Evan pulled Mariah into his arms. “Mariah, how can you ever forgive what I’ve done?” He felt like crying as he had ruined their marriage because of his drunken actions.

“Because I love you.” She took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

“But I had sex with another woman.” His anguish filled his voice, as tears filled his eyes.

“I still forgive you,” she said softly, as she wiped his tears away.

“To a woman who turns out to be your sister?”

“I guess I could have sex with one of your brothers to even it out,” she teased, trying to ease some of the tension that was in the room.

“What?” he croaked, his face showing his disbelief at her comment.

Mariah quickly put her hands on his face. “Honey, I’m sorry. That was a bad joke. I forgive you because I’d rather have you in my life than live without you.” She smiled at him. “Besides, we have a baby coming.”

“I don’t know if I’d be as understanding if our situations were reversed.”

“Evan, I can understand how in your drunken and upset state you could have believed Whitney was me.”

“But she wasn’t you, I remember her telling me she wasn’t. Even though I don’t remember taking her back to my room, I still had sex with her.”

“Evan, you have to let this go. If you don’t, it’s just going to eat you up inside, and may even hurt our marriage. We all make mistakes,” she told him, trying to get him to forgive himself for what he’d done.

“Mistakes?” he hollered. “This was more than a simple mistake. This was adultery, I was unfaithful to you.” He watched helplessly as Mariah’s tears ran down her face. “Honey, please don’t cry,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

“Evan, we have to put this behind us or else our marriage is doomed. I don’t want to lose you, nor do I want to lose my sister again.”

“Okay, I’ll try, but I just don’t understand how we can.”

“Besides, this situation is perfect for Chandler. If they get marry then his child would be part Clemmens. It would be as if you had been the sperm donor for his child.”

“I guess that’s one way to look at the situation. Have you thought of what we are going to tell the child about this when they’re older?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure as I’ve never been in a situation like this one before. We’ll talk to Whitney about it, but I think telling them the truth would be best. I need to call Lindsay.”

“You’re going to tell your sister about me being the baby’s father?” he asked, shocked that she was going to tell her sister.

“No, I was just going to tell her about finding Whitney, not about the baby or who is the baby’s father. I think that’s Whitney responsibility to do.”

He nodded, then Mariah called Casey’s home.

“Hello?”

“Lindsay, this is Mariah.”

“How are you doing?” She still couldn’t she was talking to a sister she hadn’t even known she had until recently. How she missed having her sisters in her life. She sure hoped they could find the other two siblings, hoping they would what to be in their lives.

“I’m well. I have some exciting news to tell you.”

“You’re pregnant?” she asked teasingly, not at all expecting the answer she got.

Mariah choked, surprised by her sister’s question. She hadn’t planned to tell her about her baby yet, but she would find out soon anyway, so she went ahead and confirmed it. “Matter of fact I am, but that isn’t why I’m calling.”

Lindsay was confused to why her sister had confirmed her condition, then quickly changed the subject. “Congratulations. So what’s up?”

“You’ll never believe who just left here.”

“I haven’t an idea. Who?” Why were they playing this guessing game? What Lindsay really wanted to know was more about her sister’s pregnancy.

“Whitney.”

She could only think of one Whitney. “Our sister, Whitney?” she asked excitedly.

“The one and the same.”

Tears filled her eyes. “How did she find you?”

“Would you believe she met Evan a couple of months ago and she’d come here to talk to him? She didn’t know about me until I came into the room,” she replied nervously, trying not to let the cat out of the bag about Evan being the father of Whitney’s baby.

Lindsay could hear the stress in her sister’s voice. “Mariah, what aren’t you telling me?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, scared she had said too much.

“You sound funny when you were talking. Something’s wrong, I can feel it.” She didn’t know what it could be, but something wasn’t right. Did she have something bad to tell her about Lesley but didn’t know how. “Do you know something about Lesley?”

Mariah wasn’t prepared for that question, as it was way off base of what was going on. “I haven’t found her yet. It’s just so wonderful that I’ve found two of my three sisters,” she hedged. “I’m so glad Whitney ran into Evan.”

