"How do you think it's going to go?" Joseph's voice came from my phone, which was teetering on the edge of the bathroom sink.

I dabbed at the extra lipstick gathered at the corners of my mouth. "I honestly have no idea."

"You're going to try to make nice, though?"

I sighed. As much as it pained me, I was going to behave tonight. Not for my dad so much as for Maddy.

"Yeah," I finally said.

"It'll be better than you fear."

I hope so, I thought as I finished with my makeup. To Joseph, I said, "I'd prefer spending the night with you."

"You and me both."

I could hear the smile in his voice, and I itched to hold him, to touch him. We talked every day but hadn't seen much of each other. If Joseph wasn't helping his church (activities he'd agreed to long before we started dating), he was busy with his contracting work. His uncle's company's workload had doubled in the past few weeks. Joseph promised it would die down soon, but that didn't make his absence any easier.

Loud knocking came from the front door, and Jade called, "Hey, it's your dad!"

I took care of my mess and picked up my phone. "I've gotta go."

"Call me before you go to bed?"

I chuckled. When didn't I?

"Of course."

"Bye." Joseph made an exaggerated kissing noise.

I repeated it and ended the call. I slipped my phone into my bra and marched out of the bathroom and into the living room. There, my dad and Jade held a slightly awkward conversation. Everyone knew the drama that had consumed Jade's life for a long while, and pretty much no one knew what to say to her, especially not adults.

As I entered the room, both my dad and Jade threw me pleading glances that the other one didn't see. I wished Jade a goodnight, tossed on a jacket, and pulled my dad from the house. Outside, he released a grateful breath. I pretended I didn't hear it.

My dad turned to me. "Ready to have a nice dinner?"

I slapped on a bright—but not too bright—smile. "Yep."

He watched me a moment, then lead me to his car. In the front passenger seat sat Patty. My steps slowed when she offered a small grin. It could have been a nervous one, it could have been to mock me. I couldn't tell with her deep-set forehead wrinkles or the ones around her mouth.

My dad noticed my pace lag and raised his eyebrow at me. I promised I'd go, and I couldn't upset Maddy, not in her condition. I practically ran to the car and dived inside behind my dad. My dad soon took the driver's seat, and ten seconds later, we peeled out of the patch of brown grass that passed for Jade’s mom’s driveway and set off toward the center of Jamestown.

Patty dropped her visor and looked at me through its mirror. "You look very pretty."

I tapped my fingers against my knee. She was being polite. I needed to act in kind.

"Thanks. I like...your new haircut?"

Patty patted at her short black bob that actually didn't make her look like a hag. It wasn't the best style to compliment her non-existent jawline, but it wasn't terrible. I didn't remember if she had it when she and my dad came to visit a couple of weeks ago. I'd done my best to not set my eyes on her.

"Oh, well, I just got it done Tuesday. It's a little shorter than I intended."

"It's very nice."

Patty beamed. "Thank you."

My dad flashed an approving smile through the rearview mirror before focusing fast on the road. The ride to Maddy’s wasn’t long, maybe seven minutes at the most, but each one passed at glacier speed. My dad forced a conversation more uncomfortable than the one he’d had with Jade, but neither Patty nor I let on like we felt as uneasy as him. No one offered much in the way of details, yet the exaggerated cheeriness made up for depth.

I almost shouted “Praise Jesus” as we reached Maddy’s small house with the sagging roof Leo kept promising to fix. Maddy no longer nagged him about it, or at least she’d given it up before she’d got pregnant. Maybe the argument had started anew. I couldn’t blame Maddy if she did start harping about it again. I wouldn’t want to raise my kid in a place where the roof might fall at any second.

The three of us fled the car like the engine was about to explode, and it was a race to see who could politely fast-walk to the front door first. I won (though I wore the highest heels) and rang Maddy’s temperamental doorbell. Tonight, it chose to work, so it was only moments before Maddy opened the door with a too-wide smile. I ignored it as I noticed she’d chosen to wear a flowing blouse and cute slacks. It wasn’t her style (my sister was thin and well-built and had no problem flaunting her numerous curves), but I knew my dad and Patty wouldn’t notice. If they had, it would have given away Maddy’s surprise right away, and then there wouldn’t have been any point to dinner.

More small-talk was made as Maddy rushed us inside and to the dining room, where Leo was adding the finishing touches to the impressive food spread. I didn’t mind my sister’s boyfriend. He was reliable and clearly loved Maddy (they’d been together since seventh grade when both their dates to the Halloween dance ditched them for ‘better’ prospects), but he was always quitting jobs when he grew bored of them. He was the hardest worker I knew, but he had the attention span of a gnat. Hopefully, that would all change now that they had a kid on the way.

One thing Leo had no problem focusing on was food. He was the best amateur chef in Jamestown, of that I had no doubt. My mom used to always ask Leo why he didn’t go to culinary school. He’d just shrug and mumble something nonsensical. I think she would have pestered him about it on her deathbed had he been there when she’d died.

My dad, Patty, and I attacked dinner. We stuffed so much food into our mouths, we couldn’t talk. Maddy and Leo didn’t even bother to try. They just picked at their plates between glancing at each other every few seconds. When that happened, one or both would grin before looking away. I rolled my eyes. They were so bad at not being obvious.

They got so ridiculous that my dad finally caught on. He swallowed his ham and potatoes, wiped his mouth, and locked his gaze on the pair. “What’s up, guys?”

“Um...” Leo coughed.

Maddy flicked her attention to me, which made my dad give me a quizzical look. I made a ‘go on’ motion with my free hand. Now was as good a time as any.

Maddy and Leo locked fingers. They wore the stupidest, biggest grins as they both said, “We’re pregnant.”

Patty clapped her hands. “Oh my God! That’s amazing news!”

My dad shook his head. “What?”

“It’s a baby,” I said. “You know how one of those is made, right? When a mommy and a daddy—”

“Okay, Ra-Ra,” Maddy laughed.

My dad didn’t even hear the exchange. He couldn’t take his tear-filled eyes off Maddy. She jumped up and threw herself into my dad’s waiting arms. He held her tight and kept going on about how happy my mom would be. Patty had taken to patting Leo on the back and running through a never-ending questionnaire that left the poor guy speechless.

I just watched as I slowly cut into my delicious meal. I smiled and threw in a comment when appropriate, but I was more than content to let my dad and Patty lavish all their attention on the soon-to-be parents. And with Patty barely acknowledging my existence, it made it a billion times easier for me to not ruin the night, and I actually enjoyed myself.