"What are you doing here?!"

I expect those words to come out of my mouth, but am dumbfounded when they come from my Mom's lips first. Liam's shock quickly turns to anger.

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth, Liam. Something you seem to have some difficulty with lately."

"You are unbelievable. I can't believe you would just..."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" my dad bellows.

"He is no longer welcome in our home!" Mom says, pointing at Liam. I am stunned into silence. I know she has taken my side in all of this, but I didn't know she'd take things to the extreme.

"AND WHY THE HELL NOT!" my father demands.

I stand between them and hold up my hands. "Stop shouting! Please!" I say, ironically shouting myself in order to get them to cease and desist. "Can we be adults about this for one moment and just sit down and talk without yelling?" I plead.

Mom takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. "Of course, Honey."

Dad says nothing, but his silent seething is enough of a show of consent that I lead us all into the living room and ask everyone to take a seat. The scene is almost comical. My mom is glaring at Liam, who is glaring at me, while my Dad's eyes are shooting daggers at both my mom and me. I almost feel left out by not having anyone to glare at. I half wonder where Dillion and Alex are, but since they didn't come running when the commotion started, I have to assume they went out.

I don't sit down, standing instead behind one of the wingback chairs by the fireplace, so I can face everyone in the room. It only takes me a second to figure out whom to address first.

"I'm not sure why Liam agreed to come back with you, Dad, since he and I are no longer together."

"What?!" my dad looks at Liam like he has betrayed him. "When... why...?"

Wow. He can't even get a sentence out. It's like I'm watching some sort of sad breakup scene. I almost expect him to cry.

Liam runs his hand through his hair and looks at me pleadingly. Obviously, now that he's on the spot, he doesn't want to answer any of those questions.

"What did you hope to achieve by coming here?" I question him.

"I miss you, Cat."

My dad immediately brightens. "See Cat. He misses you. I say let bygones be bygones. You kids can work this out."

Really, Dad? I roll my eyes and try not to let him get to me.

"It not that simple, Tom," my mom says, exasperation making her crossed leg bounce like crazy. She can't sit still. I know the feeling.

"Well, maybe I would know that Sarah if SOMEONE would explain what is going on." My dad stares back at my mom, equally exasperated.

The tension in the room is so thick you can cut it with a knife. I hold on to the back of the chair for support, as once again I feel slightly lightheaded. "Liam?"

He looks at me imploringly and just shakes his head no. He still can't bring himself to say it. "You're seriously going to leave this all on me?" I ask, and he just looks away. Coward.

"Dad, look, there is no easy way to say this." I wish Dillion and Alex were here, but Mom is right, it's time I stand on my own two feet.

"I cheated on your daughter," Liam spits out.

My dad's look becomes ominous. "You cheated on my daughter?"

Where is Liam going with this? I wasn't even planning on mentioning that part. I didn't even wish to say it to my Mom, but Dillion blurted it out this morning.

"Explain yourself!" my dad demands.

"I screwed up Mr. Fischer. I see that now. Of course, I didn't sleep with any of those other girls. I just sort of..." Liam runs his fingers through his hair again, "I just fooled around a little."

"And that makes it okay?" my Mom asks, appalled.

"Let him talk, Sarah," Dad intercedes.

"My intention in coming home with you today was to talk to Cat and put things right. I want to make amends."

My stupid traitorous heart leaps at his words, but my mind quickly reminds me of whom I am dealing with. Oh, Liam, why are you making this more difficult?

"See that!" my dad says victorious, desperate to grab hold of that single shred of hope, Liam just dangled in front of him, wanting his world put right again. "We should let these two talk it out, Sarah."

Dad stands up, expecting Mom to follow, but she doesn't, and I know what's coming next before I can stop it. "And what about the baby?"

My eyes close briefly. Here it comes...

"BABY?!"

"Lower the volume, Dad," I say, opening my eyes and exhaling slowly, trying to keep calm.

"You don't get to tell me what to do! Of all the STUPID, IRRESPONSIBLE things ... What was it? We're you afraid Liam would make Pro Bowl so you thought to entrap him by getting pregnant?"

"TOM!" Mom yells in disbelief.

His words feel like a slap, just like when I heard those same words from Liam. "WOW! You know what? You two deserve one another," I say, pointing to Liam and back to my dad.

"Yeah, Dad. Your daughter is a conniving slut. Thanks for that. Now that you've explained your opinion of me so fully, I can honestly say this requires no further conversation. I'm done here."

I go to walk away, but Dad grabs hold of my arm. "You're not going anywhere, young lady. You caused this mess, but we're going to fix it."

He looks over at Liam. "I assume that when you say you wish to make things right, you are talking about marrying my daughter."

"I... uh... um..."

I laugh at Liam's response, which infuriates my father. "He's so articulate, isn't he, Dad? You couldn't have possibly picked better for me," I say, my words oozing with sarcasm.

"Hey!" Liam replies, offended.

"You know what he wanted to do when I told him I was having this baby?"

