What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Sitting in those waiting chairs was the awkwardest moment of my life in my twenty years of living. Finally, Candace emerged from the revolving doors, causing me to jump to my feet. My younger sister walked towards me and the closer she got, I could see tears streaming down her face.

"Well?" I asked softly, even though I already knew my answer from her tears. She simply nodded and flung herself against my chest. My arms wrapped around my baby sister as I held her as she cried, not even caring that people were staring, taking pictures, and muttering my name.

"We should go, mom's probably wondering where we are." I whispered in my sister's ear. She peeled herself away from me and together we walked out of the doctors' office.

"Do you think they'll hate me?" Candace muttered, breaking the silence of the car ride back to my place.

"Who? Mom and Dad?" I asked, turning down the radio just a bit.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"Can, they can't hate you. You're their daughter. Besides, they can't hate you because then they'll be admitting to making a mistake themselves." I told her, ready to spill a family secret that only my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and myself know.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Candace asked, turning her head to face me from the passenger seat.

"I was the result of a teen pregnancy. Mom was no older than you when she gave birth to me." I silently said. I took a quick glance at her face and saw that her eyes were wide with shock.

"Are you serious? No way! That explains why Mom and Dad look so young, and why there aren't any pictures of you when you were a baby lying around." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so." I told her. Candace didn't say anything and the ride back to my condo was completely silent.

"Thanks." Candace muttered when I pulled into the parking garage.

"No problem." I muttered back.

"You know, out of all the people, I would've thought that you would have been the most upset about this." Candace stated as we both got out of my Range Rover.

"Eh, I'm upset about it, but what's the point of yelling? What's done is done. No changing it now." I told her as we started walking towards the building.

"Hopefully Mom and Dad have the same views on this as you do." Candace mumbled.

"Chill out, we'll tell Mom now, let her tell Dad and just go from there. And if you ever need any help, well you know where to find me." I told her as I pulled her into a small side hug. She wraps her arms around me as she says,

"Thanks Ty, you're the best big brother anyone can ever ask for." I rolled my eyes and muttered,

"I think those pregnancy hormones are getting to ya. Now, c'mon, the sooner we tell Mom the better."

"Mommy, I have something to tell you." I heard Candace say as I pressed my ear against the closed door. Candace had opted to tell our Mom about her news alone.

"What's wrong baby?" I heard my Mom ask.

"I'm pregnant." I couldn't hear my Mom's reaction because my youngest sister Cassidy decided that this was the opportune time to tell me,

"Tyler, someone is calling you." She held out my cell phone. Seeing the name Milan Lucic flash across the screen of the iPhone, I took it from her and answered,

"Hey Looch, what's up?" When I got my answer, I nearly dropped the phone in shock.

"Ohmygosh, I'll be right there." I managed to say as a I felt a fluttering feeling make its way up my throat.

"Man, it's really bad. Adam's really cut up about this too. I'd hurry. The rest of the team will be here as well so get here soon." Looch said before hanging up. After hanging up my own phone, I barely made it to the bathroom to release the bile that was building up in my mouth.