Chapter 62: Chapter Sixty-Two

RAE

Autumn isn’t particularly thrilled about my parents and Miles coming over. She’s been kicking up a storm all morning, reminding me that she very much does not want to be included in this get-together.

~Join the fucking club, little bean~.

She aims a jab right below my belly button when the door swings open, revealing a grinning Zoe and three grim-faced Olsons. Dad claps Logan’s back like they’re old pals.

Mom squeezes us both in a hug. Miles dons a Nicole-esque fake smile and tells me I did a good job decorating the place.

I choose not to comment on the fact that he assumed the woman was responsible for interior design. One battle at a time today. “It was all Logan,” I say proudly.

“We might have to bring you back with us, Logan. We’ve been meaning to redecorate the living room for ages, right, Kim?” Dad laughs.

“Very right,” Mom replies with a smile that doesn’t entirely reach her eyes.

I know why. Little Rae called a family meeting. On her own turf.

“Have a seat, everyone,” Zoe says loudly, gesturing toward the couch and armchairs. We oblige. Saying no to Zoe is downright dangerous. “Alright. Take it away, Rae.”

~Deep breath in, deep breath out~. Logan squeezes my hand.

“We’re having a small wedding.” My tone is so meek it’s ridiculous, but I have to keep going. I can’t stop, not yet. Besides, Logan’s voice is stronger.

He’ll back me up on the volume front if I falter, but for now, I need to speak my truths myself.

“Mom, Dad, I want you to come. We’re going to ask Sabrina to be a flower girl, so Henry and Amelia are invited, but that’s it. No grandparents, no aunts, no uncles.

“No neighbors. No family friends. It’s our wedding, and we want it small.”

Mom opens her mouth, but Miles cuts her off. “Am I not invited to your wedding, Rae?”

Not going to lie, I was hoping he wouldn’t notice that I didn’t mention his name.

“You, me, and Rae are going to have a talk later, and we’ll decide from there,” Zoe says fiercely.

“Oh, are you in charge of the invitations?” Miles sneers.

“That’s an interesting way to pronounce ‘bouncer,’” Zoe sneers back. “What’s next, Rae?”

The anger in Miles’ stare burns into my bones. I can’t do this. I can’t tell them off. I did enough. I stood my ground with the wedding. The rest will come when Autumn’s due date gets closer. This is too much. I—

“Mind if I jump in, love?” Logan asks softly. He started calling me “love” instead of “baby” because, well, we have an actual baby now. Almost.

I nod.

“Rae and I have had a pretty unconventional relationship.

“I recognize that our timelines are a little different than most, and I understand where your hesitations about us being together come from, especially given how quickly things have developed.

“My number one priority in life is to make Rae happy. In a couple of months, it’ll be to make Rae and Aut—our daughter happy. I’m the luckiest man in the world, and that’s because Rae is allowing me to do just that.

I’m asking you to please respect that Rae, by some miracle, chose me to be part of her life, and that her happiness involves me now.

“Rae has been under a lot of stress in the past few months because she doesn’t feel that some of the people she loves the most accept our decision.

“I’ve gotten the same impression, but I’m not asking for my own sake. I’m asking for Rae and for Au—our daughter. We want her to grow up in a home without negativity.

“We want her parents, grandparents, and extended family to be a united front who accept her parents and their decisions.”

“Wonderfully put, Logan,” Zoe says cheerily. “May I add a few things?”

“All you, Zoe.”

“Excellent. Brad, Kim, you two are the parents I never had. I know you can open up your hearts to people you never thought would come into your life. I was the disobedient kid your daughter met in class.

“I can’t imagine you were thrilled when she brought me home, but look how we are now.”

“Are you calling me disobedient, Zoe?” Logan laughs.

“Oh, shush. I’m being emotional. This won’t last long. Anyway, I hope you open your hearts to Logan. I wasn’t sure about him at first either—no offense, Logan—but he grew on me, and I see now that he’s great for your daughter.

