The service finally comes to an end after more praying and more singing.

We stand for the last hymn, and Cal gently lowers a sleeping Emily down into the pew. As people begin to exit from the back of the room, he turns around to lift her into his arms. She stirs awake and looks around, then lays her head on his shoulder, looking ready to go right back to sleep.

"She can walk," April says with a smile, but Cal makes no move to put her down.

"I don't mind. She rarely sleeps on me anymore," he replies softly, stroking a hand down the back of her head.

Would he have been the same way with our daughter or son?

The idea that Cal would hate to have a child had brought me an ounce of comfort after my ectopic pregnancy, however small that comfort had been. But seeing him now with Emily, as well as every other sweet moment I've seen the two of them share, fights against that bit of comfort. Maybe he would have learned to love our child too, given the chance. Maybe it would have brought him back to me.

I turn away from them to face Theo, in time to see him sitting down in the pew again and leaning toward the ground. He picks up a cane that's resting in the aisle next to our pew, then moves to his feet again. I must have been too distracted by that bitch behind us, Annie, to notice it when he came in.

Organ music plays as the church pews empty. Theo waits until Annie and her boys, along with the rest of the people in their bench, walk into the aisle to exit, then he steps out of our pew and gestures for me to walk out ahead of him.

After stepping into the aisle, I glance over my shoulder while slowly following the masses.

Theo allows Cal and April to walk out, then begins to move forward with the help of his cane.

Cal walks beside me, still carrying Emily in his arms, but April hangs back with Theo. I see her gesture toward his cane with a smile that Theo doesn't return.

When we step into the front foyer, Cal nods his head to the side where an open door leads into a large room. The majority of the people are gathering there, while others exit the building into the parking lot. "There's coffee, and if we're lucky, cookies."

"You mean we have to stay longer?" I groan.

Cal smirks as he nods his head. "Yah, at least this week. April and I are on the list today for coffee and clean up."

When we step into the room, a little girl runs up to Cal and tugs on one of Emily's dangling feet. "Emy! Emy! Do you want to come to my house for lunch today?"

Emily's head whips off of Cal's shoulder and she squirms in his arms until he places her on her feet. "Can I, Dad, can I?"

"Did your parents already say it was okay?" he asks Emily's friend.

She points the toe of her shoe into the ground and smiles up at him bashfully. "I didn't ask them yet..."

"Well, maybe you should before I give you my answer," Cal says with a light laugh.

"Come on, Emy, let's go find my mom!" She grabs Emily's hand and the two run off into the crowd.

Cal watches them dash across the room, then looks at me. "Let's hope Avery's parents say yes. That girl's gonna be a bouncing ball of energy now that I let her nap for so long."

I'm not sure what he expects me to say in reply, so I just look at him with a blank expression.

Cal shrugs and points to a table to the side with two large coffee urns and stacks of styrofoam cups. "Coffee?"

I'm about to decline when April and Theo walk up to us. "Sure," I say instead, hoping to use the opportunity to escape, but it doesn't work in my favour. Theo comes along with us, while April gets drawn into a conversation with a group of women.

"So what'd ya think?" Cal asks while he hands me a hot cup. He does the same for Theo, and then for a woman who's walked up to the table as well.

She thanks him and gives me a friendly nod before going to mingle in the crowd.

I set my cup down on the table to spoon in some sugar. "Think about what? That you tricked me into going to church with you, or that my ass is slightly numb from sitting on that bench for so long?"

Theo chuckles but tries to hide it by bringing his coffee to his lips.

Cal grimaces. "I didn't trick you! I just... didn't tell you where we were going."

"You tricked me."

"You tricked her."

Theo and I speak at the same time, and I narrow my eyes at him. The giant has an interesting way of fucking off.

Cal shrugs. "Yah, well, I didn't think you'd come otherwise."

"I wouldn't have, but that would have been my decision! You don't get to call all the shots for me anymore."

"Call all the shots?" Cal repeats with an angry edge to his voice. "When did I ever call all the shots? You know that's not true, Emy. You had complete control over so much between—"

"Hey," Theo's strong voice interrupts him, "Now is not the time or place."

Cal shuts his mouth and clenches his teeth together, then brings his coffee to his lips. He glares over the edge of the styrofoam cup as he takes a drink, and I end up doing the same with my cup of coffee.

"Good morning," a bubbly voice greets as a thin brunette stands next to Theo. She leans into his side, giving him a one-armed hug, then aims a perfect smile in the direction of Cal and me. "I see you have a visitor with you today, and who might this be?"

"Hey, Megs." Theo returns her embrace, keeping a watchful eye on Cal and me while we continue to glare at one another. "This is Emilia. You briefly talked to her on the phone yesterday. You'll have to excuse them. You know how family can be. She's Cal's sister."

Sister?!

Coffee spews out of Cal's mouth, and I'm thankful that I already moved my cup away from my lips or I would be doing the same thing.

"I am not his sister!" I snap at Theo, while Cal wipes at his chin with the back of his hand.

"Sorry, foster sister. A long time ago," Theo casually corrects himself, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"Oh wow, that's so special that you managed to stay in touch all these years," Megan says with a dreamy smile.

Cal looks awkward as hell. He rubs the back of his neck and gives a short nod. "Uh, yah, it's really something, alright."

