Her mother smiled, unbothered, and patted her hand. “You heard me. I’m claiming it early.”
She pressed her hands over her face like maybe if she blocked her mother out, the words wouldn't land. But they landed hard and kept ringing. Son-in-law? Oh, she had completely lost her damn mind.
“Mommy, be for real,” she groaned through her fingers. “We... It’s complicated. More complicated than you know. I didn’t expect to fall in love with him. How do you even do that after one weekend?”
Her mind was still trying to process how she’d managed to run from this very thing most of her life, and one night it landed in her lap. This had to be a scam; it was too easy, but what she didn’t want to acknowledge was that she was the one making it complicated.
Her mother’s eyes sharpened. “Complicated how?”
Kennedi’s hands dropped from her face. Her throat tightened. This was it. She could keep running, or she could tell the truth.
“Ma… I messed up.”
She stood, fingers trembling as she slid her jacket off and let it fall to the couch.
The silence was immediate. Heavy.
Her mother’s gaze dropped to her stomach, to the curve Kennedi had been hiding all night.
“Kennedi…”
“I’m pregnant.” The words rushed out. “Five months. And I haven’t told him yet.”
Her mother crossed the room in two steps and pulled her into her arms.
“Oh baby,” she whispered. “My baby girl.”
“I’m sorry,” Kennedi sobbed into her mother’s shoulder. “I know this isn’t what you wanted for me. I know I messed up?—”
“Stop.” Her mother pulled back, cupping Kennedi’s face with both hands, thumbs wiping away tears. “You listen to me. You didn’t mess up. You’re having a baby. My grandbaby. And yeah, maybe it’s not the order I would’ve chosen, but life doesn’t always go in order, does it?”
“But I’m not even with him. Not really. And he doesn’t know and—” Kennedi shook her head. “Everything’s a mess.”
“Breathe, baby. Just breathe.” Her mother guided her back to the couch, sat beside her, and kept one hand on Kennedi’s knee. “Does he seem like the kind of man who’d run?”
Kennedi knew the answer. He’d told her straight up in LA:I want forever. That wasn’t a man who ran.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s what scares me.”
Her mother’s smile was soft, knowing. “You’re not scared of him wanting too much, Kennedi. You’re scared of wanting it too.”
The truth of it hit her upside the head.
“I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted. “I don’t know how to be someone’s... someone. And now I’m about to be someone’s mother, and I can’t even unpack my own apartment without feeling flighty.”
“Nobody knows how to do it until they’re doing it.” Her mother squeezed her hand. “But let me tell you about that man who left here. That’s a man who understands family. I know Pearl made sure of it. Tell him, baby, and soon.”
“He also pulled a gun on someone for touching me,” Kennedi blurted out.
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, I’m sure that person is glad to still be among the living.”
“Mommy!”
She laughed softly with a shrug. “Men like Rolani don’t hand out their hearts easily. If he’s giving you his, don’t treat it lightly because you’re scared of what it costs to keep it. Especially now.” Her hand moved to Kennedi’s stomach. “Especially with this.”
Kennedi looked down at her mother’s hand, at the place where a whole person was growing. Rolani’s baby. Their baby.
“What if I hurt him?” she whispered.
