This makes his smirk grow, and he kisses the end of my nose before saying, “Well, then I hope they have your everything else.”
9
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
SHARI
21st July2023
Brad comesto Bristol again the following weekend and we spend it in a bubble, getting to know each other on a deeper level and just existing together in ignorant bliss. But bubbles are made to pop, and when this one does, the real world comes crashing in.
“Hey babe,” Brad strolls into the bedroom with my phone in his hand, “your mother's calling.”
Oh shit. I haven't told my parents yet.
Brad must see the turmoil in my eyes because he asks if I want him to leave the room. I shake my head as I answer the call, and my mum's ear fills the screen.
“Hi Mummy, you know this is a video call, right? Move the phone so I can see your face.”
“Hi sayang, I can't see you, can you see me?”
“No, you're still holding the phone to your ear.” I try to fight the eye roll, but it wins.
Her nostrils fill the screen next as I see her squinting down into the screen.
“Mum. Can you maybe move the camera so I'm looking at your whole face rather than up your nose?”
“Oh, like this? How do I know when you can see me?”
“That box there, Fern. Bottom right. Hi darling!”
“Hi Papa!”
“Ohhh yes, I see! Ok. Hi sayang! How are you? What time is it there?”
“Yes, that's perfect. And it's, um, half-three.” Knowing my mother, I tack on, “In the afternoon. It's late for you, though, are you just getting home?”
My father takes the phone off my mum when she goes to place it on her lap and props it up on the table so I can see them both and not just the ceiling.
I look up to see Brad's shoulders shaking with silent laughter as my parents regale me about their day in their lovingly bickering way, and it's a real struggle to rein in my responding amusement.
“So, how are you, sayang? What have you been up to?”
Here we go.
“Well, actually, there's something I need to tell you. And I need you to not freak out. And before you start, it's not a bad thing. I'm not sick.”
“Ok. I'm glad you said that.”
“Who do I need to kill?” my dad unhelpfully interjects, leaning closer to the camera.
I blow out a breath and rush it all out incoherently, “I’mpregnantwithayoungerman'sbabyandyou’regoingtobegrandparents!” I squeeze my eyes shut as I wait for the reprimanding, because you're never too old to be told off by your parents.
“Did you say you're pregnant?”
I squint one eye open. “Yes?”
“Aiyoh! I'm going to be a grandmother?”
