“He’s a dick!” Reese added.

“And he probably gave you everything from the clap to herpes!” Harper said as Piper shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me this the other day? You said you were pregnant and that was it. Why didn’t you tell me then who the father was?”

“Harper, it wasn’t time. I wasn’t ready to say, and really, you guys, he isn’t a bad guy. He is good to me and I love him,” Piper argued.

“Piper, baby, why didn’t you tell us about the pregnancy back when it first happened? We could have helped you. Erik isn’t going to stay; you know how he is,” Rowan said, her hands moving with every word.

“Wait a minute,” Harper said. “I know what’s going on—Piper, he is using you for something. What it is I don’t know, but I do know Erik Titov does not want a wife and baby. He is Jakob’s total opposite. He’s told Jakob and me both over and over again!”

“Now you’re stuck with his baby and you’re gonna be a single mom because he is going to leave,” Reese said with a disgusted look on her face.

Piper was getting pissed. She usually could take the females of the Allen clan coming at her, but for some reason she was about to blow a gasket this time. She was still so overwhelmed by how much her life had changed. She hated lying to them, she wanted to tell them the truth, but most of all she wanted the support of her family. She wanted the love they showered Harper with, not this. This was wrong. They were supposed to love her no matter what! No matter whom she loved or who knocked her up. They were supposed to support her.

Putting her hands on her hips, Piper let them have it. “And what is wrong with that? What would be so wrong about me being a single mother if it came down to it?” Turning to Harper and Reese, she continued: “I take great care of Ally, and when I teach at the studio I’m amazing.” Her mom was standing next to her twin as she said, “Yeah, I tend to mess up and make bad choices, Mom, but at least I’m still a functioning adult. I don’t ask for money. I don’t sleep on your couch. I am happy, and now I am having a baby, and I have a husband. Why can’t y’all be happy for me?”

Whatever happened to unconditional love? Piper’s disappointment in her family probably equaled their own in her.

“You’re emotional from the pregnancy,” Harper said, “and Erik doesn’t really want this. Piper, please believe me. Leave him, and come live with me, I’ll help you, and then we can talk about adoption or something. You don’t want this. You are just starting your life with the book stuff and everything; you don’t want a baby.” She pleaded softly but Piper didn’t want to hear that.

She did want her baby. What Harper was saying sounded very self-serving.

“No, I do want this. This is my baby and that is my husband! We are married. Leave me be, I am happy,” Piper said. “What’s done is done. Nothing is going to change, so just let it be.”

Her father spoke, fortunately putting an end to the ongoing squabble.

“She is right. Even if we don’t agree or think she is making the wrong choice, Rowan, we always said we would let them make their own decisions and hope that we raised them right. What do we know? Erik could be a different man than what we all believe him to be.”

Reese scoffed as Harper shook her head. Rowan crossed her arms and tears pooled in her eyes. Blake looked over at Piper. She hated to disappoint him but that’s all she saw on his face, disappointment, and it killed her.

He cleared his throat. “It isn’t our place to tell you how to live your life, Piper Madison. All we can do is be here for you if you need us. You are an adult now, free to make your own decisions, and we will always love you. Don’t forget that.”

Good, because Piper thought she would probably need them sooner rather than later.

* * *

“Erik, please tell me what is going on,” Cooper said once the door shut behind Jakob.

Erik crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders.

“I got married yesterday and we are having a baby in September.”

“Yes, I heard that; I’m trying to figure out how the hell this happened.”

“I thought you were playing the field,” Jakob said. “You always said you’d never get married or have kids; even just last week you made that comment.”

“Erik, why didn’t you tell us? We would have liked to have been there for you,” Alla cried.

“Oh, Mom, come on. It isn’t about that. It’s just that I freaked, and didn’t want any of it. I went on a—excuse my language—a screwing spree and it always came back to her. I missed her, I guess, in a way, I don’t know, but my mind always went to her, and now that I’ve convinced her to stay with me and marry me, I don’t want to be anywhere else.” God, I said that too easily for it to be a total lie.

Jakob started to laugh and Erik glared over at him. “That,” Jakob declared, “is the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard. What the hell is going on? Give it to us straight so we can help you. Is she bribing you?”

“Jake, that’s your sister-in-law!” Alla shrieked.

“And he is my brother. I don’t think Piper would do that, she is a good girl, but Erik isn’t going to give up all the females in the world for one. He isn’t that guy; we all know this and have accepted it.”

“She’s worth it.”

Erik looked down at the ground and rolled his shoulders as everyone’s gaze fell on him. Any other time, he would have given it to Jakob straight, told him the truth, but Erik knew that once he did, Jakob would rush to Harper, who would go to Elli, and everything would blow out of control. The only way to keep the peace was to lie, but the line that came out of his mouth wasn’t really a lie. Piper was the one girl he would give everything up for if he wanted to do that, but he didn’t. In just a couple of months things would calm down and Elli would get off his back. Then he could go back to his life, because there was no way he wanted to live as a one-woman man for the rest of his days.