“I somehow got myself knocked up, and I’m not only going to be a wife—I’m going to have a baby.”
“Holy smokes,” she whispers, and when she does my throat gets tight with tears. I try to hold them back, but I can’t. I drop my gaze to my lap, and she lets my hand go before her chair slides back. When her arms wrap around me, I lift my arms and hold on to her tightly. “I’m guessing Gaston knows you’re pregnant.” I nod, unable to speak. “Is he happy?” I nod again, and her hand slides down my hair. “And . . .” I listen to her pull in a breath. “Are you happy?”
“I . . . I think so,” I choke out, and she lets out the breath she’s holding.
“You’re scared.”
“Yeah.”
“A baby and an engagement is a lot to accept.” She could say that again. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“It’s just . . . it’s just that everything has happened so quickly.”
Her arms tighten around me. “Everything has happened exactly how it’s supposed to—it might not be normal or whatever, but you were supposed to meet Gaston, fall in love, and get pregnant. What you’ve found is rare and beautiful,” she says, making me feel less freaked out about how everyone else might react when we tell them the news.
“You’re right.”
“You know I’m always here for you, right? You can talk to me about anything.”
“I know.” I give her waist a squeeze, then look up at her. “It’s just I know you and Tyler have been trying, and this just kind of happened. I didn’t want you to be upset, and I’ve been stressing out about how my mom is going to feel. She loves Gaston, but she might think it’s too soon for us to have a baby.”
She cuts me off with a shake of her head. “You’re just like your dad.”
“What?”
“He kept everything from you and your entire family, thinking he was doing the right thing.” Oh God, he did do that, and I’ve done that more than once. “Like you told him, you have to let the people you love decide how they are going to react. You have to trust us to have your back, even if they might not like what is happening.”
“It’s seriously annoying that you’re using my own words against me.”
She smiles. “I love you. And I know why you didn’t want to tell me you’re pregnant, but you have to know, even if it never happened for me, I’d love you enough to still be happy for you.”
“I’m a jerk.”
“No, you just have a huge heart and want to protect everyone around you from anything that might hurt them. The thing is, we all want to do the same for you, so please let us.”
“I’ll try,” I agree. Then I ask softly, “How happy is Tyler about the baby?”
Her face lights up, and her voice drops. “So happy.”
“I’m happy for you two,” I say, and she grins, then lets me go but only so she can grab my hand to once more examine my ring. My beautiful ring. A ring that the most amazing man in the world purchased with the idea of asking me to marry him before he even knew I was pregnant, because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.
“I’m happy for you too,” she whispers, and her fingers tighten. “It’s okay to be scared; it’s also okay to be happy for yourself.”
“I’m happy,” I say, admitting to myself for the first time that the idea of carrying Gaston’s baby makes me feel excitement instead of fear.
“You deserve happiness; you deserve everything good in life,” she says, and my eyes slowly slide closed. “Enjoy it, girl.”
“Oh my God,” Mom whispers, staring at me unblinkingly. “Oh my God,” she repeats, and Gaston’s hand, wrapped tightly around mine, grows even tighter.
“Mom?”
“You’re pregnant?”
“She just said she was,” Chris says. He and Sam are on FaceTime. Sam shakes his head while bouncing my niece on his shoulder.
“We’re happy for you, sis.” Chris rolls his eyes at our mother, who hasn’t said a word or blinked. Her reaction is making me seriously doubt Gaston’s idea of sharing our news with my brother, Sam, and my mom at the same time.
“Mom, you’re freaking me out.”
“I’m going to be a grandma . . . again.” She shoots out of her chair, tossing her arms in the air, and I laugh as she comes around the table to hug and kiss Gaston and me. “I’m so happy.” She grabs my face and kisses my cheek. “So happy for both of you.”
“So what do you say?” I ask, and my dad’s eyes lift from his cup of coffee, where they dropped moments ago, and meet mine. The tears shimmering back at me make my heart ache in the best way.