Page 23 of Stick Around
She rolled her head down, stretching her neck. It was going to be awful.Mom’s going to cry.Noah would be furious. And her dad? He was the only one she wasn’t sure about. She hoped he’d yell at her.Anything but the silent treatment.
She’d rehearsed it over and over again in her head. She’d be straight forward. Try to keep it to the facts and then let them all spin out. She would sit quietly, allow their reactions to rain down around her, and be the calm in the storm. She visualized herself sitting at the table, serene and silent. The most Zen unexpectedly pregnant woman of all time.
“Hey.” The back door opened and slammed shut as her brother shouted his way inside. Grace shot a glare toward the door.Why can’t he close the door like a normal person?
“Hey,” she called back with as little enthusiasm in her voice as possible. Noah’s presence made her revert to a sullen teenager.
“Hi, honey.” Their mom kissed Noah on the cheek as he entered the kitchen. He held a small white cardboard box in his hands.
“I brought dessert. Those cream filled chocolate things you like from Heather’s.” He set them on the island.
Their mother beamed. “Well, aren't you a thoughtful young man?”
Behind her back, Grace rolled her eyes and made a gagging motion with her mouth. Noah gave her the finger as soon as their mother’s face was in the fridge.
“Set the table, loser.” Grace shoved the stack of dinner plates and silverware that she'd compiled at Noah.
He smirked. “No. I’m a guest. You live here.”
Grace scowled and hip checked Noah into the island as she shoved past him. She shook her annoyance away as she set the dishes around the table and refocused on the task at hand.
“Hello, sweetheart.” Her father entered the dining room and gave her a kiss on the forehead. The lump in her stomach rose to her throat, and her eyes stung with heat. He pulled his chair out from the head of the table and sat down. “How was your day, kiddo?”
She cleared her throat. “It was good, Dad. How about you? How was work?”
Her father owned a handful of grocery stores and gas stations in the area. Before Noah was born, he’d taken a small inheritance from his grandfather and used it as a down payment on the first store. He’d worked day and night to make that first store a success, staying late to mop floors or jumping on a cash register when the lineups got too long. His efforts paid off, and the store grew. He reinvested the profits by expanding the parking lot and adding a gas station. Several added locations and twenty-plus years later, he now spent most of his time behind a desk.
Her father chatted away about his day, explaining some issue with a supplier he had to get worked out, while she nodded along.He’s going to be so disappointed in me.She shook the thought away and sat down beside him at the table, leaning in to force her body to focus on what he was saying.How could you do this to him? Why didn’t you just take the stupid pills?
“Dinner.” Her mother’s sing-song voice announced the steaming pan of lasagna she was carrying through the doorway. Noah followed behind with a basket of fresh buns toasted with garlic butter.
Grace shifted in her chair as her family dished their plates, passing the serving dishes around the table clockwise. She scooped a large serving of salad and a smaller helping of lasagna, then reached into the basket of garlic buns in the center of the table and selected an extra toasty one. She ripped a corner off with her teeth, gnawing as her family chattered. Before long, the clanking and scraping of silverware on porcelain died down.
“Delicious as always, dear,” her father declared. He leaned back in his chair and placed his napkin over his plate. Her mother stood to clear the table.
Shit.Now or never.
“Um, actually, there was something I was hoping I could talk to you guys about.” Her voice came out uncharacteristically high pitched.
Her mother sat back down and exchanged a glance with her husband. Noah didn’t look up from his phone.
“So, I have some news I’d like to share with you.” Grace’s fingers trembled, and her mother’s expression morphed from curiosity to worry. She inhaled. “I think the best way to say it is just to say it.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at her mother or her father, so she closed her eyes.
“I’m pregnant.”
She peeked an eye open when her declaration was met with silence. Her family sat staring at her. She turned to her mother first, and then her father. Their faces were both still as stone.
Noah broke the silence. “I don’t get it. Is this supposed to be a prank or a joke or something? Because I don’t get it.”
Her parents turned from Noah back to Grace.
“No, it’s not a joke. I’m quite seriously pregnant.”
She slunk down in her seat as her father, mother, and Noah stared at each other.
“I,” her mother stammered, “I don’t understand. Pregnant? How? You aren’t even seeing anyone.”
No, Mom, I’m not. But that didn’t stop me from getting absolutely railed in the front seat of Billy’s pickup truck.