Something was odd about Mariah’s husband meeting Whitney. “Why did she come to see Evan?” Lindsay figured that must be what the problem was.

Mariah laughed. “It’s a complicated story and I rather not talk about it on the phone.”

“Is everything okay with you and Evan?”

“Yes. I need to talk to Whitney to see when the best time for her three of us to get together.”

“If you two come here, any time will work for me. Otherwise, I’ll have to work around Austin’s schedule, especially if I’m going to leave him with Casey, somewhere down the road.”

“You need to get out of that house, so you two come here. I’ll call you when I know something definite.” They said goodbye, she hung up, then called Whitney.

“Hello?” Whitney answered phone without any enthusiasm in her voice.

“Whitney, it’s Mariah.”

“Well?” she asked, holding her breath, expecting her sister to tell her the worst, like she never wanted to see her again.

“The three of us will somehow work through this situation. We’re sisters and I want you in my life.”

“I’m glad. Are we going to tell the child who their real father is? And if we do, at what age do we tell them?” All these questions had been wandering through her mind waiting for her sister to call her.

“Quit worrying about all that. It isn’t something we have to decide today.”

“That’s what Chandler said, but these are things I have to know as the child’s mother.”

“We’ll talk this over and decide together. Are you going to marry Chandler?” Mariah asked shyly.

“Wouldn’t that just make this whole situation more complicated?” she asked, her voice shaking. She liked Chandler, very much so, but how would marrying him improve the circumstances?

“No, I don’t,” she said, thinking that she really did wanted Whitney to marry Chandler. “How do you figure that?”

“At any family parties, I would be there with Chandler, Evan would be there with you, and whenever we looked at each other, we’d all know what had happened between Evan and me.”

“Even if you don’t marry him, I would still invite you to family gatherings.” She wasn’t about to lose a sister again after just finding her.

“If I wasn’t married to Chandler, I wouldn’t have to be there.”

“Whitney, you have to forget the past with my husband and move on. I’m going to.”

“I can’t understand how you can say that,” Whitney said to her.

“I’m not willing to lose either of you.” Mariah’s heart was filled with anguish at her sister’s pain.

“Chandler said something to me that made a lot of sense. He said that since neither of us remembered our night together, we wouldn’t have any memories to haunt us regarding that night.”

“Sounds like a smart man.”

“He seems nice,” Whitney replied slowly.

“He’s a good guy and all he wants is to marry you and make your baby his.”

Whitney thought for a second before she responded to her sister. “So you wouldn’t object to me marrying Evan’s brother?”

“I think it would be wonderful.” She paused for a few seconds. “Whitney, I was wondering about something.”

“What is it?” she asked, almost afraid of what she was going to ask.

She really didn’t have a right to ask her question since it wasn’t any of her business, but Whitney was her sister and she had the right to know. “Did Chandler have a chance to talk to you about his problem?” she inquired, unsure if he had told Whitney about his condition or not.

Whitney smiled at her sister’s concern. “Yes, I know he can’t father any children.”

“Does that make a difference to you?” she asked with uncertainty.

Whitney giggled a hysterical laugh. “If he can accept me being pregnant by his brother, I definitely can accept his sterility,” she said nastily.

“Whitney, please don’t do this to yourself. It’s not good for the baby for you to be this upset. For the baby’s sake, you have to let what happen with Evan go.”

“I’ll try,” she said with some fervor. “I am going to start now, and work at putting that situation behind me.”

“I am so happy to hear that. On to a different topic, I’ve called Lindsay and she wants to see you.”

Whitney wasn’t ready to see her sister just yet as she was still trying to deal with this situation with Evan and Mariah. “Does it have to be today?” she asked tearfully.

“Well I guess not, but she’s anxious to talk to you,” Mariah replied disappointedly, as she wanted her family together again, but the way Whitney was dragging her feet, it may never happen.

“Did you tell her that I had sex with your husband and is pregnant with his child?” she asked hatefully.

“Of, course not! How could you ask me that?”

“We need to decide who we’re going to tell about this. Since this is a family matter, and she is part of this family, she has a right to know.”