"What can I say, Cal has a way of touching you that makes you want to just keep coming, and coming, and coming back for more," I explain with a sugary sweet smile of my own, knowing full well that my words could be taken in more than one way.

Now both Theo and Cal look awkward, and I'm finally finding a bit of enjoyment in this day.

"What's that, Ape?" Cal calls over to his wife.

I glance in her direction to find her back toward us, still busy talking to the group of women.

"Good to see you, Megan. I'll see you later, yah?" He quickly walks over to April and places a hand on her lower back.

April turns to look at him with a curious smile, and Cal leans toward her ear. Whatever he says, it seems to get her attention. She takes his hand and politely excuses herself from the women, then leads him across the room to another door.

"You know, I didn't even hear April calling him," Megan says with a laugh, and I can't tell whether she's making a joke or if she's an oblivious idiot.

Theo chuckles. "You know Cal and April, they communicate on a different level."

"Just stop, Theo!" I speak louder than I intended to, but I am so damn sick of him making constant comments to prove the point that Cal belongs to April now.

Megan looks startled by my outburst, but Theo just frowns at me.

I don't need this shit.

I turn away from the two and make my way through the groups of people to escape into the parking lot, tossing my cup into a trash can on the way. I barely make it two steps outside when I hear my name being called.

I ignore the voice and walk toward Cal's car, but April follows after me.

"Are you okay?" she asks, looking concerned.

"I'm fine. Tell Cal I'm waiting here to go home, erhh, uh, your place."

April gives me that stupid, kind smile of hers. "I'm sorry that Cal sprang this on you. When I talked to you this morning, I had no idea that you didn't know his plan. He can be..."

"A dick," I fill in for her.

April laughs. "I was going to say he can be a little controlling, but yes, I suppose he can be a dick too," she explains with laughter still in her voice. She sounds more serious when she adds, "But in either case, he does mean well, at least most of the time."

I know she's right. I might be pissed at Cal for forcing me into this, but I know it came from a good place. He's sure this is what saved him, and maybe it did, but that doesn't mean it's something for me. I give a slight nod without meeting her eyes.

April starts laughing again, and I turn to her with a quizzical look.

"You must have thought I was losing it when I asked if you wanted to borrow a dress this morning!" she exclaims, beginning to laugh harder.

I crack a smirk. "Yeah, if I knew we were going to church the offer would have made a little more sense..." I frown as I look down at my attire. "Sorry for wearing a crop top?" I apologize in the form of a question.

April shrugs. "You don't have to be sorry. Despite Annie's opinion, there isn't actually a dress code. I just thought you might be a little more comfortable blending in some."

She's probably right, but I don't want to admit that.

An awkward silence falls over us. Well, it's awkward for me. April's just standing there, smiling at me like we're old friends killing time together.

"If this means so much to Cal, why was he falling asleep?" I blurt out the question as an accusation, but April's light smirk reveals that she doesn't take it negatively.

"Cal doesn't have the best attention span, especially when he's tired. He used to fall asleep during the service all the time, but he got better at staying awake once he started sleeping better."

Meaning, he isn't sleeping well now again...

"One time," April continues with a sly grin, "he fell asleep with his Bible on his lap. It ended up falling to the floor with a loud slap, and he jerked awake and let out a string of profanities." She laughs at the memory with a small shake of her head. "After that, he made a point of trying to stay awake."

"That might be worse than wearing a crop top," I muse with a small smile.

"I don't know, I think if Cal showed up wearing a crop top people would talk even more than they already do," April replies with a grin.

I laugh at the image, but the end of her sentence cuts it short. "Doesn't that bother you?"

April's grin turns into a perplexed expression. "What do you mean?"

"That people talk shit about Cal. I didn't receive the warmest welcome from Annie today, so I can only imagine how Cal was greeted when he started coming here with his tattoos and foul mouth. It doesn't make you angry that your fellow churchy people are dickheads?"

April shrugs. "Not really. I mean, I wish people would be more loving and accepting, but that's their problem. I don't come here for them, and neither does Cal. Plus, they're not all like that. The majority of the people here are really nice and welcoming. It's just always the rude ones that tend to stand out and leave a deeper impression, unfortunately."

I suppose she's right. I noticed a few curious stares but otherwise everyone I made eye contact with greeted me with a smile. I was probably judging myself more than anyone else.

"Do you want to come back inside?" April asks gently. "Cal was going to stick around to help me with the clean up, but I could go talk to him and get him to take you back now?"

"I'll take her."

I don't have to look to know that it's Theo offering. I'm about to decline, but April looks relieved and smiles in his direction.

"Thanks, Theo. Do you want to come over for lunch today?" She's already backing toward the church again while she waits for his answer.

Theo nods as he reaches my side. "That'd be great, thanks. See you guys later."

April gives a short wave and leaves the two of us standing next to Cal's old car.

"I'm parked over here," Theo comments without making eye contact with me. He starts across the parking lot, using his cane for minimal support with every quick step.

I frown as I watch him and attempt to slow my pace in hopes that it will encourage him to take it easier on his sore leg, but it doesn't do the trick.

He glares at me and holds out his cane toward me. "Here, it seems like you could use this."

I roll my eyes at him and pick up my pace again. I don't know why I even bothered. The stubborn asshole can walk on his sore leg all he wants. I don't fucking care.