Page 124 of For Pleasure Or Worse

My parents had paid off their home years ago, so any money they had left over from the sale of the house after buying thenew one went straight into their pocket. Not to mention union pension and social security benefits that my dad earned from over forty years of labor.

Metal clattered onto the concrete beside me and Angelo mumbled out a pointed “Fuck you” to a piece of the chair.

“You can join the country club,” I added.

Dad sat up with a groan of exertion. His knees cracked as he stretched them out and stood on his feet. I took over, lifting the finished table off its side and centering it beneath the backyard awning for him. “I think I’ll enjoy some sunrises out here with your mom first,” he said. “Maybe a bike ride.”

“That’s a great idea.” I saw a lot of me and Tally in my parents, that unwavering love that relied on the simple things like watching the sunrise together. Feeling gratitude for life, showing up for each other. In thirty years she and I would be side by side in our porch chairs, or reading a book on a hammock swing after dinner, and that would be enough for me.

“You should get one of those tandem bikes,” Ang cut in. “Or no, what about a motorcycle with a little sidecar on it? We’ll get Mom a neck scarf and a little helmet with the goggles.”

“Bet you regret offering him a place to stay now,” I said to my father.

“Clock’s ticking,” he replied. “He’s got a month to find something.”

“You know of any good realtors around here?” Angelo asked with the faintest uptick in his voice.

“Not unless you’d like a realtor who scratches your eyeballs out with her claws if you glance at her the wrong way.” If he was stupid enough to look for a real estate agent in Mia, that was what he would get. She fucking hated his guts after what happened in Vegas.

His shoulders shook and he put a hand over his chest. “Oooh, that gave me tingles all over the place just thinking about it. Maybe I am your brother after all.”

My eyes thinned, but my phone started ringing in my pocket before I could say anything else. I fished it out and saw Tally’s photo on the screen.

“Hey, baby.”

“Can you come up here?”

There was a knock on a window that drew my eyes to the second floor of the house. Tally was standing in it looking down at me with her phone to her ear.

“Everything okay?” I tilted my head.

“Um…” She looked backward and put the tip of her thumb between her teeth.

I turned away from my dad and brother and spoke quietly. “Did you clog the toilet?”

“Oh my god, no. Just—hurry up, Jesus.”

She was upstairs organizing the hallway bathroom, putting up curtains and stocking the closet full of towels and extra toiletries. We’d had two months to get used to the idea of Mom and Dad being back in Pompano Beach for good, but a lot had changed since then. Tally was regularly seeing her sisters and stopping by her parents' place in the Palms to check in on her dad. The concept of family in such a close physical and emotional vicinity was once foreign and uncomfortable for the both of us, but Natalia was taking it in stride. She was determined to make up for lost time and build traditions not just for us, but for everyone. She’d even offered to host Thanksgiving at our house as the first big holiday with both of our families combined.

I stepped over a plethora of half-opened boxes and linens that had exploded the second the tape was cut. She was standingin the rectangular room in my favorite cut-off shorts and a loose T-shirt with her back pressed against the vanity.

“What’s wrong?”

Tally lunged forward, dragging me by my shirt inside and pushing the door closed in one fell swoop. Her breathing was ragged, and her chest rose and fell without a pattern as she locked the door. I was reading the signs and they all led to one thing.

“In my parents' brand-new bathroom?” I whispered. It wasn’t going to stop me, but at least the thought proved I hadn’t fully rappelled into hell yet. I took two steps forward, intending to lift her onto the sink, but she shoved something into the center of my chest instead.

I blinked down at a pregnancy test.

Every nerve ending in my body started to sizzle and my mind went completely blank. Stomach hollowing, no air in my lungs, no cohesive thoughts in my brain. I didn’t know what I was looking at apart from the fact that it was a long stick with a test window and two glaringly bright pink lines.

“Are you…?”

Tears welled in her pretty brown eyes, and she bit down on her quivering lip. “Yes.”

“Yes,” I repeated. Then again, as if confirming it with my frontal lobe. “Yes. Holy fuck.Holy fuck.” My hands shot straight to her face, thumbs caressing the falling joyful tears, and I yanked her mouth to mine, kissing her over and over again. Her lips, her cheeks, her head.

“I had this feeling this morning, I can’t explain it. I knew something was up because I’m always so consistent on my period but it’s three days late.” She stumbled over her words trying to get them out while her voice shook. “So before I came here, I stopped and picked up a pregnancy test. I wasn’t going totake it until we got home later, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it all day. I needed to know.”

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