“I was freaked out by how quickly everything happened between them, but I think they just, like, knew.”

I nod. Logan squeezes my hand lightly, telling me that he agrees. Zoe’s right. We ~did~ know.

“Rae, honey, have you felt that we don’t support you and Logan?” Dad’s face is wrinkled with something that resembles sorrow.

My heart starts to tug, and I want to tell him that it’s okay, but I can’t, because it’s not okay. I have to be strong. “Not so much from you, Dad.”

“Zoe, what you’re trying to do is wonderful, and it’s ~so~ generous that you took your Saturday to help us speak to Rae, but I don’t think this is necessary, sweetheart.

“We all love Rae very much. Our concerns about her life choices aren’t going to be resolved through an intervention led by her friend, though we really do appreciate what you’re doing.”

I stare at Mom. She stares back. “I asked Zoe to do this,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’m not good at confrontation, but you need to be confronted.”

“Rae—”

“No. Dad likes Logan. He’s excited about Aut—our…Autumn. We’re naming our daughter Autumn.” So much for tabling that discussion.

“Autumn, that’s a beautiful name.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I swallow. “Maybe you think I’m being irresponsible, but I’m not. I’m happy,” I continue before I lose my nerve.

“They aren’t mutually exclusive, Rachel.”

Logan clears his throat. “If you don’t mind, what is it you’re finding irresponsible? Maybe I can help clear that up.”

Mom looks five seconds away from demanding to speak to Logan’s manager. “Rae, honey, maybe we can discuss this—”

“No. I want Logan here,” I interrupt.

Her cheek twitches. “Pregnant before marriage. Rae, you fell pregnant before you were ~engaged~.”

~Fell pregnant~. What an absolutely ludicrous phrase. ~What did I do, wipe out and land on…ew.~

My own mother is slut-shaming me in my living room. Only in Utah. I touch my belly gently, letting Autumn know that she’s not a mistake or something I ~fell into~.

And then I find the words, or maybe Autumn gives them to me. “Autumn wasn’t planned, but that doesn’t mean we’re not responsible.”

Mom raises her brows. Her perfectly composed exterior is crumbling by the second.

“I can verify that,” Zoe chimes in. “I drove Rae to the pharmacy every month.”

Dad chokes on his water. Mom gasps. Miles merely looks amused and somewhat grossed out, which is fair.

I was going to tell them that we’ve been going to doctor’s appointments and I’ve been taking prenatal vitamins, but okay. Leave it to Zoe to get straight to the point in the bluntest manner possible.

My parents very much did not know I was on the pill. Come to think of it, neither did Autumn. Guess it runs in the family.

“Okay,” Logan says. “I think we’re getting a bit off topic here.”

Dad stands up, still coughing. “Rae, Logan, thanks for having us over. We’ll have to take the full tour another time.”

He half-grins, half-grimaces. “Is there somewhere your mother and I could go to talk for a few minutes? I know you wanted to spend some time with Miles.”

~Spend some time~. Yeah, right. More like demand answers.

“Patio,” I blurt out. “Head straight back through the kitchen.”

Logan’s turn to choke.

Miles wrinkles his nose at us when Mom and Dad leave. Yup. He definitely deduced that we fucked in the patio.

“Miles, what the fuck? Why would you do that to your sister?” Zoe snaps the moment the patio door closes.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“That letter you and Jake wrote. Don’t deny it, you fucking asshole.”

He rolls his eyes. “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to sit here and get berated by my sister’s friend. Rae, if you’re upset with me, we can talk it out like adults.”

Something inside me snaps. “Oh, so ~now~ I’m an adult? I can’t choose my own relationships, but when you want to argue about something, Zoe’s not allowed to help?

“You might be able to win a debate against me, but that doesn’t mean you’re right.”