My dad is staring down at me, his look dangerous, but I don't care. "He got me a prepaid appointment to have an abortion."

Dad's features change and he looks at Liam. "I don't think we were ready, Sir. We have our entire future ahead of us. I want us to be established before we introduced children into the mix. I thought that was a REASONABLE request," Liam states, looking around my dad at me.

"He's not wrong, Cat," my dad says confidently. "If you're saying this pregnancy wasn't planned, then it was a mistake, one neither of you should have to pay for the rest of your lives. You can end this and start anew."

I so wish I wasn't still standing here. If my dad still didn't have hold of my arm, I swear I'd walk out the door and never come back.

"NO!"

"NO?" my dad echos.

"See what I'm dealing with?" Liam cries, and both Dad and I shoot him a look that shuts him up immediately.

"Disown me. I don't care, but I will not throw away a life just because he's worried about what his Coaches are going to think and YOU'RE worried about what the neighbors will say."

"Sit down," Dad says, with an eerie calm. "You are going to listen to me."

I wrench my arm from his grasp as I step back. "NO! YOU SIT DOWN! I'm tired of listening to you. Every time you open your mouth, I'm given another reason to feel bad about myself. Well, that stops now. RIGHT NOW!"

"I get it! You LOVE Liam! So, adopt him already. He's the son you always wanted, while I'm the daughter you NEVER wanted. But keep in mind he likes to party... hard. He likes to get all hot and heavy with any girl that comes across his path, so you may end up with grandbabies eventually, anyway."

"Hell, they may already exist. I've seen him come home from those parties and he doesn't even know his own name half of the time. The only way he even makes it back to our dorm is because his buddies make sure he ends up at the right house."

"Yeah, you got a real winner there, Dad. I've been stupidly trying to impress you my entire life. Winning awards in whatever sport or academic endeavor you threw at me. You made it quite clear you'd only accept the best, but my best was NEVER good enough, was it Dad?"

"Well, I'm done trying to appease you!" I say to Liam.

"And I'm OVER trying to impress you," I say, looking pointedly at my dad. 

"Cut me off, throw me out like you did my brother when he hit on hard times. Cast me to the curb. I DON'T CARE! I'm keeping this baby and there is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING, either of you can do about that. Am I understood?!"

Mom stands up behind me, putting her hand on my shoulder in a show of solidarity and support, which I really appreciate.

My dad responds with, "You want to leave? Then leave!" 

I nod. It hurt, but it was the response I expected. I go to walk away, but Mom's grip on my shoulders tightens, stopping me.

"If she goes, I go."

Stunned, I look back at my mom and she has that same look of determination I saw this morning.

"This argument is not about Cat at all, but about your own disappointments in life. You think I entrapped you because I got pregnant with Dillion before we married."

Her confession is the most surprising thing she has said yet. I didn't know. They must have lied, either about Dillion's birthday or their marriage date. It is probably the latter, as they got married by the Justice of the Peace. My mom always told us they eloped because they were so much in love that they didn't want to wait, but I guess that isn't true.

"You believe I've ruined your life, your chances to be a Pro Golfer. In Liam you see all that you wanted to be. You were so disappointed you couldn't turn Dillion into you. Your disgust and disappointment drove him to drink, and you responded by throwing him out. Our son was homeless, Tom and I stood by and, much to my shame, I did nothing. NOT this time. My biggest mistake in this life is loving you, just like Cat's is loving Liam. She found a man who is EXACTLY like her father."

She looks at Liam, stating emphatically, "And that's NO compliment!"

"Sarah, I..." for the first time in his life, my dad is speechless. I can see her words hurt him. He no doubt loves her like I know Liam loves me, but sometimes that love is not enough.

"Our daughter needs us," she says to him. "Are you ready to stop mourning your past and embrace your future as a father and grandfather? Or are Cat and I to pack our bags?"

"Sarah, please be reasonable. She isn't ready for this. You must remember what it was like? We weren't ready. Do you forget all the struggles, the heartache, the pain? I want to protect her from that."

Mom comes out from behind me to stand in front of my dad, resting her hand on his chest. "You can't," she explains, "It's not your decision to make. It's hers, and our job is to stand by her and try to make things easier if we can. Perhaps even to share some of that pain and heartache and the knowledge we gained from it, so she doesn't have to experience the struggles we did. She can learn from our mistakes."

"It's not enough," he says, truly disheartened.

"It's the best we can do," she assures him.

He covers her hand with his, brushing the side of her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Perhaps I don't show it or say it enough, but I do love you, Sarah. No matter how I pictured my life turning out, you were always a part of that picture."

I see my Mom smile up at him and I catch Liam looking over at me, but harden my heart. I can't, I just can't let him in again.

The front door opens, and Dillion and Alex come in carrying pizzas.

"We figured you wouldn't have time for lasagna, Cat, so we...." The words die off as three men look at one another, all of them ask the same question.

"What the HELL is he doing here?"

Here we go again.