He is Home | | | This is Home SEQUEL

Chapter Twenty-Four

Pierce entered the house bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He had no idea what talk was heading his way. I swallowed hard trying to give him a warning and weary look but I had failed. He was walking in completely blind to the questions that were about to be thrown at him.

"So, you got my daughter pregnant?" My dad said the instant Pierce stepped past the doorway into the living room.

Pierce shot eyes at me fast. I looked away before his eyes could even meet mine. Guilty.

"I'm sorry sir." Sir. I had never heard Pierce ironically used the word sir.

"Are you going to step up and be a man?" My dad scolded Pierce. I could tell by the tone of his voice. I didn't even have to look up to know it.

"I've been trying Sir." Stop saying Sir Pierce. You sound like an absolute idiot.

I groaned at his response.

"Honey." My mom tried to butt into the conversation but my dad shushed her off almost instantly. This was a man's talk. Neither she nor I were allowed to speak.

Before my mom or I could interrupt my dad again. He pulled Pierce from the living room and out to our backyard. It actually wasn't an awfully cold day out so he wasn't making Pierce suffer.

"Mom, I'm sorry." I said followed by a sigh.

"It's not your fault sweetheart. Well, I mean it is." She chuckled a little to lighten the mood. "But I know you never meant for this to happen. Everything will work out the way it's supposed to. I will set you up with your appointments and figure it all out with you. I don't care what your father says." She smiled at me endearingly.

"I don't mean to be so much work." I sighed. "I know you rather have Emery here." I choked out my sentence. "You would have had life a lot easier."

"Charlee, stop." My mom pulled me into a hug. "I couldn't imagine life without you in our family. You bring a joy into our life again. Even if you don't think you do. You give us a new reason to live. We want you to have the life you deserve."

"Well I just ruined that." I dropped my head.

"That is not true sweetheart. I don't work. I can help you. That is my job as a mother. It's to hold your hand and guide you through life. I know you know exactly how that feels. You were a mother to your younger siblings." She wasn't wrong. I was grateful to have a new mother who wanted to help.

"Now that you know why Casey said I should see my bio parents, what do you think?" I hesitated as I spoke.

"I don't think it's a safe thing to do. At least with your bio dad. I know for a fact that if you do decide your father and I are going to be glued to your side. We have a grandchild to protect now." A smile perked to my mom's lips as the word grandchild left her mouth.

Before my mother or I could say another word, Pierce and my dad reentered the house with laughter. I was shocked beyond belief that somehow Pierce walked out of a serious conversation with my dad laughing.

Pierce bee-lined for me. Instantly sliding down beside me in the chair I was sat in. He separated my mother and I. Pulling our conversation to an abrupt halt.

"Pierce is to be there whenever you need him. No running to me or your mother. Not like you ever did anyways." My dad said as he stood in the doorway of our living room with his hands on his hips. As if he could ever look intimidating.

"Okay." I responded softly. He wasn't wrong. I never went to my parents about anything. I only ever ran to Pierce. I couldn't help myself. He just made me feel comfortable and safe. Not that my parents didn't because they did. It was just a different type of safe.

"You are also required to go with Pierce to meet his bio parents." My dad said shifting his weight. "Casey is to go with the both of you. We will keep the littles. The three of you are to working through whatever is going on. Pierce's bio parents weren't like yours Charlie and if they are going to be in Ryatt and Ryder's life you know damn well they are going to want to be in your baby's life. And if Ryatt and Ryder are going to be around their parents then I'm pretty sure that you, Charlee, want to see who they are going to be around."

Thinking about my baby brother and sister meeting their grandparents freaked me out. We never had grandparents. I honestly didn't even know if Ryatt and Ryder understood what a grandparent was. I barely understood what having one was and I was sixteen. I mean I knew what a grandparent was but I never understood the importance of a bond with one. Wouldn't it just end up in a heart break with them being so old?

Now that I was having a child though, I realized it wasn't like that at all. My adoptive parents were about to be grandparents. They weren't on their death beds. They were a young, happy, couple. Well, as happy as they could be giving all life circumstances. They had a pretty happy life.

"You okay Charlee?" Pierce asked in a whisper.

I shrugged my shoulders with my eyes still latched to my dad. I waited for him to add on more but he didn't. He looked at his wife and the two of them left the living room leaving Pierce and I alone.

"I can't believe you told them." Pierce said, but not in an upset tone. He sounded kind of... content.

"I just felt guilty. I couldn't take it anymore. If you want to tell your parents, you can. I'll be there if you want me to, or if you don't that's okay too. But I'm still not ready to share with our friends. I know that lying isn't the best thing to do. I just-" I paused trying to formulate the right words, "I want to feel normal as long as possible. I mean honestly, I could probably hide it until the baby came out."

"Whatever you want, I told you, I will support you." Pierce grabbed my hand, running his thumb along mine. "I know this is both of our lives. I just don't want to force you into something you don't want. I don't want to sway your judgement at all. But if you really want my deep feelings just tell me and I'll give you my thoughts okay?"

I nod my head and rest my head against him. Silence fills the room like it does normally and I'm left with my thoughts of the day. I can't help but to let the thoughts overwhelm me. So much shit happened and my brain couldn't even begin to handle what in the world was happening.

The more the thoughts of meeting his biological family and seeing mine again roamed through my mind. The more the idea seemed to settle in my mind. I had been through worse. I had handled worse. This was nothing. I could do this. I was strong. If I could deal with being beaten to within an inch of my life. I could deal with anything.