Page 239 of Sinister

Then Sin moves to my side, slipping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

“I’m Sin Arnoult, Petra’s boyfriend and the father of her baby,” he says blithely.

We all freeze.

“What are you doing?” I hiss at him in a shushed voice.

“This was bound to happen, Petra. Better now than later,” he whispers back.

“You’re Petra’s boyfriend?” my mother whispers, still trying to process the situation.

“Yes. We go to school together,” Sin answers smoothly. “Isn’t that right, Petra? We’re in the same grade, so there’s no awkward age difference. We’re both seniors in high school.”

“Oh, that’s good to know,” my mother says, her voice hesitant.

“I’ve been thinking about coming to meet you for a while now,” Sin continues. “But as you can imagine, it’s been rather hard to get a hold of you.”

I stare at him. The dig is unmistakable. My parents catch it, too.

“But now that we’re all here,” Sin adds, “I’m overjoyed to finally meet you. I’ve told Petra many times that now that we’ll be a family, I wanted to meet her parents.”

No one says a word, so he keeps going.

“And in case you were worried, I just wanted to make sure you know how much I love your daughter and that I’ll be there for her every step of the way. We’re even planning to get married.”

He looks at me. “Isn’t that right, Petra? After high school?”

We never spoke about that.

I stare at him, trying to keep my face neutral.

But inside, my thoughts are spinning.

“Um,” I stammer, not knowing exactly what to say.

He’s still smiling at me with that charming smile I’ve come to expect from him. And to my utter shock, my parents seem to be buying this good-boy persona he’s putting on.

“That’s very nice of you to take accountability,” my mother says. “I must confess, we were shocked when we found out Petra was pregnant, and we had no idea if the father would be involved. But now, meeting you, I can say with absolute certainty that you’ve put our minds at ease.”

“Arnoult, you said?” my father asks. “From the Arnoult family of Radcliffe?”

“Yes, sir,” Sin immediately replies.

“Good family. Good stock.” My father nods. “We haven’t interacted much with them, but we’ve heard a lot, especially about your father’s acumen in business. Your mother, too, she’s involved in fashion, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she’s a fashion designer,” Sin replies.

“And you’ve spoken with your parents about this?” my father asks.

“Of course, sir. I wouldn’t have come here without talking to my parents and knowing I had their full support.”

“And they’re happy about the pregnancy? I mean, you are both so young,” my mother gushes.

“They were, like you, a little concerned at first, but they’ve taken the news in stride. They’re very happy. They’ve already met Petra, and they’ve both fallen in love with her. They think she’s absolutely perfect for me.”

“Is that so?” my mother asks, her voice tinged with suspicion.

“Of course. They think she’s a charming young lady. They know how well she does in school and that she has big dreams for herself. They think we’re the perfect match. Naturally, every parent worries when their child has children too early, but they believe we’ll do just fine.”