“I don’t really want to think about food right this second. Tyler made breakfast this morning, and the smell of the bacon is what tipped me off. But I did find that eating some of that helped me feel better, so maybe we’ll think of something later.”
“You look really tired,” she said.
I nodded again, suddenly realizing just how exhausted I felt. We went into the living room, and I curled up on the couch so we could just lose ourselves in some TV rather than having to think about everything that was going on.
That was still what I was doing the next afternoon. I drifted in and out of sleep throughout the day and night, then into the next day. I was just waking up from another brief nap, curled up on the couch under one of Melissa’s blankets, when I noticed her standing over me, staring down. I jumped slightly and shook my head, rubbing my eyes with my fingertips.
“You know what? Tyler was right about it being creepy when somebody watches you sleep,” I said.
“I wasn’t watching you sleep,” she said. “I just walked in here. But speaking of Tyler, I think you’ve had enough time. You really need to go tell him what’s going on. You can’t just hide this from him and expect everything to be okay.”
She was right. There was no arguing or even trying to buy myself any more time. The longer it took for me to tell Tyler, the harder it was going to be. I needed to just suck it up, face the situation head-on, and deal with the aftermath however I needed to.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll go over there.”
“How do you feel?”
“Scared,” I said. “But this is the right thing to do. And it’s his day off, so we’ll have time to have this conversation just the two of us without him having to hurry off to work.”
When I got back to Tyler’s house an hour later, I immediately noticed my brother’s car was in the driveway. What the hell? The last time the two of them were anywhere near each other, they had fought and exchanged harsh words.
I parked and went up to the door. Nick answered, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. He ushered me inside and brought me into the living room.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “I thought the two of you were at each other’s throats.”
“We were,” Nick said. “But I decided I didn’t want to deal with that bullshit anymore. You’re my little sister. He’s my best friend. Yes, it made me uncomfortable at first, and I didn’t like it. But that really wasn’t my place. If the two of you are happy and you want to be together, then I shouldn’t stand in your way. I should be happy that you found each other. So, that’s how I’m going to look at it now.”
My heart swelled up, and I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around my brother and give him a hug.
“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate that.”
I did my best to look happy and relieved. I honestly felt both, but there was so much more going on in. Inside, I was right on the brink of completely freaking out. I told myself it was miserable to have my brother be mad at us when all I wanted to do was be happy with the person I cared so much about.
But now that he essentially gave us his blessing, I felt a bit concerned. That was a complete understatement. I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Here my brother was, trying to be kind and accepting toward us, and now I had a whole new bombshell to drop.
I couldn’t help but think it would have been easier to tell him when he was already mad at both of us. If he was still mad, all I would be doing would be exaggerating that anger. It wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. Now, he was trying and being supportive. That made it so much harder to think about breaking the news to him.
There was no way I could tell him now. Not only did I want to make sure Tyler knew first, but telling my brother was also going to be a feat in and of itself. I was going to have to do it. At some point, I would have to be honest with him and let him know he had a new little niece or nephew coming. But it didn’t have to be right then.
Tyler came into the room, and his face lit up when he saw me.
“Hey. This is a nice surprise.” He gathered me up in a hug.
“Gross,” Nick said, rolling his eyes. “Stop.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No.”
Tyler gestured toward his backyard. “We’re getting the grill out there fired up, and we’re going to throw some burgers and stuff on. You’re staying, right?”