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get hurt by his own father.
    “You don’t want Brayden to get hurt, or you don’t want to get hurt?” Avery leaned against the kitchen counter and cocked her head to the side, waiting for Sloane’s response.
    “What?”
    “Sloane, there’s always the potential for hurt feelings, but baby, you have to let Gates know he has a son.”
    Sloane shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a brief moment. She could feel the tears of frustration punching at the back of her eye sockets. “I know. But I’m so scared of the unknown, okay? I don’t know that Gates will be so accepting of the fact that he has a son. Or that I kept it from him. Then what?”
    “How do you even know Gates would reject him? You don’t. Sweetie, you and Brayden mean the world to me. You are the only family I have left. And family is important. That’s why you have to do what’s best for Brayden, and not what’s easiest for Sloane. Brayden needs to know who his father is, and Gates deserves to know he has a child.”
    “Auntie, please? Not tonight, okay? Please.” She knew Avery was right, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear at the moment. The referral to it just being the three of them left tugged at her heart. Avery was the only blood relative she had left, besides her son. Sloane had moved from Georgia to North Carolina to live with Avery when she was eight years old after her parent’s died in a car accident. She missed her parents. The devastation she’d felt when they died nearly consumed her as a child. If it wasn’t for Avery, she was pretty sure she would have curled up in a ball and died too. Up until her parent’s accident, she’d been the happiest kid in the world. They had both been devoted to her and made sure their little family was close. When they died it left her feeling the loneliest she’d ever felt. Avery did her best to fill the void, but it wasn’t the same. Avery loved and doted on her and Brayden like they were her own, but she never let up on the reprimands for Sloane. Tell Gates about his son. Sloane just didn’t feel like dealing with it at the moment.
    “The man deserves to know there is someone else in the world sharing his DNA. Even if he doesn’t accept him.” Sloane was never so thankful for the buzzer on the stove alerting them to dinner being done and she watched her aunt head over with oven mitts to retrieve the food.
    “Auntie, I know secrets can do a lot of damage in a person’s life. I get it. And, I want to tell him. I really do, but right now, I’m not ready, okay?”
    “Fine. I won’t say anything else, at least not tonight.” Reaching over and taking the little boy from his mother’s arms, Avery kissed him on the head and motioned towards the counter. “In the meantime, eat, I’ll give him a bath and put him down.”
    “You don’t have to do that.” Sloane was almost relieved she didn’t have to fight with the little boy as he splashed water all over.
    “Hey, you don’t get this kind of service often. You may want to take advantage of it while you can. Sit, eat, I’ll take care of him. C’mon little one. Let’s get you ready for bed.” Sloane watched Avery walk out of the kitchen with the little boy on her hip. Just then the doorbell rang. “I got it.” Sloane called out, walking through the living room and opening the door to find Chase.
    “Hey.” Chase greeted her before entering the house.
    “Hey. What’re you doing here?”
    “Uh, Aunt Avery called and said she made her chocolate fudge brownie pie.” Laughing at Chase, Sloane closed the door and gestured for him to follow her through the house to the kitchen. “You think I’d miss that? Where’s little man?” Sloane had met Chase through Liyah and had grown close to him. He was like a big brother to both her and Liyah. He came with support and protectiveness like a big brother should. And many times, when Liyah introduced him as their ‘brother from another mother’, it was met with wary glances,