Mason gently helps me off the floor, conscious of my healing wounds, and we sit beside each other on the couch, our backs straight, looking at Brian, who’s sitting on the couch across from us.

When Mason confronted his father about the affair, he was pissed at him, but now they’re on speaking terms. Their relationship isn’t perfect, and Mason is rightfully upset about how Brian treated his mother, but Mason hasn’t written him off completely. It’ll take time for them to heal, to get back to where they were before, and Mason needs time to process, to accept what’s happened and fully forgive Brian for hurting Natalia and lying to the both of them. But for now, they’re able to be in the same room as each other, to speak civilly to each other, to acknowledge that this may be the new normal.

Mom comes back from closing the front door and joins Brian on the couch across from us, and they both just sit there, staring at us with these weird little smiles.

Mason leans over to me, speaking in a hushed tone. “You think this is creepy, too, right?”

“Totally,” I answer, and Mom and Brian share a look. It’s almost gross how happy they look, how domestic and at home they seem together. They cuddle up on that very couch before bed every night and watch their show.

Brian clears his throat. “There’s really no easy way to say this—” he starts, and Mom exclaims, “I’m pregnant!”

The ground drops out from under me and Mason’s frozen beside me.

“No,” I say after picking my jaw up off the floor. “No. I saw the pregnancy test. It said you weren’t—it said Not Pregnant.”

Mom looks guilty, and it’s then I notice she has her hand on her stomach. She’s done that a lot lately, hasn’t she? “I wanted to tell you, but with all our fighting and then your recovery, I never found a good time, and then I didn’t want to stress you out.”

Mason and I look at each other, and I’m sure we’re both wearing the same horrified expressions.

“But the test was negative!” is all I can seem to say.

“I know when I’m pregnant. You were a false negative too. That’s why I went to the doctor and did a test. I’m pregnant, Thea. Brian and I are going to raise this baby together. We’re going to stay here, in King City,” she says as Brian places his hand on hers and looks at Mason.

I’m going to stay here. I’ll be with my friends. I was too scared to ask Mom about what we would do, where we would go once my injuries healed. I didn’t want to go back to the place I grew up, the place I lived for the majority of my life until I was forced to relocate, because that place doesn’t seem like home anymore. Home is here, in King, with my friends. And now I’m staying here, I’ll never have to fear leaving them before I’m ready again.