“Are we going to fistfight next? Is that where this is going?” I shut the bathroom door, but Granny just came in anyway. Growling at her, I opened the pregnancy tests with flashbacks of doing the same thing as a kid going through my head.
“It wouldn’t surprise me. We tend to get a little fiery when pregnant.”
I sat on the toilet in front of my cranky, kind of mean grandmother and peed on five different sticks. It was a balancing act, but I managed to get them all set up on the counter. Even as I wiped and tried to act like nothing was wrong, I realized I was crying. I knew what the tests were going to say. I could never have what Granny Lane was insisting I had.
“Baby-cakes, don’t cry. You’re going to be a wonderful mother. Better than me or your mom ever could’ve hoped to be, and we’re great.”
I did cry. I sat on the edge of the bathtub and cried while Granny Lane held me in her arms and stroked my hair. Whenshe pulled away, I looked up to see where she was going and found her smirking down at the tests.
“I just made twenty million dollars. Call your rich boyfriends, Autumn, because you need to take out a loan!” She whooped with her arms in the air and shook her butt at me before hurrying out of the bathroom. “I’m going to Sandals!”
Chapter 36
***Autumn***
Pregnant. I was fucking pregnant. The shock and wonder that I felt was overwhelming. After taking ten more tests that I forced Granny Lane to go out and buy, I’d scheduled an appointment with my doctor, and that test had come back positive, too. I was pregnant. When I’d demanded my doctor explain how it was possible, she’d calmly and kindly explained to me that the doctor who’d seen me when I was nineteen must’ve been mistaken. After performing an exam on me, she informed me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. She even suggested I file a formal complaint against the other doctor.
I couldn’t think of any of that, though. All that mattered was that I was pregnant. I was terrified, of course. The idea of making it so far and losing the baby being something that could happen again was in the front of my mind, and I found myself even walking gentler, like that would make a difference. I was at the mercy of fate. At least, it felt that way.
Being pregnant changed things. I wasn’t just the slutty nanny who stole Stacy Laray’s husband and ruined her family anymore. I was the slutty nanny who stole Stacy Laray’s husband and ruined her family and then got knocked up. Or something like that. I got angry again. I searched through all the articles written about me and the news stories that were so full of bullshit that it was sick.
I went through my messages and replied to the ones from friends checking on me and deleted the hateful ones from people I didn’t even know. I spent a few hours writing out a comment to give to the journalists that had gotten my number and I sentit off. Angry, pregnant, and in debt to a crazy old woman for twenty million, I felt no qualms about standing up for myself.
That intuition paid off when Granny Lane came in and high-fived me an hour later. “You did the damn thing.”
Mom was right behind her. “My baby. I’m so proud of you!”
Reading from an article, Granny Lane beamed. “They said you’re bold and brave!”
“You were so right, honey. You should be able to love whoever you want to love, as long as all parties are consenting. And the fact that you were outed in an act of revenge porn and then torn down for what you do in your private life, it’s bullshit!” Mom hugged me and placed her hand on my belly. “This little baby is going to be so loved and cared for.”
I bit my lip and nodded. “I need to call them now.”
Of course, instead of leaving, both women settled on the bed next to me. They didn’t even pretend to not be listening when I dialed and held the phone up to my ear.
Griff answered on the first ring. “Autumn? You okay, sweetheart?”
My heart felt like it skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. “Um, yeah, I’m okay. I just... I need to call and say that I planned an entire day at the beach for the kids for the Fourth and I think I should be there for it.”
Clearly caught off guard, Griff stammered. “The Fourth? Yeah, okay.”
“I mean, I planned cakes. Do you think you can bake the cakes? Have you learned how to while I was gone? Greta won’t do it, Griff. She’s not into dessert. Also, I organized matching outfits for the dogs. Do you know where they are? I could tell you, but you’re not good at finding things.”
He was quiet for a minute and then he growled. “You’re infuriating. Come home, woman. Say this to my face.”
“Tell the kids I’ll see them on the morning of the Fourth.” I hung up before he could say anything else and then flopped back in the bed. “I love that idiot.”
Granny Lane cheered. “I knew it!”
Mom looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“Come with me. We’ll spend the Fourth with them. If they can survive a day with you two, that’ll prove their worth.”
“Your mouth is too much.” Granny Lane rolled her eyes and walked to the bedroom door, doing a little dance the whole way. “I’m going to tell those hunks that they’re sending me to Sandals, all-inclusive. For drinks and men.”
“Mom! You’re not going to Sandals.”
“Wanna bet?” Pulling up her shirt and flashing us, she cackled. “I’m going to earnallthe beads!”