“You’re right, but I need to talk to Evan to see what he wants to do. If we tell her, Evan’s brothers will need to be told as well. Are you going to marry Chandler?”

“Mariah, way to change the topic.”

“It got your mind off of Evan for a bit.”

“I don’t see that happening as he asked me just to be nice,” she told her sister. She wouldn’t mind marrying Chandler and not just because it would make life easier for her. There was something about him that seemed to draw her to him, but she wasn’t sure what it was. His kiss had been out of this world, which left her with an excited feeling strumming throughout her body.

“It wouldn’t hurt to think about it.” Mariah was frustrated, wishing she could force Whitney to marry Chandler.

“I will, but don’t get your hopes up.”

Mariah didn’t respond to her comment. “Let me know when you’re ready to meet Lindsay. Good-bye.”

Whitney hadn’t seen Lindsay for twenty years and knew she shouldn’t put off seeing her again just because she felt uncomfortable about her situation with Mariah and Evan. “Mariah, wait,” she called out before her sister could hang up.

“What is it?” Mariah wondered if she’d changed her mind about marrying Chandler.

“I’ll come over tomorrow after lunch to see Lindsay.”

“Come for lunch.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” She couldn’t continue hiding from the situation with Evan but accept the consequences for her actions.

“Thanks for doing this. I know it’s hard, but Lindsay is family and wants to see you.” Mariah hung up the phone with a smile, thinking that maybe everything would work out after all, then she picked up the phone and redialed Casey’s number.

After she and Lindsay made lunch plans for tomorrow, she went to find her husband, as they needed to talk about whom else they were going to tell regarding Whitney and the father of her baby.

“Evan, I talked to Whitney just a while ago. She’s coming over tomorrow for lunch and Lindsay is going to join us.

Evan pulled his wife into his arms. “I know how much this mean to you to have two of your sisters in your life again.”

“Yes, I can’t believe how it all played out. On that note, we need to decide if we’re going to tell Lindsay about you and Whitney or should we just keep it between the four of us?”

Evan expression turned to one of frustration. “Good question, but I don’t have an answer. What do you think?”

“Your brothers and Lindsay are going to want to know who the father of her baby is once they’re aware she’s pregnant. I’m sure this child will have some of your characteristics, so there’s bound to be questions to why he looks like a Clemmens. Since Morgan and Casey know about Chandler’s condition, we can’t very well tell them that he’s the father.”

“I guess we better have a family meeting with Whitney and Chandler,” Evan said, dreading talking to Whitney.

“Do you think Chandler should be included in this meeting?”

“Why shouldn’t he?” he asked, confused to why she didn’t want Chandler to be there.

“Whitney may not marry him,” she informed her husband.

Evan looked at his wife in puzzlement. “Do you have anything against them getting married.”

“Of course not. You know how I feel about Chandler, as well as your brothers, they are all part of my family. Do you have a problem with it?”

“No, why would I? I think it would be nice if they were to get married. It might make thing easier for Whitney if she had someone on her side.”

Mariah looked hurt. “You don’t think I’m on her side?”

“Honey, even though you’re her sister, to her you’re the other woman.”

“Still I don’t think Chandler needs to be included in our discussion.”

“I just thought that since he knows who the father is, he could give us his perspective of the situation.”

Mariah nodded. “I guess you’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Evan called Chandler to ask what he thought they should do, and he said he thought it would be best if the four of them discuss this together. They arranged to meet that night after dinner so they could thrash out the pros and cons of who to tell regarding the father of Whitney’s baby. Then Mariah called Whitney to tell her to come over for a meeting, forgetting to tell her that Chandler was going to be there too.

Whitney was petrified to see her sister alone, so she called Chandler on his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Chandler, this is Whitney O’Rourke.”

Chandler smiled at the sound of her voice. “How are you doing?”

“I have a problem and was wondering if you could help me.”

“What’s the problem this time?” he asked in a teasing manner.

“Mariah just called and wants me to come over to discuss who we’re going to tell about Evan and me.”

