His eyes had started to grow tired. Looking for commercial real estate in Los Angeles is the job of a broker, he thought to himself. Still, when Connor had asked him to scout some spaces for the company, he’d been quick to agree. He needed to prove himself to his brother, to show that he could be an important part of the startup.

Plus, if he could find the perfect space, it might encourage Connor and Sam to move to the West Coast faster. Sean had started to think that maybe they’d just set up shop on the East Coast. Their baby wasn’t even here yet and they were already getting into nesting mode. What if the idea of moving seemed like too much once the baby was born? Sean didn’t know if he even had a job in the company if they stayed back east—or if he’d be able to move.

Harper had started to adjust to the almost-daily outpatient visits, and he wasn’t going to ask her to switch facilities. He certainly wouldn’t put the stress of moving on her. Besides, who knew if she’d even want to move if he asked?

The door slammed shut and Sean looked up with a start. “Hey,” he said as he glanced at the time. “I didn’t realize how late it was. How was it today?”

She shook her head, but he knew that look. Harper tried valiantly to hold it all together. “How’d it go?” she repeated. “It’s fucking day five of rehab and … never mind.”

He wanted to push, to prod, but he knew better. In between the constant hunt for real estate, he’d seasoned his day with researching eating disorders. He didn’t know what she was upset about, but knew that there would be a lot of inky emotions erupting from her for awhile. There was no telling what they’d talked about today, and their joint sessions hadn’t even been scheduled yet.

Harper opened her mouth to say something, but slammed it shut again. Instead, she went to the sink and filled a glass with water. He felt her eyes as they stole glances in his direction, but he had to wait it out. Let her come to you, he told himself. She’ll talk when she’s ready.

But she finished the glass of water and lingered by the sink.

“What?” he finally asked as he looked her in the eye.

She bit her lip and shook her head. Sean stood up and went to her, but she busied herself with excessively rinsing the glass.

“You can talk to me. If you want,” he said gently as he rubbed her arm.

“You’d better sit back down,” she said.

“Is this … Harper, is everything okay?”

“You’d better sit down,” she repeated.

He sucked in his breath as they both perched precariously on the edge of the sofa. Sean searched her face for clues, but found nothing. “Sean, I love you. You know that--”

“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked. It sounded like a breakup speech, and his heart sank. Less than a week in rehab and she’d already identified the problem, he thought to himself.

“No!” she said. “Don’t be weird. Just … let me get this out.”

“Okay,” he said, though a big part of him didn’t want to hear whatever speech she’d prepared.

“I thought … I thought we were being safe. But …” she trailed off and stared at the exposed brick wall. Tears started to stream down her face, but they were silent.

“Safe?” he asked with a shake of his head. “Safe … hold on. Are you … are you pregnant?”

She nodded, and the floodgates opened. With an open-mouthed sob, it all poured out.

“Are you sure?” he asked, though he knew it was a stupid question. Not only was she obviously sure, but so was he. He’d never considered it before and had assumed she was on birth control. A baby was so far out of reach for what he’d imagined his life to hold, it had never even crossed into the equation. But a baby? The idea of it felt right. Especially with her.

“Say something,” she said between sobs.

“I … I never wanted kids. If I’m being honest,” he said. Her cries cracked the silence in the room. “But, hey!” he said as he moved across the couch to close the space between them. “Sorry, I’m bad at this. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean it’s … exciting. Don’t you think?”

“Exciting?” she asked. Harper had pulled the long sleeves down over her hands and pressed a cotton-encased fist against her cheeks to dry them.

“Well, yeah! I was serious when I said it was up to you with what our lives would be. That is, if you want to keep it. That’s why you’re telling me, right?”

“I don’t … I don’t know,” she said.

“Of course you know.”

“You’re right,” she said, and a slip of a smile appeared on her face. “I do know. I want to keep it. God, I haven’t said that out loud yet.”

“It’s, you know, a little earlier than I would have expected. If I’d been expecting it at all. But what can you do? We’ve never been the most conventional couple.” He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the scent of her hair as she nuzzled into his chest. A fresh wave of sobs began to rock through her. “Hey,” he said softly. “What is it? Isn’t this supposed to be a happy moment?”

“It is,” she said with a half-laugh, half-cry. “It’s just … the baby is why I’m in rehab.”

“Oh,” he said. “That makes sense. How long have you—never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“We were talking about the importance of truth in group today,” she said. Harper pulled herself up and let him wipe away the tears. “Not just being truthful to ourselves, but to everyone important in our lives. And I just needed to tell you. You know?” she asked.

“I know.”

“I’ve been trying for a couple of weeks now to figure out the right way to say it, and I just couldn’t come up with anything. There’s no great way to say it, especially when you don’t know how it will be received.”

“You didn’t think I’d be happy?” he asked, wholly amazed.

“I didn’t know,” she said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t even know if I was happy about it for a long time. I … you know, I worried. First about getting fat, even though logically I know that’s stupid. But also about the baby. Like, how could I give a baby proper nourishment when I can’t even do that for myself? I didn’t have my period for so long. So many models have miscarriages, so there was that.”

“You’ll be a great mom,” he said. “You already are. Look at you. Prioritizing your health. You’re doing everything right.”

“I am,” she said. He couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement, but either way he saw the certainty settle into her face.

Sean kissed her forehead. “I’ll be the first to say maybe the timing isn’t perfect. It’s not convenient. But when has anything about our relationship been perfect or convenient?”

She looked up at him. “So you’re not mad?” she asked. “Honestly. Just tell me if you are, because I don’t think I’ll be able to get together the courage or strength to have this conversation all over again.”

“Of course I’m not mad,” he said. “I’m excited. And terrified, and worried, and a shitload of other emotions I can’t even name right now.” It was strange but it felt right to so blatantly tell her the emotions that pulsed through him.

“You’re terrified?” she asked with a small laugh. “I’m so scared sometimes I can’t even move. Seriously, every little decision I make now, I’m like, is this what the baby wants? I’ve been trying to figure out the best prenatal vitamins to take for two weeks.”

“You’re not taking any?”

“I am,” she said. “I finally just picked the ones with the best and most reviews on Amazon. They’re organic. I mean, aren’t most vitamins? I don’t know.”

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“Not really,” she said. “I mean, there are doctors at rehab, so I guess so. I found out in the hospital. With the blood tests they were running for other things.”

“This is crazy,” he said with a small laugh. “A good crazy, but still. I have to say, when you walked into that tattoo shop and asked for a tramp stamp, this isn’t where I thought we’d be a few months later.”

“Hey!” she said with a laugh. “I thought you said it wasn’t a tramp stamp.”

“I never said that, sweetheart,” he corrected her. “I said there’s nothing wrong with tramp stamps.”

“Oh, god,” she said. “What are we going to do?”

“Most people, since the beginning of time, have had a baby,” he said. “If they can figure it out, we certainly can.”

“You sound pretty confident about that,” she said.

“I am. But there’s one thing I know for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“We’re going to make a kind, intelligent, gorgeous baby. How can we not since it’ll be half you?”

She smiled up at him. “Like I said. Pretty confident.”

“And pretty scary.”

“Yeah. That, too. But you’re right. If billions of people can do it, we can probably swing it.”

“You know what this means, right?”

“What?”

“You’re totally going to steal Sam and Connor’s thunder.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“I’m just teasing. They’ll be thrilled. And Sam is going to throw you one hell of a baby shower.”

“I don’t even want to think about that right now. God, I’m so tired.”

“Tired from therapy or the baby?”

“Probably both,” she said with a groan. “But telling you helps alleviate some serious weight.”