“You say you love me so much and you can’t stand for me to have this baby inside me, but you couldn’t even keep it in your pants when we were supposed to be dating. You think I didn’t know about Milly? You fucked with her, and guess what, she fucked with you. She wanted you a hell of a lot more than you wanted her, and look what happened.”

“Are you saying this is my fault?”

“I’m saying the person responsible for it is gone and she did this, but you’re making this worse. Everyone is trying and you’re too busy throwing your anger and hatred around, and it’s not helping anyone. It really isn’t. You need to get over this. Whether you like it or not, this is your sister. I’m going to be her mother, and I’m not changing my mind.”

He nodded. “Fuck this.”

Bishop turned on his heel, stormed out of the room, and she flinched as she heard the door slam closed.

Collapsing onto the floor, she stared up at the ceiling. Tears filled her eyes. “I know you heard some of that, but don’t worry, he’ll come around. You’re going to be so loved and you’re going to hate all of the attention and love.”

She sat on the floor, staring up at the nursery for way too long. Her stomach started to growl, and she remembered Preacher had made a bunch of snacks for her to warm up in the microwave.

Getting to her feet, she left all the paint and walked downstairs. It was becoming a struggle to see her feet.

Padding toward the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and took out a burrito. He’d even left a list of instructions on how to heat it up.

Grabbing her plate, she sat in the dining room, eating her food, when she heard the door open and close.

“Bishop?” she asked around a mouthful of food.

“Only me,” Preacher said.

“Oh.”

“Don’t look so happy to see me.”

“I am. I’m sorry. Bishop and I, we had another argument.”

“Again?”

She nodded. Taking another mouthful of burrito, she watched him.

“I’m going to go and heat me up one of those. It looks way too good to turn down.”

By the time he returned, she’d already finished hers and was drinking some water.

“Do you want to tell me what the argument was about?”

She gave him the rough details.

“If that’s what you want, I’m happy to do it. I’ve taken care of a baby before.”

“Did you really take care of Bishop as a baby?”