When I walked in the front door of my house, my Dad was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a plate of leftover spaghetti. I really did not want to face him right now. I was keeping so many secrets at this point; one of them was bound to spew out if I opened my mouth.

"Hey, Dad," I said, moving past him quickly to go upstairs.

"Come on in. I'll nuke you some leftovers. You need to eat. You're looking too skinny."

He wouldn't be saying I look skinny much longer.

I placed my stuff at the bottom of the steps and walked into the kitchen with him. He loaded another plate into the microwave and turned it on. I watched through the microwave window as the plate spun round and round. That was me, spinning round and round, going nowhere fast. Eighteen and knocked up by my brother's friend who liked to drink too much and fight anyone who got in his way, which included me. I was a real masterpiece.

"How have you been?" Dad asked me and I snapped my head up to look at him when he spoke. I just knew he said something, but I wasn't sure what he just asked me.

"Huh?" I asked and he looked at me suspiciously.

"I haven't seen you much lately." He tapped his fingers on the counter, drumming against it, reminding me of when I snapped at JD for doing the same thing.

"I've just been busy, Dad." I tried to smile at him.

"I know you're a grownup now and you don't need dear old Dad. It doesn't mean I don't miss you when I don't get a chance to see you." He reached his out to grab mine and hold it.

I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.

"You are exactly like your Mother. Too headstrong for your own good." He shook his head.

The microwave beeped and he walked over to open it to pull the plate out. He took a fork and mixed it up to make sure it had all gotten warm for me so I wouldn't burn my mouth when I inevitably would just shovel it in without testing it first. He knew me too well. I snickered to myself as I watched him blow on the steam before handing it to me. No matter how old I got, he would still treat me like his little girl.

"Here you go, peanut, dig in. Be careful, though. It might be a little hot still." He sat the plate in front of me. "Your Mom still hasn't mastered the art of cooking for two people. I've been eating leftover spaghetti for two days now. I need all the help I can get. I think we should get a dog. I could feed it the leftovers and tell your Mom we ate them all."

I laughed at my Dad's silly joke. He was trying to lighten the mood in the room. He could read me and knew something was not quite right. I pushed the noodles around the plate, not sure what to do with them. My eyes were starting to water as I replayed the whole Ezra situation in my head. If I chose to keep this baby, would I be able to give it a life like I had? Would he ever step up to be a father? Was keeping this baby really going to be an option for me?

"Riley, are you ok?" Dad eyed me with concern.

"Dad," I fought the lump in my throat. "How do you know you are making the right decision about something?"

He stopped and thought for a minute. "Honey, you are the one who knows what is best for you. You have to decide if the decision is something you can live with and stand behind. Making a decision is not always easy, but the things that matter most in life are never easy. Is there something you want to talk about?" He asked without judgment.

"No. I just needed my dear old Dad's advice to help me straighten my brain out."

I knew what my decision was. There was never really any other choice for me. I was keeping the baby.

The next day when I woke up, I had three missed calls from Ezra. They would have to wait because my body was overtaken with morning sickness again. I leaned into the toilet bowl and struggled to breathe as wave after wave of nausea hit me. I was too sick to handle the drama Ezra was going to bring to me today.

I rinsed my mouth out when I was finished and started to get ready for work. I heard my phone buzz again. This time a text came through. I opened it and read it against my better judgment.

Ezra: Answer your phone. We need to talk.

Nope.

Not doing this with him today.

I ignored the text and continued getting ready. I was not going to have this conversation with him over text. I was not ready to tell him my decision, but I knew it needed to happen sooner than later.

My morning shift was uneventful, except for the morning sickness. I had to keep running to the bathroom. My manager was mad at me for leaving multiple times. He ended up sending me home early and said not to come back until I felt better. At the rate I was going, I was probably going to get fired soon.

I drove back to my house and saw JD's car in the driveway. He must be back from Anna's parent's cabin. I hoped they enjoyed themselves out in the wilderness without a care in the world and no one to bother them. I was envious they were able to go away so easily. I wanted to run too.

I walked in the door and froze when I saw JD, very bruised Aiden, and to my surprise, Ezra sitting in the living room. It looked like they were set up for an intervention. The room was quiet and uncomfortable. No one seemed to look in each other's direction.

