“Gavin, the bleeding heart.”
“Look, I don’t want to make this about Lottie. The point is that we did what was best for both of us. Now we’re going to do what’s best for you: you’re going to call Planned Parenthood, make an appointment, and call Lance to break up with him.”
Her hands tightened into fists. “Enough! Gavin, listen to me. They told me when the baby’s due, based on how far along I am.”
“What are you saying? It’s too late for an abortion?”
“No!” She stopped crying. “No, it’s not too late. But stop and listen to yourself. How can you be so cold? How can you say, ‘Get an abortion, Penny’? Just like that? Huh?”
“No, you listen. You’re not in love with Lance, and I’m not being cavalier about abortion. This isn’t like you. You’re resolute about your future. The Penny I know would get an abortion. This is a mistake. Bad timing. The result of irresponsible sex.” I stopped. The thought of her having sex with Lance made me physically ill.
“It doesn’t matter what you say because I’m not getting an abortion. The due date is my father’s birthday.” Her face drained of all color as she stared at me, expressionless. “And we used a condom.”
Suddenly, I felt frantic. Panicky, like the conversation was slipping out of my control. “P, don’t tell me you think this is the second coming of your dad?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t. I just think it’s a sign. I know, in my heart, that I shouldn’t have an abortion.”
“You don’t believe in signs.”
“I do now.”
“We’re going to my dad’s.” My father adored Penny, and I knew he’d be able to talk some sense into her.
When we got to my dad’s, I opened the door and walked in, with Penny trailing behind me. He was at the kitchen counter, eating smoked oysters from the can.
“Hey kids.”
“Dad, Penny’s pregnant with Limpdick’s baby and she won’t have an abortion because the due date is her dad’s birthday and she thinks it’s a sign and she’s being irrational and she can’t have this baby, it will ruin her life and Lance will always have to be around forever and this whole situation is fucked.” I was practically crying as Penny stood quietly behind me. My dad just stared at me with an open mouth full of smoked oysters. “And... and Penny is pregnant with Limpdick’s baby...”
“You said that already, son,” my dad said. He was a large, formidable man with a thick beard, but inside, he was gentle, kind, and smart. “Slow down,” he said as he chewed and swallowed the oysters in his mouth. He looked from me to Penny and back before focusing his eyes on the barstools. “Sit.”
Penny reached for an oyster and my dad pushed the can toward her. “Ew, how can you eat those right now?” I said.
She shrugged. “I love these. And I’m hungry.”
“No one born after 1967 loves those.”
She shrugged again and popped one in her mouth.
My dad took a deep breath.
“Is it true, Penny?” he asked.
“Yes, Frank. It’s all true.”
“You want to keep the baby, you keep the baby. It’s a blessing. Your mom and I will help, but you don’t have to marry Limpdi—” He turned and looked at me. “Son, I have to tell you, that’s not an appropriate nickname.” I scowled. He looked back at Penny. “Lance, is it?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t have to marry Lance, dear. Gavin’s mother and I got married and it only lasted a year before she ran off to Hollywood. If the love isn’t there...”
“I know,” Penny said. “I know.”
I studied her face intently as she ate smoked oysters in silence.But does she know?
AFTER SITTING THROUGHmy dad’s advice, which was the opposite of everything I wanted him to say, I drove Penny home, pulled into the driveway, and turned off Charlize.
“I wouldn’t even know if Lance wants to marry me anyway,” she said, not looking at me.