“I know. Evan just called me.”

“I don’t want to go alone. Can you pick me up?”

“I can, but it is going to cost you.”

Whitney was shocked by his comment. “What do you want?” she asked nervously.

“Your first born,” he replied honestly.

“What? You think this situation is funny?” she cried, hurt that he could joke about this.

“Whitney, I asked you to marry me. I want your baby to be mine, and I want you to be my wife.”

“Chandler, this isn’t going to work.” How she wished it had been Chandler that night in Chicago instead of Evan.

“What isn’t?” He held his breath, hoping she wasn’t referring to them getting married.

“You and I getting married.”

“It could if you’ll let it.” There had to be a way to talk her into saying yes to his proposal.

She didn’t want to talk any more about his proposal. “Are you going to pick me up or not?”

He sighed, trying to think of a way to talk her into accepting his proposal. “Give me your address.”

A few hours later, Chandler pulled into Whitney’s apartment parking lot, smiling when he saw her outside pacing as she waited for him. He stopped his car and Whitney got in. “Hello Whitney.”

“Hello. Thank you for picking me up,” she said, refusing to look at him.

“I apologize for my earlier comment about wanting your first born,” he said, his words were spoken softly.

She gazed over at him, giving him a weak smile. “No need. I overreacted.”

They were quiet on the trip to Evan’s place. When they arrived, Chandler helped Whitney out of the car, took hold of her hand, and they walked to the house together. He knocked on the door, then he opened the screened door, and entered the house.

Mariah met them at the door. “Thanks for coming. Evan is in the kitchen fixing us some tea.”

They met for over an hour before they came to the decision to tell the immediate family the truth about the father of Whitney’s baby. Mariah and Whitney would tell Lindsay tomorrow at lunch, while Evan and Chandler told Morgan and Casey.

The next day Whitney showed up ten minutes early as she was nervous about this meeting. She was unsure how she was going to be able to eat any lunch for worrying about what Lindsay would think about her being pregnant by their brother-in-law. When the doorbell rang, Whitney jumped and grabbed hold of Mariah’s hand. “Mariah, I’m scared.”

Mariah squeezed her sister’s hand. “It’s going to be okay. You wait here and I’ll go let her in.” She hurried to the door to let Lindsay in and when she opened the door, she saw that Lindsay had her hands full.

In one hand, she had Austin’s carrier and in the other, a large diaper bag. Mariah reached out and took hold of the carrier, and as she looked at her sister, she was surprised to see she had the same glow she saw when she looked at herself in the mirror. She would bet her last dollar that Lindsay was pregnant too and that Casey was the father.

Mariah smiled at her. “Come on. Whitney is in the family room waiting.”

When Whitney saw Lindsay, she ran to her and embraced her. “Lindsay, you’re beautiful. You have a special glow to you. Are your pregnant?” As soon as she asked it, she wished she hadn’t.

Lindsay didn’t know how to respond. She wanted to tell her sisters her news, but she couldn’t since she hadn’t even told Casey about the baby she was carrying in her womb. “I don’t remember any of you, but your name was familiar when Casey mentioned it to me,” Lindsay responded instead.

The other two sisters noticed she didn’t answer Whitney’s question about being pregnant and that she’d made a quick change in the conversation, but neither of them comment on it.

“That day they took me away from school, I was told that my entire family was dead, but I had a hard time believing it. It didn’t make sense because I knew you and Mariah had been at school,” Whitney told Lindsay

The sisters sat down and visited, telling each other stories about their childhood and their adoptive parents. After lunch, the three women returned to the family room and Mariah decided it was time to drop their bombshell.

“Whitney and I are pregnant,” Mariah told her sister.

Whitney waited for the question about who the father of her child was.

“How wonderful!” Lindsay exclaimed, but still didn’t mention her condition.

Whitney leaned over and took hold of Lindsay’s hand. “I have something important to tell you,” she muttered apprehensively.

When no one spoke, Lindsay realized something was wrong. “What’s going on?” she asked looking back and forth between her sisters. “What’s wrong? Has someone died?”

