Sister Wife

Hope

I can't help it, I just stare at Hope's little belly. She must have gotten pregnant on their wedding night to be so far along already. Is this why Justin didn't want to tell me they'd already had sex? Now it's no wonder he and Selena both wanted me on the pill right away.

"Welcome Home," Selena greets Justin with a kiss, very much like the one I feel I just had except it's obvious she knows what she's doing. Justin turns from her to kiss Hope and though he's a little more gentle with her it's still very passionate. My parents do not behave that way and I wonder why there's such a difference.

"How are you?" Justin asks, putting his hands on Hope's belly. She smiles up at him.

"Better," she says. She looks past him at me. "Are you going to introduce us?" she reminds him.

"Yes, Hope, this is Charlotte," he says, motioning for me to come closer. I can't move, my feet are frozen in place. Hope doesn't seem to notice though. She walks up and gives me a big hug, her little baby bump getting right in between us.

"Welcome to the family, Charlotte," she smiles at me. "I'm glad you're here."

"Thank you," I force myself to say it and look for something to distract me from this secret everyone kept from me. "You have a really beautiful house."

"Okay, I know it looks really big but don't judge," she says. "I didn't even spend half of what Justin said I was allowed to," she's so proud.

"I'm sure it was the right choice," I make myself smile. Selena is rolling her eyes again and I wonder if it's at me or at Hope. I don't know why she's annoyed.

"Well let's go inside," Selena suggests. "I actually have to get going soon but Justin can show you around after lunch while Hope takes her nap. And then I think Hope should spend some time helping Charlotte unpack."

"Sounds great," I smile at her. Hope gives Justin a look. Okay, so there's something weird going on with them. The third wife is supposed to bring balance. How do I balance this? "I'd love if you just sat and talked to me while I unpack, I don't have much so it shouldn't take long. You can tell me all about Los Angeles, I've never been outside Utah."

"You're in for a shock," Hope laughs and turns to go inside. Selena shoots Justin a satisfied smile and I wonder if that means I did the right thing. I try not to stare as we walk to the kitchen. The house is huge and everything looks new and expensive. I thought Hope would be more like me but maybe she's gone overboard in getting used to this new life. "So what part of Utah are you from?"

"St. George. Just an hour outside Copper Creek," I say.

"I grew up in Hills Canyon," Hope nods. Hills Canyon is another little town like Copper Creek but it's even more secretive and weird than Copper Creek. And the people are poorer, by a lot so that's probably why Hope has filled her house with expensive things. I can't wait for us to have time alone.

They have already finished making lunch so we sit down and eat. Selena leaves immediately but Hope does let me help her clean up. I really haven't missed having to cook and clean but at least this feels more normal to me. On our last day I finally asked Justin why I never saw the people who'd been taking care of us. It just seemed wrong to let them do all that work and never at least say thank you.