Cherry and I spend the rest of the day and night with each other, talking about the baby and our future plans. In the morning, Cherry makes an appointment with a local OB/GYN and also calls the Accident library to quit her job. When she gets off the phone, there are tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hate leaving so unexpectedly.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Basically, the truth—I’m pregnant and I moved out of town. I’m sure everyone knows by now.”
“You don’t ever have to go back there if you don’t want to.”
“Maybe. We’ll see. Now that we’ve…well, sorted things out, I’m not quite so freaked out about everything.”
“I think we have a few things left to sort out.”
“If you drop one more bombshell, I will break, Nataniele.” Cherry narrows her eyes at me. “No more.”
“I agree with you there.” I pull her close to me. “I can’t imagine what else could possibly come up. I wish Kate had come clean in the beginning.”
“Why didn’t she? She knew who I was the first night I came over, but she said nothing.”
“Fear, I think. Probably some shock, too. Given the family dynamics, I think she learned to keep her mouth shut unless asked directly. I get the idea she was afraid of how I would react.”
“You weren’t quite rational at that time.”
“No,” I reply softly, “I wasn’t.”
“I’m very proud of you,” Cherry says before she kisses me gently.
“For what?”
“For seeing that you needed help and getting it.”
“I don’t think I could have done it without you.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she says. “I wasn’t even here.”
“But the idea that if I worked hard enough, I might get you back…that’s what kept me going.”
I wrap my arms around her, and Cherry leans her head against my shoulder. For a moment, we just stand there, and I don’t want to ever let her go again.
“Family meeting this morning?” Cherry leans back a little and looks up at me.
“Yes.” I sigh. “We should get moving. We have a lot to work out, and then later on, we can start applying to universities.”
“I’d like that.” Cherry smiles and I wipe the tears off her cheeks.
“I love you,” I say softly.
“I love you, too, Nate.”
We get in my car and head back to the house to talk to my family…or should I say her family? My former family? Whatever it is, we need to talk to them. There are a lot of decisions to be made, and everyone will want their say. A few minutes later, we drive up to the Orso house.
The Orso house.
I realize that it no longer feels like my family home. I’m apprehensive about showing up, unsure if I should just walk right in or if it would be more appropriate to knock on the door first. All of my personal things are there, and I wonder if I should get them and move in to Cherry’s apartment, as opposed to her moving to the house. What about my office? Was it still my office?
“That’s what we’re here to decide,” I mutter.