Bittersweet

Bittersweet: Chapter Thirty-Two

THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN AND HEAVILY EDITED. NAMES, PLACES, AND SOME SCENES WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. SOME STUFF WILL BE TAKEN OUT AND SOME WILL BE ADDED.

THE INITIAL PLOT STAYS THE SAME.

So, if you begin reading as of 5/21/2021 and choose to read ahead further than I have updated-some things might be confusing or might not make sense. As of right now and will continue, slowly, adding the new chapters as I write them. CHAPTER TWENTY has been rewritten & updated.

**IF A CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN/EDITED THE ^^ABOVE^^ NOTE WILL BE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER.

Bittersweet

Chapter Thirty-Two

Austin

Silence falls over the table. Ellis, who is sitting across from me stops mid-bite, slightly smirks at me as if he thinks this is comical like he knows that my mother is about to shit bricks. Flynn, continues about his business, silently shoveling fried chicken into his mouth like it's his last goddamn meal and like I didn't just drop a bomb on them. Eliza though, she's sitting in her seat-retreating, slumping as if she's trying to make herself appear smaller. I send her an apologetic glance right before squeezing her hand assuredly and looking back to my mother.

I've never actually bared witness to it, but for once in her fucking life, Martha Burkhalter is rendered speechless. Her expression is...Shocked. Aghast. Baffled. She's looking between me and Eliza as if she's trying to conjure up an excuse as to why she might have misheard me.

Silently, I revel in the fact that I did that.

Her painted, red lips fall open, and then she shuts them again. And then opens them again as her gaze lands on Eliza, "You..." She gasps, "You're..."

Eliza sits there, her hands lower over her stomach and she clutches it protectively. A welcoming smile falls over her lips and she nods enthusiastically at my mother as if she thinks my mother might surprise us all and be excited that she's going to be a grandmother.

"Pregnant." She whispers, lightly. "You're going to be a grandmother, Mrs. Burkhalter."

I have to hide the grin that threatens my mouth because, well, this is fucking comical but I don't-I can't-sit around to enjoy it because after the revelation spews prematurely from my mouth, my eyes find Eliza once again and I realize how shocked, embarrassed she looks even though she's trying her best to remain unaffected. That's the moment I realize that I need to quickly move the attention away from her. This wasn't how I'd planned on telling my mother. No, I'd planned on doing that between the two of us because I knew she would freak the fuck out which is why I calmly pushed myself up from the table.

I level with her for a moment, "Mother," I say, as I gesture towards the entrance of the living room and then I let my gaze fall over the remaining people sitting at the table. "If you all will excuse us, we need to speak privately."

Silently, I made my way to the makeshift mini-bar in the corner of the dining room. After grabbing a glass and an old bottle of whiskey, I walked out of the room and made my way to the front porch knowing that after dropping that bomb, she'd no doubt follow me.

I sat the glass down on the porch railing and with shaking hands, I filled it two fingers full. But before I can even set the bottle down and take the glass in my hand, the glass is snatched from in front of me.

My mother stands there with the glass in hand, "If I do recall, isn't the reason your father and I sent you here because we wanted you to stay out of trouble? How is it that, in less than three months, you've made a mockery of our entire family?"