fear you’d be hurt. I know this isn’t your place.”

Cole looked tearful, which was enough to make me into a puddle. Somehow, watching a grown man cry always brought me to my knees.

“I’m relieved to hear that,” Cole said. “Because it’s not. For a minute, I thought I’d lost my dream—and lost you. But I realize you’re thriving and that’s all I wanted.”

“But it’s not enough.” Piper hugged her dad. “I want you to be happy, too.”

Cole met my gaze over Piper’s head. “I think I am. It’s not that I gave up all my dreams, Pipes. It’s that I fell in love with a new one. The tornado was devastating, but… life is nothing if not unpredictable.”

Piper turned to me. “And you sure you’re okay? And not going to go all evil stepmom?”

“No,” I snickered. “Jesus!”

Piper looked her father in the eyes. “And you love her? And you’re not going to do something stupid?”

Cole chuckled. “I love her in ways I will spare you since I know this is totally mortifying.”

Piper grinned. “Honestly, this is mortifying and I will bitch to Leslie about how much I’m embarrassed, but… I still love that you’re not with someone I hate. Like Felix.”

“Hey,” Cole said sternly. “Felix isn’t as bad as you make him out to be. Go easy on him. He’s about to have a baby and he has no idea what that will be like. Be kind. And, yes, you can complain to Leslie all you want.”

“I told him,” Piper said. “That I’m gay. And he’s cool with it—just like you said, Chloe.”