"Um, hey." I mumbled as I evaluated the situation in front of me. Fear flashed across my face. Did Ezra or Aiden tell JD that I was pregnant?

"Hey, Lil Bit," JD smiled. "We were just in the neighborhood and dropped in to raid the pantry."

My eyes darted back and forth to Aiden and Ezra. Aiden shook his head no. The motion was almost imperceptible if you weren't looking for it. They hadn't told JD. It was just a coincidence they were all magically together in the living room, staring at me like I had five heads.

"How was your weekend?" I asked JD slowly with my shoulders relaxing.

"Better than Aiden's." JD answered while pointing to Aiden's busted lip. "I can't believe he got sucker-punched at Bannon's. Crazy, right?"

"Real crazy." I said, acting like I was shocked. Ezra looked over at me darkly, which made me nervous. I had to step out of the room to get his eyes off me. "I'm going to get some water. I'll be back in a second."

"I'll come with. I need some too. Anybody else want anything?" Ezra jumped up from the couch and followed me to the kitchen without pausing to hear if they answered.

I turned on the faucet, knowing Ezra was going to start in on me. I was hoping the noise would drown out our conversation.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered harshly.

"You are avoiding me." Ezra stepped towards me so he was only inches from my face.

"Ezra, I am not ready to talk to you right now about this."

"You're keeping it, aren't you?" His eyes were trying to read my face.

"Ezra, I..." I stammered.

"Do you even care what I think or what this will do to me?" He raised his voice and I gestured, trying to get him to keep it down.

"You don't have to be involved if you don't want to. I don't have to let anyone even know it is yours." I said, offering him a way out of this.

I wasn't going to try to make Ezra be in the baby's life if he didn't want to. We didn't have to be together just for the sake of raising a child. I could pretend it was some random guy who left me once he found out. Ezra could walk away now, with a clear conscience and clean hands.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Riley. You are not ready for this. We are both too young." He growled in my direction.

"Ezra, this is my decision. I'm not going to change my mind about this. You can accept it for what it is or you can leave." I crossed my arms over my chest and dug my heels into the ground. I was not going to back down from this. He was not going to intimidate me into changing my mind about keeping our baby.

Ezra reached out and tried to grab my wrist. I jerked my arm away before he could clasp his hand around it. He took another step towards me, backing me into the counter. I pushed at his chest, wanting to hit him until he went away. He leaned into me further and I shivered from the cold fire rolling off of him.

"I can't even look at you. You are being a selfish bitch." He said into my ear.

"Then get the fuck out of my house!" I screamed at him.

JD rushed into the room and looked between us. He saw how upset I was and went on high big brother alert. Aiden was right behind him on his heels. Ezra took a step back from me with his hands up.

"What is going on?" JD asked, looking back and forth between us.

"Nothing," I said shortly and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Fuck this." Ezra said and backed out of the kitchen. I heard the door open and slam shut, rattling the foundation of the house.

"Riley, what did he do to you?" JD barked too loudly at me. I wanted to shrink down into a little ball. JD would know I was lying if I didn't tell him the truth. I looked back at Aiden, pleading for help. Aiden knew how fragile I was right now and shook his head at me in disbelief.

"Come on, JD," Aiden calmly rested his hand on JD's shoulder. "Ezra was probably just being Ezra. You know how he is. Let's get out of here. We're going to be late for practice."

"You're clearly not fine." JD said, looking down at me.

"I'm ok. He was just picking at me and I had a bad day at work. I think I am going to get fired soon." I wiped the tears away from my face.

"Why don't you come back to the house with us? You can blow off some steam. There is a fresh bottle of Vodka in the freezer with your name on it." JD offered.

"I'm really tired and just want to go lay down. Maybe another day." I sniffled.

"I get it. Being an adult sucks sometimes. You will call me if you need me, right?" JD walked over and wrapped me in a warm big brother hug.

"You know I will." I said, trying to smile.

It didn't work.

Aiden pulled JD out of the room. So much for Aiden not being stuck in the middle of all of this. I somehow kept managing to pull him back into my drama.