Anger flared inside of me. “Actually, Mom, I’m not. I spoke with Hunter this morning and called the wedding off.”
“You didwhat?” she snapped. Her eyes were burning holes into me, but I wasn’t going to cower under her stare, not anymore. Butch shifted uncomfortably beside me, and I reached to grab ahold of his hand, looking to both provide and receive comfort.
“I’m not marrying Hunter, Mom. I don’t love him.”
“Love isn’t everything.”
“Virginia,” my dad said, his voice holding a warning.
“What?” She turned to him. “You wanted her to marry him too. Remember? The merging of the Barnetts and the Albrechts, two political dynasties uniting as one.”
She sounded like she was reading a newspaper headline and that made my heart ache. I wanted her to care more about my happiness than what the world would have to say about our union.
“Clearly that isn’t happening,” my dad said. He didn’t sound happy either. It was more like he was...resigned.He didn’t support this either, but I had the feeling that he understood that I wouldn’t budge on this.
“Like hell it isn’t. I’ve been planning—”
“That’s enough, Mom,” I interrupted. I pulled the little black box out of my pocket. “Here’s the ring you bought. You can have it back.”
When she refused to take it, my dad reached out and took it from me. I was disappointed. I’d anticipated this reaction from her, but I had still hoped to be proven wrong.
“I also want you to know that I’m pregnant,” I told my dad. “Butch and I are starting a family.”
His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he couldn’t seem to form words. At least he wasn’t negative about it.
“We’re going to go, give you guys some time to process and accept this,” I said and pulled Butch around them and toward the door.
We were only about halfway there when my mother spoke again, this time addressing Butch directly.
“Do you really think you can give her the life she deserves? The kind of life that Hunter could provide?”
“Mom!”
Butch squeezed my hand. “It’s okay.”
It really wasn’t, but if he wanted to speak for himself, I wasn’t going to stop him. He walked back toward my parents until he was standing right in front of them, tall and proud.
“No, Mrs. Barnett. I don’t think I can give her everything she deserves in life, but I will shower her with love for as long as she’ll let me. I might not be able to provide like Hunter can, but no one could ever care as much about her happiness as me. I’m not worthy, you’re right about that.” I frowned, not liking his words. “But she wants me, so I figure that makes me the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. I’m not foolish enough to throw that away. Sabrina is carrying my child and I’m going to marry her someday. You just have to decide if you can handle that.”
He came back to my side and put an arm around my waist. We left the house together, and I finally felt like everything was right in the world. I wasn’t sure how things were going to play out with my parents, but for now, I had everything that I needed.
“You are worthy, you know,” I told him as he walked me to my car. “I’m sorry that I ever made you feel like you weren’t.”
“No apologies,” he said, pecking my lips. “I have no regrets and neither should you. We’re together and that’s all that matters.”
I liked the sound of that. “Do you want to come back to Lacey’s apartment with me?”
“Sure. For now.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I don’t want you to get too comfortable there. You’ll be moving in with me soon enough.”
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Yep. I want to live with my woman and my baby.”
I could hardly wait.