“I’m done here.” He lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Have fun at the wedding. Have fun with the baby. When Logan leaves your—”

“Get out.” My voice is quiet, but it silences Miles. I’ve never ordered him around before. Never. Zoe was right. We’re on my turf. If I want him out, he has to leave.

When we told my family about the pregnancy, I realized that Miles was upset that I grew up to be strong, that I no longer needed him to protect me.

Right now, as he storms out of my house, I understand that the reason is more complicated. It goes beyond wanting to keep his little sister safe.

Miles felt like the hero when he stood up for little Rae. He was the one who took down the bullies. He sat next to me at lunch when no one else would. He was my hero, my savior, the protagonist in my story.

And now he’s angry because I’m my own protagonist.

Autumn attempts to punt my belly, informing me that she agrees and is, of course, on my side. I pat my stomach to thank her for the support.

“Rae, honey? Can we talk to you for a minute?”

I’d rather talk to Autumn, but I call, “Sure!” back to Dad. I shake my head when Zoe and Logan start to stand. “It’s fine. I got it.”

Thankfully, my parents are sitting nowhere near the location where Logan and I broke in our new home. There’s a cute set of drawers over ground zero.

“Rachel, we’re thrilled about Autumn.” Mom inhales deeply and exhales slowly.

“We’re happy for you and Logan. He’s not the type of person we imagined you’d end up with, but if he makes you happy and he treats you well, and that’s what matters.”

I mean, it’s a start, but…

“I like Logan very much. I’m excited to get to know him better,” Dad says.

“Why don’t you like him, Mom?” My question comes out as a plea. It is, in a way. ~Why can’t she see what Dad does? What I do?~

“I don’t dislike him. I’m worried about you and the direction your life will take when you’re married, but all I can do is know that your father and I raised you as best as we could.

“If Logan shares your values, I have no doubt I’ll love him like a son in no time.”

“Jake never had to prove himself to you,” I point out.

“Logan didn’t either, not until he put a baby inside you.”

“I love him, Mom. He would have eventually anyway. Autumn is just a couple of years ahead of schedule.”

Mom sighs. “Patience is a virtue, Rachel.”

Here we go again with the slut-shaming.

“Miles and Nicole were together seven years before they got married. You really think they never…” I trail off, gesturing around because I’m twenty-four and pregnant, yet still incapable of saying “sex” in front of my parents.

Mom recoils. Dad rubs his temples, clearly wondering what the fuck he got himself into.

“There just isn’t any evidence to prove it,” I conclude. “Are you worried about Miles and Nicole’s values now?”

“Rachel, I doubt ~that~ happened, but regardless, they were in a committed relationship. You were with Logan for how long before you became pregnant? A month? Two?”

“We’re engaged!” I exclaim, pointing to the rock on my left hand. “He bought the ring before Autumn.”

“I think we’d all best settle down,” Dad says, fingers still on his temples. “Kim, how ab—”

“Rae? I want to talk to you.” Miles’ voice carries through the patio’s screen door.

I wouldn’t follow my brother if I weren’t escaping a conversation about sex with my parents.

“What?” I snap.

“I’m sorry.” He isn’t meeting my eyes. “Nicole and I…” He sighs. “We’re getting a divorce. So, yeah. I’m sorry. Logan’s a good guy.”

A whirlwind of emotions tumbles through me. I’m still angry at him. I’m sad for him. I’m a little bit relieved (I know, I know) because Nicole sucks.

I’m happy because I think his confession means he’s finally done being a dick. All my feelings emerge in the form of tears and sniffles.

“Miles,” I sob, throwing my arms around his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

He shrugs, simultaneously answering my question and breaking the hug. Very clever. “Don’t… You can tell Logan. He should… He deserves an explanation. Mom and Dad don’t know yet.”

I nod. “Okay. Thanks, Miles.”

He doesn’t answer. He just nods once and meanders through the gate.

Autumn sticks a foot in his direction, demonstrating her solidarity. I rub my belly lovingly. ~So wise~.