He holds up a box of home pregnancy tests. “I found this in the garbage—outside, in the big one, like she took it out there so I wouldn’t see it.”
“Okay, don’t panic,” I say. “Maybe she was just checking, and it was negative. It’s not like she’d keep something like that from you.”
He pulls a test out of the box. It looks just like the picture on the outside. When he turns it, I see in plain letters the word Pregnant.
“Oh, shit,” I say.
“Yeah.” He puts the test back in the box.
“Wow,” I say. “I guess, congratulations?”
Ronan rubs his chin. I’ve never seen this look on his face before. He’s really shaken up. “Why wouldn’t she tell me?” he asks.
Asking me why women do things is like asking a fish why a bird flies. “I don’t know. Maybe she wanted to wait until after the wedding.”
“That actually makes sense,” he says. “I’m worried about her, though.”
This is precisely why I’m glad Ronan is marrying my sister. He gets it. He wants to keep her safe and happy, the way I always tried to do when we were growing up. I feel like I can pass the responsibility on to him. I’ll always be protective of her—she’s my twin—but I can let my guard down a little. I know Ronan will take care of her.
“Have you guys talked about kids?” I ask.
“Not really,” he says. “I guess maybe we should have, but it just hasn’t come up.”
“So…” This is treading into weird guy-conversation territory, but he’s about to become my brother-in-law, so what the hell. “Do you want kids?”
“If you’d asked me that a couple of hours ago—before I saw this,” he says, gesturing at the box, “I would have said no. I didn’t think I wanted kids. But holy shit, Brax. If this is real, I think I can get on board with it.”
I grin at him. “That’s freaking you out, isn’t it?” Maybe I shouldn’t be amused, but Ronan is so fucking collected all the time. It’s kind of funny to see him rattled.
“You have no idea.” He goes to the fridge, brings out two beers, and hands one to me. “What about you? You and Kylie want kids?”
I take a seat on the barstool and open the bottle. “Yeah, we do. Now that I’m expanding my gym, I guess we’ll wait a while. But I can definitely picture a couple little Taylor babies running around.”
Ronan laughs a little. “Life is fucking weird, sometimes, isn’t it? I’m getting married in two days. A year and a half ago, that wasn’t even on my radar. And here I am, thinking about the fact that I might be a father, and I’m actually okay with it.”
“Fucking weird is right,” I say. “I’d pretty much resigned myself to believing nothing would ever happen between me and Ky. And then, there she was, wearing a wedding dress for me. It wasn’t just weird; it was unreal.”
“You realize we’re a lot luckier than we deserve, don’t you?” Ronan asks.
“Every fucking day, man. Every fucking day.” I take a long pull from my beer. “But what’s up with our girls not telling us what’s going on?”
“Why, is something up with Kylie?”
“Maybe,” I say. “I overheard her get a message from her doctor’s office about an appointment tomorrow. But then she didn’t say anything. In fact, she told me she has errands to run in the morning.”
“Is she sick?” Ronan asks.
A thread of fear uncurls itself in my chest. Holy shit, is Kylie sick? Is something wrong and she doesn’t want to tell me before Selene’s wedding? “Fuck, man, I don’t know. She seems okay. But why would she be going to the doctor and hiding it?”
“No idea,” he says. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about her. I bet it’s nothing. Don’t they need to get their birth control refilled or something? Maybe it’s just that. Although apparently that isn’t always enough.” He gestures to the box.
“You guys will be fine,” I say. “Just tell her you found the box and ask her what’s going on. I bet she’s just overwhelmed with the wedding and everything.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he says. “And hey, don’t tell Kylie yet. If Selene is pregnant, I know she’ll want to tell Ky herself. She’ll probably be upset that you know before she has a chance to tell you.”
“No problem.” I take another drink and stand. “I guess I should get back. I think we’re bringing dinner over to Henry tonight, so I should go see what’s up with that.”
“Sounds good. We’ll see you tomorrow for the rehearsal.” He pauses. “And thanks.”
“Anytime, man.”
I head outside and up the street toward my place. My head is spinning a little. Is my sister really going to have a baby? I wonder if Kylie knows already. She probably does, but I won’t ask, just in case Selene hasn’t talked to her yet.
Uncle Braxton sounds kind of awesome. But my happiness for Selene is tinged with worry for Kylie. I hope nothing is wrong with my girl. The idea that it could be serious is almost too much for me to contemplate.