Watery sunlight filtered through the white curtains in the bedroom, hitting the side of my face, waking me at some early hour in the morning.

It wasn't like it mattered anyways. I hadn't gotten much sleep to begin with. I'd tossed and turned in bed, fought back the urge to throw something out the window, then sat at the kitchen table and stared into a cup of cold coffee all night.

One question hadn't been able to leave my mind, and I'd sat there for hours, contemplating it over and over again.

I'd known that it was important for the triplets to know what had really happened to Chris. They had every right in the world to know; he was their father. But what the hell had possessed me to stroll into the apartment and tell them like that?

They hadn't taken the news very well, and Mom hadn't reacted all that great to the knowledge that the truth was out about what happened to Chris.

Maybe I'd just been too excited that I finally figured out a fear to face, a fear that I knew I could face however unpleasant it might be, that I didn't really think it through properly. Well, there was no doubt that I didn't think it through properly.

And now I was going to have to deal with the repercussions, God willing I actually used my brain for once.

I rolled over with an aggravated sigh and shoved my head underneath a pillow. I desperately wanted my thoughts to quiet down for once so I could actually get some rest. Sleep would help me think, wouldn't it?

Loud banging sounded on the front door the next second, jolting me out of bed and making Hadley start awake with a shriek.

"Good God," Hadley gasped, looking at me in alarm. "What's going on?"

I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and sprinted to the front door. The second I wrenched open the door April came tumbling in, her hair a mess and her eyes bloodshot, like she'd been crying the entire night.

"April, what the hell are you doing here?" I demanded. "You shouldn't - "

"I had to talk to you." She slammed the door shut and locked it, then turned on me, looking thunderous. "What the hell were you thinking, barging in like that last night and spilling the truth?"

I barely had the chance to say anything before April threw her arms around me and completely broke down, sobbing into my shoulder.

I knew I couldn't just stand there and do nothing while one of my family members was in pain, relying on me for help, like I'd done so many times in the past.

So I wrapped my arms around her and rested my cheek against her hair while she cried and cried, her tears soaking my shirt.

Hadley's hand descended on my shoulder a moment later and she looked at me with a grief stricken expression, her own eyes shimmering with tears.

"What's going on?" she mouthed, gesturing to April.

Chris was all I needed to say in explanation.

"April, honey, come on," Hadley murmured, reaching out to lead April over to the couch. "Sit down. Archer, will you go make her some tea?"

I quickly made for the kitchen and threw together a steaming cup of tea with the first tea bag I could get my hands on. I hurried back to the living room, setting the cup on the coffee table and sat down beside April.

It took April a considerable amount of time before she was able to stop crying. Hadley and I said nothing during that time.

"What's going on, sweetheart?" Hadley asked April quietly, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

April glanced over at Hadley with a miserable look on her face, tears dripping down her face. "Did you know about Dad?"

Thank God it was Hadley's job to counsel people, because I would have floundered for a ridiculous amount of time finding an answer for that question.

"I did," Hadley replied calmly. "But you have to understand, April, when I first met Archer you'd just turned five. And I know Chris is your father and you deserve to know about him, but, honey, that's not something you tell a five-year-old."

April groaned loudly and dropped her head back against the couch. "I know that, but we should've known earlier! I can't believe Mom kept that from us for so long!"

I spoke up before Hadley could say anything.

"April, Mom may have not handled things the way she should have, but she was only trying to protect you and May and June. Chris was murdered before you were born and you have no idea what that did to Mom. It destroyed her. This happened fourteen years ago, but she still hasn't completely recovered from it."

April ran her hands over her face, seconds away from bursting into tears again. "I know, I know, I just..."

"You what?" Hadley asked quietly when April didn't finish her sentence.

She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks, and spent the next five minutes sobbing on Hadley's shoulder.

My cell phone rang on the counter as Hadley tried to calm down April down, and I quickly stood up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Archer, thank God." Mom sounded immensely relieved over the line. "Is April with you? She just ran out of the house this morning, and I - "

"She's here, Mom, don't worry. Hadley's with her right now."

Mom let out a heavy sigh of relief, probably making the sign of the cross on her side.

"Thank God," she repeated. "I was so worried."

"She's fine, Mom. Really."

An awkward silence fell over the line, crackling with tension. What were we supposed to say to each other?

I'm sorry for telling my sisters their father was murdered?

"Look, Archer," Mom began at the same time I started to say, "Mom, I'm really - "

Mom took a deep breath, her voice shaking when she finally spoke. "Archer, you...you and April should come over. We need to talk. All of us. The family."

A slight weight disappeared from my shoulders at Mom's words. Talking was exactly what we needed to be doing, and it was probably a good five years late. I didn't necessarily want to talk about what had happened, though, and I didn't think Mom was too keen on the idea either, but it was inevitable.

