Blue Lines(30)

As he parted from Alla, Erik glanced back at Piper and she knew right then that the reason she put up with his crap was that she loved him. The more she thought about her unreasonable support of this man, the more sense it made—she had been hopelessly in love with him. Gah, was she crazy? She must be, because if she told anyone how she felt about this guy they wouldn’t friggin’ believe her.

She held Erik’s gaze until Cooper wrapped him up in a backslapping hug and said, “Good to see you, son. Real good.”

Erik chuckled.

“It’s so good to see you, Piper!” Erik’s mom greeted her with enthusiasm—boy, wait till she hears the news.… For the longest time Piper thought that Alla was their real mother, but Erik had talked a lot about his family when they’d spent the night together and had told her he and Jakob were adopted. Piper had never expected that. They favored Alla so much probably because Erik’s real mom and Alla were sisters. Alla had dark hair like Erik’s and it was styled in a cute pixie cut. Her eyes were dark brown and very exotic looking and she had a bright smile that resembled Erik’s. Alla was a bit on the tall side, but beside her giant of a husband she looked tiny.

Cooper was such a great guy and Piper knew he loved Erik unconditionally. They were never blessed with children of their own and made up for it by loving Erik and Jakob all the more. It was refreshing but also unnerving because Piper had no idea how Alla was going to handle Erik and Piper being married and pregnant.

Looking over Alla’s shoulder, Piper noticed her parents had entered the room, with Harper close behind them. Reese was there, too, with Ally on her hip, and Jakob was leaning against the wall with a grin on his face.

Isn’t this convenient, she thought with a sigh.

Alla pulled back with a puzzled look and glanced down at Piper’s growing midsection.

She then looked up at Piper’s face and asked, “Honey?”

Piper gave her a nervous smile.

“Yeah, there is a baby in there,” she said with a laugh.

Alla turned looking for Piper’s mom, Rowan, and said, “She’s pregnant? You didn’t tell me that!”

With a tight smile, Rowan said, “We just found out the other day.”

“Oh,” Alla said with a “whoops” sort of look on her face.

Piper bit into her lip when all the eyes fell on her. She felt stupid and knew that her whole family and now Alla and Cooper were looking at her as if she had fucked up again. She wanted to burst out in tears but before she could even do anything, she felt someone come up behind her, and then a hand rested on her stomach. Looking up, she met Erik’s dark eyes. He looked just as nervous as she did but for some reason, she felt comforted by him.

Erik turned from her and was about to address their families. Piper watched as a smile crossed his face and he told them, “We are excited. It was unplanned and a complete surprise but we are happy.”

Piper wanted to laugh at his lie, but she remembered that she was a part of it. She put on a smile of her own, then noticed everyone looking at them with shocked faces.

“Whoa, excuse me?” Harper asked as Jakob came off the wall and to her side. Up until now Harper knew that Piper was pregnant; Piper just never told her sister it was Erik’s baby.

“Erik?” Jakob asked as Erik chuckled.

“Guys, come on, don’t act so surprised,” Erik said. “You must have noticed Piper and I had a thing for one another.”

Rowan’s mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Harper’s face was red with anger as Jakob stood with a silly grin on his face, “Stop playing, Erik. What is going on?”

Erik massaged Piper’s shoulders. “We are having a baby. It’s due in September, right, gorgeous?”

Piper looked up at him with what she hoped he saw as a warning look. He was laying it on pretty thick and no one was going to believe this shit.

“Yes, the twenty-first.”

They gave each other fake smiles before looking back at their family. Rowan was still blinking uncontrollably, her mouth moving, while Piper’s father, Blake, stood beside her, his eyes locked on Erik. Piper looked over at her twin to see Reese glaring at Erik, too. Alla and Cooper looked shocked as well, and Piper was starting to feel self-conscious. This was bad. They should have done this another way.

“I remember everyone being a little happier when Harper and Jakob announced Ally,” Erik added, hugging Piper close to his body.

She loved when he’d hugged her all those months ago but it felt different now since she knew that he didn’t mean it.

“Um, you’re six months, Piper, and we are just finding out about this?” Alla asked. “Erik, why didn’t you tell us?”