What Family Means. Geri Krotow

you hungry? I’ve got plenty of oatmeal left.” Stella smiled and Angie let the flash of her perfectly straight, white teeth send their happy energy her way. Stella was a pediatric dentist and her own smile was her best advertisement.

      “No, thanks.”

      Stella’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure? I even have real maple syrup.”

      Angie laughed.

      “No, thanks.” That was just like Stella, to remember that Angie liked the real stuff, not some flavored corn syrup. But her stomach couldn’t cope with much of anything at the moment.

      “You’re not on a diet, are you?” Blair was five years her junior but acted like her big brother more often than not. Like his twin, Brian, Blair had followed in their dad’s footsteps and was an architect. But while Blair loved Buffalo and worked in Dad’s firm, Brian had left Buffalo for a position in Denver.

      Angie missed seeing both her brothers but was grateful to be facing just one of them at the moment.

      “No, I’m not on a diet…” She let her voice trail off. Blair nuzzled Stella’s neck.

      “Knock it off, Blair,” Stella said with a giggle.

      “Yeah, knock it off, or get a room. Geez.” Angie loved to tease her brothers.

      “How’s your new job?”

      “Great, good. It’s okay. You know, it always takes a while to get familiar with a new place.”

      “I’m sure they’re excited to have you on the team.” Stella poured coffee into a brick-red mug.

      “Here—it’s the morning blend from the café.”

      Angie looked at the mug but knew if it got too close she’d be in Blair and Stella’s downstairs bathroom in ten seconds flat.

      “No, uh, wait—” She shoved herself off the stool and made it to the bathroom door in six seconds, to be exact.

      “Come on. Be a big girl and go ’fess up,” she whispered to her pale reflection in the washroom mirror.

      She walked out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen, but stayed close to the door. She couldn’t handle the smell of coffee right now.

      “You’re pregnant!” Stella’s declaration caught Angie off guard, but then she teared up and smiled at her sister-in-law.

      “I am.”

      Blair whistled.

      “Miss ‘I’m-not-bringing-kids-into-this-harsh-world’ is going to have a baby?”

      Angie looked at Blair and Stella and felt like the most unsympathetic sister possible.

      “I didn’t want to tell you—I was hoping you two, um…”

      “Oh, honey, don’t worry about us! We’ve just started trying, and I am younger than you, you know,” Stella chided Angie lovingly. “Come on over here and give us a hug!”

      Angie accepted Stella’s hug, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. She drew back and wiped at her face with her hands.

      “Here.” Stella handed her a napkin from the breakfast bar.

      “Thanks.” Angie sniffled. “I didn’t want to tell you guys—I know you’re trying, and here I go and get pregnant without even planning.” Angie and Jesse had always been meticulous about birth control. She knew her ovulation cycle inside out. With the effects of top-shelf champagne and the holiday season she and Jesse had enjoyed themselves on the rug next to their Christmas tree. Without protection. She’d thought she couldn’t possibly get pregnant at that particular time. The baby inside her was proof that she’d been wrong.

      “My doctor says we’re both perfectly healthy—it’s just a matter of time.” Stella put her hand on Angie’s forearm. “This is so exciting! Our kids will grow up together.”

      Blair stood in the kitchen, staring at Angie.

      “What?”

      “You haven’t told Mom and Dad yet, have you?”

      “No, I haven’t—but I will. I just haven’t had time alone with them.” She let the little white lie hang there. She hadn’t told Jesse yet, but that wasn’t any of her family’s business, was it?

      “Wooo-wee. Mom’s going to go nuts! When she thought we were thinking about trying, she flipped—even asked if we had a nursery theme picked out.”

      Angie laughed.

      “Mom’s always in the thick of it with us, you have to admit.”

      “I’m not used to this. My family isn’t as hands-on.” Stella sipped her coffee. “Hands-on” was a polite way of describing what they often saw as Debra’s overinvolvement with her kids’ lives. But they all knew the reasons for it, too.

      “Your mom didn’t have the interracial thing to deal with.” Blair looked at Stella, her dark skin a testament to her African-American heritage.

      “No, but she had plenty of her own worries.”

      “Like you marrying me?” Blair smiled sardonically. Stella’s parents had been shocked to find out that his family was mixed—Blair and Brian both had dark skin like Stella. But they’d taken it in stride.

      “Knock it off, tough guy.” Stella swatted Blair on the arm.

      “Mom loves us, and she’d be hurt if she heard us talking like this.” Angie felt a need to defend her mother. “I’ll tell her to give us some space.”

      “Yeah, tell her to focus on Brian.”

      “She can’t, he’s in Colorado.”

      “Yeah, but I’ve heard he’s dating the same gal from last summer.”

      “The blonde?”

      “Seems so.” Blair smiled and hugged Stella quickly. Angie observed their profiles, both slim and tall. They were very open to each other, their marriage the stuff of dreams.

      “I gotta go, baby. Dad’s out of town and someone needs to keep the ship afloat.” Blair kissed Stella full on the lips.

      “See you at dinner, as long as we don’t have too many walk-ins.” Stella kissed him back.

      In Stella’s office, walk-in referred to anything from a split lip to lost teeth.

      “Do you get a lot of walk-ins this time of year?” Angie asked.

      “Hockey pucks.” Stella smiled and pointed at her front teeth.

      Angie winced. “Ouch. I think I’ll stick to analyzing weather patterns.”

      Stella laughed, then immediately grew solemn.

      “Don’t worry, Angie. We’re all here for you.” She looked at her watch. “I’ve got to go, too. Let’s try to get together soon, okay? And no more nonsense about who got pregnant first!”

      Angie laughed. “Deal.”

      CHAPTER FOUR

      Present Day

       Buffalo, New York

      ANGIE LOWERED the car window and let the crisp air wash over her face. For the first time since she’d returned home, she was grateful for the cold. It took her mind off her heaving stomach.

      Off her life.

      She turned into the parking lot of Koffee Klache. Mom said she’d come over right around two, after she’d checked in on Grandma Violet.

      Angie looked at the car’s digital clock. One forty-five. She had fifteen minutes to pretend she wasn’t pregnant, that her life hadn’t taken such a major detour.

      Her stomach felt