Seeking Support
**Enrico**
The first thing I did upon arriving in Seattle was to find a hotel room and sleep for hours. I felt exhausted after a night filled with drinking and sex, followed by a six-hour flight during which my thoughts wouldn’t let me rest.
However, fatigue had taken its toll, making it impossible for me to leave the suite before catching up on sleep. That’s exactly what I did, but before that, I took some time to talk to Sarah and explain the situation. I wanted her to know that although I was in Seattle, I wouldn’t be able to visit her that same day. I reflected a lot on Rachel’s situation and concluded that her family needed to know she was pregnant and, evidently, without the baby’s father’s support.
Rachel might not even know who the father was, and she might have tried to shift that responsibility onto me. Even though she was a virgin when we were together, the fact that she was pregnant indicated I wasn’t the only one who shared her bed. The visit to Joseph’s house would have to wait until the next day, as I needed to be fully rested to visit my father and, consequently, Rachel. It wasn’t a pleasant task, but it was necessary.
So, the next morning, I headed straight to Sarah’s house, accepting her invitation for brunch. This was the perfect opportunity to share the news of her sister’s pregnancy, something I could only do in person. However, upon arriving in the living room of the Graham house, I was met with wonderful and unexpected news. I saw Sarah walking on her legs; I didn’t care that she was still using two crutches and visibly struggling. Seeing her stand filled my heart with emotion.
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” I commented, genuinely moved. “You’re really walking!”
I was ecstatic with the scene and stood at the entrance of the room, watching Sarah take slow and hesitant steps, her face radiating a smile of happiness that mirrored what I was feeling.
“What do you think?” she asked, clearly anxious for my reaction.
My emotion was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even respond to her question filled with almost youthful enthusiasm. Instead, I enveloped her in a tight hug, holding her close to my chest, and Sarah dropped the crutches, which fell to the floor.
"You’re walking!” I exclaimed, laughing with joy. “You’re really walking, Sarah!”
“Yes, I am,” she replied.
I noticed Sarah was trembling and continued to hold her firmly, just as Kael entered the room.
“What’s going on?” Kael asked, clearly showing displeasure.
Since Sarah had her back to the direction from which her fiancé had appeared, she was startled and nearly lost her fragile balance.
“Sarah is showing me the latest progress in her recovery,” I explained calmly.
Despite the unfriendly expression on Kael’s face, he managed to control his evident jealousy and responded with a simple, “I see.”
I helped Sarah retrieve her crutches, and she leaned on them again, walking slowly towards the couch, indicating a place beside her.
“Sit down, Enrico,” she said, not seeming to care about Kael’s unfriendly expression as she added, “And you too.”
Kael hurried to sit beside his fiancée before I could take a step to accept Sarah’s invitation to sit next to her on the couch. I just smiled at the other man's childishness. After all, Sarah and I had never felt anything for each other beyond friendship.
“I am truly delighted with your progress in the treatment, Sarah,” I said to my friend.
“Dr. Milles is an excellent professional and played a crucial role in these results,” Sarah said enthusiastically. “Now that Joseph is in Seattle, perhaps you should try convincing him to do some light exercises with proper supervision, Enrico.”
I liked Sarah’s suggestion, as she always tried to encourage me to seek a closer relationship with my father, even though I had made it clear that it seemed impossible. However, due to her insistence, I ended up making a few attempts, such as when I brought Joseph to live with me in London, though those efforts had proven fruitless in many ways.
“I’ll seriously consider that idea,” I promised, smiling at how Sarah always tried to keep the peace between everyone, except Rachel, of course.
“When did you arrive?” Kael interrogated me, quickly adding, “How long do you plan to stay in Seattle?”
Kael seemed to have been waiting for an opportunity to start his interrogation. I tried to answer his questions patiently, but soon Sarah managed to ease the tense atmosphere that had settled in the room.
Sometime later, Maíra also joined us, as did Ryan and Mary. I decided that it was the most appropriate moment to share the news about Rachel's pregnancy. Whether they liked it or not, they were all part of the same family.
It didn't matter that the child wasn't mine; I didn't want Rachel to go through the pregnancy alone, without anyone's help. I knew my father was helping her, but nothing replaces the support of her own family at this moment.
"There is something I’d like to share with you," I announced when we were almost done with our hearty meal. "It’s about Rachel."
My words provoked a sudden and incredibly tense silence, but I wasn't intimidated. After all, someone needed to try to help—not necessarily Rachel, as she was aware of her mistakes, but I was concerned about the fate of the baby she was expecting.
"What has Rachel done this time?" Sarah asked with a look of reproach. "Hasn’t she already made your father move from London just to cater to her whims?"
I wasn't surprised by Sarah’s anger, and I also knew it would be challenging to make everyone forget the past and focus only on the baby. However, it was still necessary to try. So, I got straight to the point.
"Rachel is pregnant?!" Kael repeated my words.
He seemed to be the first to recover from the shock caused by the revelation, while the others still appeared stunned by surprise.
"That’s exactly what I said," I confirmed. "I believe this was the main reason she came back to Seattle."
"I’m so shocked by this news. I don’t even know what to say," Kael’s mother confessed. "Patrick always dreamed of being a grandfather one day, and now Rachel is pregnant, but he..."
She was visibly emotional, and the words seemed stuck in her throat.
"He’s no longer here to see it," Sarah completed.
Sarah also seemed deeply affected by the memory of her father.
"Dad used to say that when we grew up, we should marry someone we truly loved and that we would have children who would be even more loved," Sarah recounted melancholically. "And he asked us not to marry unless we were sure our feelings were true and reciprocated. We shouldn't marry if it wasn’t so."
I had already done my part, even when Rachel tried to deceive me. I was just trying to help her, and now each of us had the opportunity to decide whether to follow that advice or not.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