"Okay," I said after a moment. "We'll be over as soon as April calms down a bit. She's, er...crying. Profusely."

"Can't say I blame her," Mom said, her voice slightly bitter. "Hadley's talking to her, isn't she?"

I glanced back over into the living room. April was still crying, but not as loudly and as much as before. Hadley was talking to her in soft, soothing tones, which seemed to be helping her.

"Yeah," I said. "She is."

"Thank God you married a counselor, Archer. The Lord knows we need one.”

That Mom was most certainly not kidding about.

I signed off with Mom with promises to come over to the coffee house later and made my way back into the living room.

April looked up at me with watery, bloodshot eyes and gave a loud sniff as I sat down next to her.

"Was that Mom?"

"Yeah."

"She was probably freaking out, huh? Screaming about how I shouldn't have run off and - "

I cut her off with a raised hand.

"Well, you shouldn't have run off, April. We live in New York City and you're fourteen. But, no. She wasn't mad. She was worried. She wanted to know if you were all right."

"All right." April scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I don't know if I'll ever be all right."

"Sweetheart." Hadley gave April's arm a comforting squeeze. "I know this is so totally clichè, but things get better with time. Trust me."

April shrugged, picking at a loose thread on her jeans, saying nothing.

I bit back a sigh and nudged her knee, making her look at me.

"You know it's not always going to be this way, right? We're going to talk about this. About everything," I told her.

"Oh, really?" she said with a snort. "And when would that be, Archer?"

"When I take you home."

"...Oh."

"Why don't you go get cleaned up a bit in the bathroom?" Hadley interjected, smoothly changing the subject. "And I'll call a cab."

April bounded up off the couch and through the bedroom without another word.

I reached out for her at the same time Hadley moved over to curl up against my side.

"That could've gone a lot worse," she said, sighing.

"Oh, yeah. Way worse."

"April is a smart girl. She's got a good head on her shoulders. They all do. They're young, but they can handle it."

"I know they can," I agreed quietly after a moment.

But that didn't stop me from being worried about my little sisters, however well off I knew they were.

Now I was beginning to realize that this wasn't the question of whether or not I could do this. I knew I could. I just wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle the flood of emotion that was going to come from this. The last thing I wanted to do was cry - as unmanly as I thought crying was - in front of my sisters and my mother. God only knew what would happen then.

"Archer."

I glanced down at Hadley, eyebrows raised. "Hm."

Her lips turned down in a frown, and she reached out a hand to hesitantly brush underneath my eyes with her thumb.

"Oh, baby. You look so tired."

"I am tired."

Come to think of it, I didn't know if I'd even gotten a decent night's sleep since this whole fiasco started. And, knowing what to expect with a newborn in the house, I didn't know if I'd get a decent night's sleep for another eighteen years.

Hadley pressed her lips against mine in a soft, reassuring way before she lifted herself up from the couch to head to the kitchen. I couldn't help but watch her as she walked, wondering with slight curiosity when she'd start slowing down because of the baby. She was barely five months pregnant at the moment and she still had way more energy than my mother did when she was expecting.

Then again, Hadley wasn't carrying triplets, thank the Lord.

April wandered out from the bathroom a few minutes later after Hadley had called a cab. I'd already been standing by the door, keys and wallet in hand.

"Ready?" I asked her.

She took a deep breath and gave a nod, clutching at her jacket sleeves.

"It'll be fine, honey, trust me," Hadley said, giving her a tight hug.

"Wait, you're not coming?" she asked in alarm, eyes wide.

"This is something for you and June and May, your mom and Archer. Not me."

April didn't look comforted by her words, but nodded anyways, quickly heading for the door.

Hadley pulled me off to the side, gripped my jacket in her hands, stared up at me with serious eyes.

"Be safe, okay?"

I grinned, pulled her close and kissed her before stepping back.

"Non posso vivere senza di te."

She was stunned by my parting words and barely mustered up a response before April and I left the apartment.

It took another half hour and one slightly awkward cab ride before April and I were heading up the back stairs to the family apartment together.

"Ready?" I asked her, hand on the doorknob.

She nodded firmly this time, a confident look on her face. "Let's do this."

Mom, May and June were seated at the island in the kitchen when we walked in and gave us wary smiles as we took the empty seats.

A tattered leather photo album sat on the counter in front of Mom amidst several cups of coffee. I was honestly shocked to see it; the album was old, very old, and was rarely ever brought out. The last time had been at Grandma's funeral.

Mom really was serious about telling the girls everything.

The four of us waited in anticipation while Mom finished her coffee, practically on the edges of our seats. When she set the empty cup down, she took several deep breaths and did her best to smile before starting to speak.

"I suppose if I'm going to tell you everything, then we might as well start at the beginning, when I met Archer's father in high school."

So we listened intently as Mom began to tell us everything.