I could hear my phone ringing the second I closed the dishwasher.

“I think that’s your phone, honey,” my dad said, wiping his hands with a striped dish towel.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you!” Glen yelled from the dining room.

What kind of asshole answers someone else’s cell phone?

“Glen, no! I got it,” I said, practically running in to stop him.

But I was too late. And I could tell from his face alone who it was.

“Wait…like Ashley Davies?” he said into the mouthpiece, but he was staring at me.

“Glen, give me the phone.”

“And why are you calling my sister?…how did you meet?…oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…no, that’s great. This is just freaking great…”

I had no idea what Ashley was saying, but from Glen’s responses I could tell that it was a lot more than I would’ve wanted her to.

He hung up the phone, glaring at me.

“Did you just hang up on her?” I asked, saying anything to break the silence.

“Spencer, you have so much explaining to do. So, so much.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said, crossing my arms.

There was no way I was going to be bullied by my own brother. Though I was terrified. I had never seen him so angry.

“You’re fucking her?”

“I’m not answering that.”

Suddenly he was directly in front of me, screaming in my face, “Yes you are! Yes you fucking are!”

“Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute,” my mother said, making her way over to where we stood, “we’re not going to let Madeline hear any of this language! And we’re definitely not going to scream at each other like we’re strangers.”

“You’ll be screaming too, mom. Once Spencer admits that she’s sleeping with Ashley,” Glen said, taking a step back.

“Ashley?” my dad said.

I didn’t see him come in.

“Yeah, Madeline’s egg donor,” Glen answered.

But I wasn’t going to let this happen. I wasn’t going to be grilled in front of my entire family. I wasn’t willing, nor was I ready.

“Mom, Dad…I’ll call you,” I said, grabbing my phone and purse and heading directly out the front door. But this time there was no family to go find comfort with. I was all out of allies. And then I heard my phone ring.