To say that Lilith was apprehensive about having the casello's brothers at her father’s house for their annual Thanksgiving celebration would’ve been something of an understatement.She had been an absolute mess these past few weeks, barely paying attention at work while she alternated a wheel of worries in her thoughts — what to wear, what to cook, how to cope if things got awkward, and what her dad might say if and when the inevitable topic came up of why, exactly, she had invited Lorenzo Casello into their home.Her dad was somewhat rough around the edges, and didn’t like new people. He was happiest when he was alone, occupying his time with his hobbies and his cigars. There were some times when she felt like he preferred to keep her at an arm’s distance, but Lilith knew how hard it had been for him to raise her without her mother.Lilith didn’t blame him. It just made her excessively wary about who she brought home. Certainly never any boyfriends — particularly since there never

Lilith's heart hammered within her chest and she only dully registered the sound of her dad talking with Lora downstairs — not their words, just the rise and fall of their easy conversation. What was it like not to have anything to worry about? To tease and chat with someone like the world wasn’t about to end?Because her world was about to end. She was pregnant. She didn’t need another test to tell me what she already knew. The lateness of her period. The way she had been feeling and acting. She just didn’t understand what had happened. She was on birth control. Maxim had used protection.All she knew was that nobody could find this. That no one could ever know.Lilith wrapped the test and its box up in some toilet paper and stuffed it down the waistband of her skirt. She would use the first opportunity to go outside and drop it in the trash — no, the neighbor’s trash. That way, it couldn’t be traced back to this house. She would get through tonight. she had get through the internshi

It wasn’t as good as the neighbor’s trash, but there was no way she would be able to slip away, especially now.When Lilith returned to the kitchen, her dad made me jump out of my skin. He was rocking back and forth on his heels, his hands jammed in his pockets, regarding the copious amount of wine that had materialized in the kitchen while he was outside.“Your strays here, Lilith?” he asked, eyeing her. “Can we get this over with?”“Oh, stop it,” Lilith said, brushing a few ashes off the front of his pullover. “You love Thanksgiving as much as I do. You can’t fool me.”“It’s hard not to like all this food,” my dad remarked. “It’s the inane socializing I dislike.”“Just think of it as the price of admission,” she reasoned. “Besides, you like talking to Lora.”They both entered the living room in a lull of conversation. At least, that’s what Lilith told herself when everyone looked up first at her, then at her dad. Lora looked worried, but she knew more than anyone else here. Alexei l