Once the water was boiled Rachel poured the hot water in the first cup, the scent of mint wafting in the air. She placed the kettle down when she felt the butterflies in her stomach, not the good kind. Feeling like she could empty her stomach right then and there Rachel left the kitchen quickly and dashed for the bathroom. She barely managed to kneel down when she let everything out, feeling like crap as she emptied her stomach. She felt a hand against her back, but she couldn’t be appreciative of her sister’s presence. It was embarrassing, Valerie had seen so many vulnerable sides to her. She was supposed to be the older, more put together sister yet she was falling apart right in front of Valerie. The tears spilled from her cheeks, Valerie didn’t know it was because she was feeling useless, her sister assumed it was because it hurt to let it all out. When she was done she put herself back together, freshening up while Valerie grabbed her a glass of water. They sat down in the living room, Rachel sipping her water while Valerie gently rubbed her arm up and down trying to comfort her.
“That was odd.” Valerie was the one who broke the silence first.
“Guess dinner didn’t sit well with me.” Rachel joked.
Valerie pouted her lips as she thought it through, “Yeah, but I’m fine.”
Rachel didn’t feel up to investigating as to why her body reacted that way. She was tired and in pain. She wanted to curl up to a ball and get through the night all warm and comfy. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the nauseous feeling.
“You know the guys talk, they pretend they never talk about anything personal but they do. Especially when they’re having a drink.”
Rachel opened her eyes, taking her sister in, “What are you getting at?”
Valerie shrugged a shoulder, “Things were adventurous between Ethan and you.”
Rachel knew that, but it was embarrassing hearing Valerie say that. The thought of Gabriel knowing the things she did with Ethan caused her to feel even worse. She had the urge to run to the bathroom and let it all out again, she didn’t though. She forced herself to stay rooted on the couch while she made sure Valerie got rid of the ridiculous thoughts she was having. It wasn’t true.
“They were, but I rather not talk about it.”
Valerie nodded, “I understand, it’s not like I want to know about the things you two did. But I think we need to discuss something related to that.”
“I’m not.” Rachel reassured Valerie.
Valerie wasn’t backing down which was really annoying, “But how do you know you’re not. Did you do a test? You two have been apart for like three weeks, it might be a possibility.”
“Everyone’s body is different, guess my body just didn’t process the food well. I’ll be fine tomorrow.” She told Valerie, hoping her sister would drop the subject.
“Rachel, even so it couldn’t hurt to do a test, right?”
“It would be a waste of money and time.” Rachel laughed, “It’s been three weeks” She firmly told her sister, “That’s been long enough to know if it’s true or not don’t you think? I had my period, that’s proof enough.”
Valerie reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly in both her hands, “It will only take a minute or so and those tests are not that expensive. It wouldn’t be a waste of time or money to be certain about something like this.”
Sighing Rachel gave in knowing Valerie wouldn’t back down, she didn’t have the energy to continue this discussion. If it meant that much to her sister she’d do a freaking test and show her that she had been right. She figured a period was proof enough that she wasn’t pregnant, but Valerie needed more proof than that. She’d give her sister that and hope that life-changing conversation would never come up again.
***
Rachel was despairing in her bedroom, fighting her sister over a bottle of wine which she desperately needed to down to feel better. Valerie was quite strong for a woman who was dressed in tight pants and wearing heels which should be illegal.
“Dammit Rachel, let go!”
“The one who should be letting go is you.” Rachel told her sister, tightly holding onto the bottle and pulling it toward her.
She gasped when her sister slapped her against the shoulder, quite hard actually. It caused her to let go which made Valerie stumble back. Gabriel was the one who steadied Valerie, both hands gripping her shoulders while he took in the situation.
“What the hell is going on here?” He demanded to know, “I mean the average guy would say this is their wet dream, but this is actually my nightmare.” He let go of his wife and accusingly glanced from Valerie to her, “Someone care to explain why I walked into you two fighting over a bottle of wine.” He glanced at the label and scoffed, “A cheap one might I add. This could have easily been solved if each one of you just grabbed a bottle for yourself.”
Valerie glared at her husband, “This isn’t about a bottle of cheap wine!” It was the first time Rachel witnessed her sister actually losing her patience with Gabriel, “This is about Rachel risking her unborn child for the sake of getting drunk!”
Rachel gasped, reaching behind her for a fluffy pillow and threw it at her sister’s head, “You can’t keep even one secret.”
Valerie fixed her hair, “It’s not a secret which you could have kept forever.”
Rachel rolled her eyes, “I could have kept it a secret because maybe I’m not even keeping it.”
Valerie nearly stumbled back again, but Gabriel caught her by the wrist and steadied her, “Take off those damn heels would you?” He asked and then pointed at Rachel, “And you are keeping it.”
Rachel glared at him, “Says who?”
“Says that child’s godfather.” He firmly told her, “Now ladies, I’m going to pour myself some cheap wine because I’m already quite drunk so I wouldn’t even taste how awful this actually is.” He released Valerie’s hand and moved to the door, “Oh and tomorrow morning we’re having an actual conversation Rachel. Because fleeing is not an option, you know I didn’t pick a side during this whole messy break-up, but that child has a right to know both their mother and father so we’re discussing the possibilities like adults tomorrow morning.”
Once the door closed Rachel trailed her eyes to her sister, “I hate him.”
Valerie kicked off her heels and crawled in beside her, getting comfy in her bed, “Me too.”
Laughing Rachel got comfortable in her bed as well and watched the movie which they missed half of it already. They both settled in, pretending everything was fine. Tomorrow morning they’d have the awful conversation which she didn’t want to have. But her unborn child’s godfather wasn’t giving her a choice. One way or another she’d be talking about the child’s future, she’d rather do it on her own terms than Hunter or Starr’s.