“No, nothing that serious. I don’t know how to tell you this, but Evan is the father of my baby.” After the words were out of her mouth, she held her breath, waiting for Lindsay to condemn her.

“Mariah’s Evan?” she asked with disbelief. “I don’t understand,” she said, looked over at Mariah, then back at Whitney.

“I met Evan in Chicago a few months ago, we had too much to drink, and somehow ended in bed together, but neither of us remembered that part.”

Lindsay looked back and forth between her sisters. “Are you sure Evan is the father?” she asked. She looked at Mariah and couldn’t understand how she could be acting so calmly.

“Yes,” Whitney answered, but refused to look at her sister.

Lindsay looked at Mariah again. “You’re okay with this?” she asked, shocked by Whitney’s confession.

“What would you suggest I do? Divorce my husband and disown my sister?” Mariah asked coldly.

“I guess not, but I don’t know if I could handle it as calmly as you seem to be doing.” Lindsay didn’t know what else to say to her sisters.

“We’ve decided to put the incident behind us and not dwell on it. This is just a family thing, and we aren’t going to tell anyone else who the father is.”

Lindsay nodded. “I guess that’s why Casey is with Evan and Chandler right now.”

“Yes. We thought it would be better to tell the rest of you this way. Morgan is out of town and will be told when he returns.”

Lindsay stayed until Austin became fussy, she fed him, then she took him home to put him to bed. After she put the baby down for his nap, she went to find Casey, finding him in the office doing some research.

“Casey, we need to talk.”

He nodded, assuming she was referring to the family meeting regarding their siblings. “I was sure surprised when Evan told us his news.”

“Casey, that’s not what I want to talk about.”

“It isn’t?” he asked, shock that she didn’t want to talk about Whitney and Evan.

“No.” She took hold of his hand and pulled him to the couch.

Fear filled Casey; worried Lindsay wanted to break off their engagement. “Do you want to break up?” he croaked out his question. “Are you upset because of Whitney and Evan’s relationship?”

Lindsay let go of his hand and pulled him into her arms. “No, of course not.” She moved back from him, and grabbed hold of his hand again. “I wanted to tell you that we’re going to have a baby.”

“No!” he exclaimed with alarm, hoping she was teasing, as he wasn’t prepared for this to be happening to them just yet. That meant they would be raising three little ones, instead of just two.

“Yes,” she replied, afraid of his panic response. “I take it you aren’t happy about this.”

“No, it isn’t that. I just wasn’t expecting this. We only made love once without protection.”

She smiled at him. “That’s all it takes.”

“Well I know that,” he replied, his voice full of knowledge of that fact.

She was hurt by curt response. “Weren’t you the one who told me that the men in your family are very fertile?”

He tightened his grip on her hand. “Well yes, but still, it’s a surprise.”

“I hope it’s a good one.”

“Of course it’s a good one. I guess my mind is still on my brother’s news. Did you know Chandler asked Whitney to marry him?”

Surprise filled her face. “No, I didn’t. Neither of my sisters mentioned that. Was he serious?”

“Yes, he was.” Casey then told her about Chandler’s medical condition.

“How sad. I guess in a way, Whitey’s baby would be a blessing for Chandler. I think I’ll call Mariah and ask her about it.”

When Lindsay called her sister, Mariah confirmed what Casey had told her regarding Chandler’s proposal, but told her that Whitney hadn’t given him an answer yet.

“How would you feel if they did get married?” When Mariah didn’t respond, Lindsay decided she’d hung up on her. “Mariah, are you still there?”

“Yes, I was trying to find the right words to explain their situation. I think I would worry less about both of them if I knew they had someone in their life. Chandler has been hurt in the past by the woman he’s dated when he’s told them about his medical problem.” Should she tell Lindsay about Chandler’s secret?

When Mariah didn’t continue, Lindsay decided to tell her she knew about it. “Casey told me about it.”

“I think if they were to marry, this would be the perfect solution for both dilemmas, but Whitney doesn’t see it that way. She’s worried that by marrying Chandler, she’d be causing me more pain, but it fact it would be just the opposite.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”