“Kevin!” Mam snapped. “I told you that’s enough!”
“Yeah, I see it. I’m not blind, and I’m far from stupid,” my brother sneered, glowering at me. “Unlike you. The fucking idiot who laid on her back and let a loose cannon like Lynchy get her pregnant.”
“Fuck you,” I choked out, feeling the tears spill from my eyes, as my brother hit me with a cold hard dose of reality. “You have no idea, Kev. No goddamn clue.”
“Congratulations, sister,” he continued to sneer. “You just let that asshole turn you into another teenage pregnancy statistic. Well done. You can kiss your future goodbye now that you’ve joined the long list of hopeless girls from our school that were thick enough to open their legs to fellas like that.”
“I said that’s enough, Kevin,” Mam shouted, coming to stand between us. “I don’t care how surprised or upset you are, don’t you ever speak to your sister – or any woman, for that matter, like that again. You were raised, not dragged up.”
“Yeah, and so was she,” he countered, defensively. “But apparently, only one of us got the memo.”
“That’s not fair,” Mam replied, tone thick with emotion. “You don’t understand what your sister is going through.”
“No, because I actually happen to possess a brain between my ears,” he agreed, furious. “Unlike this idiot.”
“Kevin!”
“Jesus, I always knew you weren’t the brightest crayon in the box, but this?” my brother accused, eyes narrowed in challenge. “Getting pregnant while you’re still in school? Off a fucking scumbag like Joey Lynch? Wow, talk about scraping the barrel by mixing your genes with his. That poor fucking kid’s going to come out with a cocaine habit and the IQ of a gummy bear!”
“I said that’s enough!” Mam screamed, opening the cupboard door just to slam it shut. She did it three more times until she had my brother’s attention. “You,” she hissed, pointing a finger in my brother’s face. “Not another word.”
“But—"
Mam slammed the cupboard door again. “Not another fucking word, Kevin, or the next thing I’ll slam will be my hand across your face.”
“So, she gets pregnant, and I get threatened with a slap?” my brother huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “Talk about favoritism.”
“This has nothing to do with favoritism and everything to do with human decency,” Mam growled, poking his chest with her finger. “And I’m telling you now, young man, you better not breathe a word of this to anyone. Do you hear me, Kevin? Not a soul.”
“I’m obviously going to tell Dad.“
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep that mouth shut,” Mam warned in a rare, threatening tone. “This is not your news to tell, Kevin. This is not about you. This is about your sister, and Aoife has the right to tell your father, and everyone else, when she’s ready.”
“Are you crazy? This is Aoife we’re talking about. She’s never going to be ready to have a baby,” my brother said, pointing out one of my biggest fears. “She can’t even clean up after Spud, and she’s the one who begged you guys for him. How do you suppose she’s going to look after an actual living, breathing human?” He looked to me and said, “You should do yourself a favor and get an abortion. Fix this mess while you still can.”
“Fuck you!” With tears streaming down my cheeks, I shoved my brother out of my way, and ran for the stairs.
“You know I’m right,” Kev called after me. “You won’t last a day of motherhood until you’re pawning the kid off on our mother to do it for you.”
A soft knock on my bedroom door drew my attention away from the pillow I was attempting to drown out the sound of my banshee pitched wailing with.
“Aoife, love, it’s Mam. Can I come in and talk to you?”
Why the hell not?
I was a pregnant teenager in secondary school. My twin brother, upon hearing the news, had labeled me a mindless slut, before berating me for my chosen mate, and threatening to out me to our father. All this while said chosen mate was passed out cold somewhere, blissfully sleeping off any memory he had of the lifechanging news I’d given him.
In all honesty, nothing my mother wanted to talk about could make this situation any worse.
“Door’s unlocked,” I croaked out, pulling myself into a sitting position on my bed, with my pillow tucked against my stomach.
My bedroom door opened inwards and my mother appeared, eyes laced with concern. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
“Well, I’ve spoken to your brother, and he gave me his word that he’ll keep quiet until you’re ready to tell people.”
“You believe him?”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t know.” I exhaled a weary sigh. “He was pretty savage down there.”
“Your brother was a being a little shit.” Walking over to my bed, Mam sat down on the edge and reached for my hand. “Don’t you mind a word of what he said, Aoife. Not one word of it should be taken to heart.”
“I didn’t know he hated me so much, Mam,” I confessed, feeling teary again, as my brain rehashed every horrible word my brother had uttered. “I get that he’s upset about the baby, but what he said to me? There was serious hatred in his voice.”
“That wasn’t hatred you heard, Aoife, that was jealousy,” Mam corrected with a sad sigh. “And trust me, that has much more to do with your father than it has to do with you.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “Dad?”
“Your father and brother don’t have a connection. They never have. There’s love between them, sure, but there’s no common ground.”
“How does that have anything to do with me having a baby?”
“Because, in your brother’s mind, the boy you’re having a baby with is the same boy that bears the biggest threat to his relationship with your father.”
“Joey?”
“Joey.” She offered me a sad smile before continuing, “Can you imagine what it must have felt like these past six years for Kev? Watching your father develop and nurture a bond with a boy from his class, while barely acknowledging his own son’s achievements?”
“Okay, but how is that Joey’s fault?”
“It’s not Joey’s fault,” Mam replied gently. “And it’s not your fault, either. It’s Dad’s fault for not making a better effort with your brother over the years.”
“Mam, I know that Kev’s your pet, but you can’t blame his outburst on daddy issues,” I argued. I’ve seen daddy issues in the flesh and that’s not what’s happening with my brother. “Trust me, we have a good father.”
“You’re right, he is a good father,” Mam agreed. “But you have to acknowledge the lack of harmony in their relationship.”
“So, Dad likes cars and Kev likes computers. Dad’s an easy-going man’s man, and Kev’s an introverted millennial,” I forced myself to concede. “They’re not compatible. Big deal. Neither are we, but you don’t see me acting like that, because I know that you still love me, just like Dad still loves Kev.”