Abandoning the window, I’m on a mission to rip into him. “I can’t believe this,” I mutter to myself, annoyance on full blast.
Rushing down the stairs, I swing open the front door with gusto and walk straight to Carter who is walking up the driveway and already giving me the familiar look that he isn’t surprised. “You don’t listen. You didn’t get the memo. And yet you’re still here.” I shove him.
He steps back and raises his hands to let me know he doesn’t want to fight, but seriously, what did he expect? “I’m not going to let you tell Brooke and Grayson without me.”
I throw my arms up into the air. “We’re not teenagers who are admitting that we were irresponsible and now fear that we’ll be in trouble.” It’s only slightly that feeling.
“Really? We were kind of irresponsible on the birth control front,” he points out in a humorous way which just shoots my level of irritation up. “We’re adults, and all the more reason I’m going to face your dad like a man.”
“Honorable,” I deadpan, my face unmoved. “Turn around, get in your car, and go back to Everhope. I’ll let you know how it goes and when I’m moving.”
“Already packing?”
“Yes. No need to check on my end of the move in our bargain. I agreed, and I’m keeping my word. Now, please.” My hands come together to pray.
He pinches the bridge of his nose with his eyes heated, but he is contemplating which is something.
The sound of wheels slowly driving up the end of driveway is the last thing I want to hear right now. “Shit.” My lips roll in, and my face screws as my hands clench together. It’s too late.
My parents are back.
“Well, it seems we’re facing them together.” Carter raises his brows at me.
With my parents parked next to Carter’s car, they both slowly open their doors and hesitantly exit the car, completely confused. It’s a wish that I make every day, that I get their genes. My dad doesn’t look a day over fifty, and he’s anything but, except he has more peppered gray hair. And my mom? She simply looks the same as ten years ago with her brown hair long and her face fresh.
"Carter?” My dad is the first to check the obvious.
“Yes. It’s me, in the flesh.”
My parents approach us with wary faces. My mom, always willing to smile in most circumstances, nervously attempts to offer one. “It’s, uh… good to see you?”
Breathing to myself, I chant inside my head my affirmations of the day.
I accept fate. I have it together. Only good things ahead. My life is not a clusterfuck.
My eyes shoot straight to my dad who hasn’t looked away from Carter even an inch as they’re in a staredown.
Even my mom notices. “Should we… drinks?” Her voice is uneven. Fair enough. What is one to do when you arrive home to your daughter’s ex-husband in the driveway? “It seems we should go inside.”
“Let’s.” My tone is frivolous.
The steely look on my father’s face remains as he follows my mother. Carter and I join the train, and suddenly, it feels like I’m going to be scolded for sneaking out after curfew.
When we’re all sitting in the living room, the silence in the room is unnerving. It isn’t until my mom sits down on the armrest next to my dad across from Carter and me on the couch that there is a shift in the room.
Carter clears his throat. “Grayson and Brooke. It’s good to see you.”
My mom’s eyes travel between us all. “Let’s get real for a second. We have no clue what’s going on or how to react right now.” My mom is blunt, and she deserves points for that.
Carter and I look at one another for a clue of what to do or who should speak. I roll my eyes because they’re my parents, so I might as well take the plunge. I turn my body to face them full-on.
“The funny thing is… uh, Carter is, toallof our surprise, here because we have news to share.” My words flow slowly out of my mouth.
“Which would be?” My dad’s tone is a little stern.
I take a deep breath then feel Carter’s hand touch my knee. “I’m pregnant.”
Both of my parents are taken aback, with their brows shooting up.
