Tight

“You’ve been seeing Roman behind our backs this whole time?”

“It hasn’t been that long, and we were trying to figure out how best to tell everyone.” Roman was the one to speak and I could hear the hardness in his voice, the bit of defense he projected.

“But you guys are cousins.” Roman’s mother was the one to speak now, her confusion evident.

“Family,” Martin said.

I cleared my throat, feeling so uncomfortable. But then Roman reached under the table and took my hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

My dad stood, sent a hardened look in Roman’s direction and I knew that I wasn’t going to stand him acting like this. I stood as well, my jaw tense, Roman taking hold of my hand and trying to pull me back down.

“Kennedy, it’s fine. Come on, just relax.”

I shook my head without speaking or looking away from my father.

“Well, if you have something to say, Kennedy, say it.” My father crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me.

I’d never been one to talk back or challenge my father, but then again, I’d never felt so passionate about something … about someone.

“I’m an adult. Roman’s an adult. He works hard, goes to school, and to be frank and honest, how you feel, or any of you accepting this, doesn’t matter.” My father still had his hardened expression in place. “This is our lives. We are related by marriage, nothing more. Making this out to be something wrong is just, well, wrong.” I was trying to be strong here, but I heard the shakiness in my voice. I’d never been so outspoken before.

And then Roman stood and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in close, showing his support, giving me his strength.

“We want you guys to be okay with this, but if you’re not it’s not going to separate us.” I looked up at him. “I love Kennedy and no one and nothing, not even our family not agreeing, is going to keep me from her.”

When no one spoke, I felt my nerves rise, my stress take over.

“I guess our news doesn’t compare to this.” Catherine was the one to speak and everyone looked over at her. She grabbed her glass of water and took a long sip before setting it down and standing. She walked over to Victor and stood beside him, and he leaned down to kiss her on the head.

The room became tense as we waited for them to say what their news was.

Was she okay? Was my father okay?

They looked at each other for a suspended moment before Catherine took a deep breath and said, “I’m pregnant.” She smiled, and I could see instantly that she was happy. My father was older, nearing fifty, and Catherine was almost a decade younger. So, this news was shocking, but it was clear she was happy about it as she smiled widely.

“Pregnant?” I finally said, the first one to say anything.

Catherine placed her hand on her belly. I thought about that blanket she’d been working on. It made sense now.

“How far along are you?”

“Three months,” my father was the one to say and wrapped his arm around her. I could see how happy he was, even if he tried to hide it with his gruff exterior.

“I…” What could I say? “Congrats,” I finally said and smiled. I was happy for them, but were they happy for us? For Roman and me? Looking between my father and Catherine, I felt the heaviness return, especially from my father. “What about…” God, I was stuck for words right now. Before I could finish asking anything, my father turned and left, heading back inside and leaving this coldness in the air. I exhaled, feeling my shoulders sag as I knew my father didn’t support this.

“Mom, Dad?” Roman said and I looked over at his parents. They looked at each other, a moment of silence passing.

“You love each other?” His mom was the one to speak first.

“I love her,” Roman said with so much determination in his voice that I snapped my head in his direction, unable to help the smile that spread across my face.

He looked at me then, maybe feeling how hard I was staring at him.

“I love her so much that the thought of not having Kennedy in my life hurts too damn badly.”

I felt my breath catch.

“Wow,” Roman’s father said after a suspended moment, and both of us broke our locked gazes and looked at him. “Didn’t know my boy was a damn poet.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “So, you’re okay with … this, with us?”

His mom and father looked at each other, smiling as if they knew some secret.

“If we cared about what others thought, if we didn’t follow our hearts, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Abigail was the one to say.