It didn’t go unnoticed that he said the words ‘with me’ twice, which made my ever-present guilt boil to the surface. Upon seeing his family again, it would be impossible to ignore the fact that I had first attended Davis family functions on Seth’s arm. My obviously pregnant belly would emphasize the fact that one of them was the father of my unborn child, and that I didn’t have any idea as to which one.

When Sam and I were alone in my room, it was easy to ignore my past transgressions, but it wouldn’t be possible when his other family members were giving me the evil eye. I had known this day was coming, but I didn’t feel at all ready to face them.

The thought of Sam’s father’s cool, distant gaze and his mother’s appraising, judgmental tone was enough to fill me with dread. The person who I was most nervous about seeing, though, was Sam and Seth’s loud, sweet, funny sister, Jessie. She and I had begun to forge a tentative friendship. If she treated me like one of Sam’s ‘I’ girls (as we liked to call the bevy of blonde airheads that Sam usually brought around), I didn’t think I would be able to stand the humiliation, even though I probably deserved it.

At least Seth would be there to help ease the tension. He was the one who had the most right to be hateful with me, but I knew that I could count on him to have my back.

Sam was giving me a hopeful, expectant look. I was well aware that his family was important to him, and that I had to make this effort, for his sake and Peanut’s. No matter what they thought of me, Peanut hadn’t done anything wrong and deserved to know his or her family. My relatives were all gone. Annie and Courtney would be family-by-choice for my baby, but the Davis clan would be Peanut’s only blood relatives. It was better to get this awkward first reunion over with, rather than letting the anticipatory stress and tension over it build.

“Okay, I’ll go with you on Sunday,” I agreed, as I attempted not to let the overwhelming dread sound in my voice or show on my face. Sam’s mouth turned up into a crooked grin. I tried to let his happy smile reassure me that seeing the Davis family again would be a piece of cake, but deep down I knew that it wouldn’t.

24

I worried over what to wear to Sam’s family’s brunch and finally settled on my solid purple maxi dress and a pretty, jewel-toned necklace that Courtney loaned me. I added a hot pink, cashmere cardigan that wouldn’t even come close to buttoning over my tummy and some bright pink flats.