19 & Pregnant (BOOK 1)

Chapter 7

LIV

"So, what was so important that you have us here in the dining room?"

My mom looked at me, amused, as she sat next to my dad across from me. We had a big dining room with a nice table and decor, but we didn't use it for anything other than eating. So, of course she'd think it was weird that I had them sitting here in some dramatic fashion.

But, I figured this was a good place to tell them my big news. The distance would give me a chance to run when they started freaking out.

And I figured they would freak out.

I smiled, pushing a bowl of fruit toward them, "how about a snack?"

My dad grabbed a grape as he looked at me with his eyes narrowed, suspicious. "That's very kind of you."

"It is," my mom agreed, "and odd. Why do you look like that?"

I tried my best to calm down as I sat up in my seat, avoiding eye contact with them.

"So, I have something to tell you. A few things, actually. Please hold your comments until the end." I glanced at them to see that they were still sane, and figured it was safe to continue on.

"I met this guy... He's twenty-eight. He's a really nice person, kind, has a good job. He works as a professor actually. And..." I looked up as I tried to gauge their reactions so far. They were still... reasonably calm. Less than before, but they were holding it together and looked like they were just processing.

That probably wouldn't last long.

I gave them my best smile, "I am pregnant with our child."

My parents stared at me for a while, their faces frozen. After a few minutes, my dad's brows furrowed, and the corners of his mouth turned down. When it started to quiver, I knew he was about to cry.

"Dad-"

"Don't, Olivia," he choked, burying his head in his hands.

I was about to stand up to give him a hug, or something, until I heard my mom make a strange sound. It kind of sounded like breathing, but I'd never heard it from her before. Not that I could remember.

My head turned as I looked at her, and there she was. Taking the biggest breath of life.

"Maman-"

"You. Are. WHAT?!"

******

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

I stared out at my bedroom wall as my fingers hit the wall next to me. It was kind of weird being told to "go to your room, and stay there" when I was an adult. But, my parents weren't thinking like the people that lived with me. They were thinking like the couple that remembered the first time they held their child, and dreaming about walking her down the aisle. My graduation, first Christmas. It was like they were having flashbacks right in front of me, and the thought of me being pregnant was too much.

They were calling my sisters, Myra, Ryan, their parents, my cousins. Anyone they could find to blame for this happening to me.

"They don't realize they could just go next door and meet their new neighbour... He knows..." I whispered to myself.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and the sound of the front door opening and closing came soon after. It was hard to hear the exact contents of the conversation, but I could tell my mom was talking to someone she liked. If she wasn't, I'd be able to hear her talking very loudly.

I wanted to get up and see who it was. I could, my door was only able to lock from the inside. But, I knew better than to test my parents when they were so upset.

My middle knuckle knocked against the wall as I sat on my bed, trying to listen to what was going on downstairs.

When I heard the footsteps ascending toward me, I sat up, waiting to see who it was. A big part of me thought it would be my parents with a plane ticket, ready to fly me somewhere very far away.

The door swings open, and there stands Myra, wide-eyed with worry written all over her face. We both gasp, and open our mouths to speak at the same time.

"You're pregnant, Liv?!"

"Where have you been, Myra?!"

She sighed, exasperated as she rushed toward me and pulled me in for a tight hug. My arms hovered near her back, before they pulled her in as well, as I was so surprised that she even did that. We hugged, sure, but not that often. And it definitely wasn't the reaction I was expecting from her.

Myra holds me out as arms length, a small smile on her face, despite the worry that is clear in her eyes. "Out of the two of us, I always thought if anyone was getting pregnant out of nowhere, it was gonna be me."

I chuckled as I moved her hands away from me, "sorry to disappoint you."

Myra shook her head as she moved to sit next to me.

"I just- Wow. Wow, Liv. I can't believe it. I kinda feel like I'm dreaming to be honest."

I rolled my eyes, "yeah, I felt like that too at first. It'll pass."

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, both of us looking straight ahead. The only thing either of us could hear was the sound of each other's breathing, and my parents seemingly formulating some kind of plan.

Myra turned toward me, and I could feel her eyes on me for a while before she finally said what she had been wondering since she walked into my house.

"Who's the father? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

My chest rose, then fell. I sighed, then put my arm around her shoulder as I said, "our new Early Childhood prof."

I could tell that she had a lot of questions, because her eyes were dancing through the stages of amusement, shock, and surprise. Myra opened her mouth to speak, a smile on her face. But, then she stopped, as though she was re-thinking her words. Her smile almost vanished altogether.

She swallowed, hard, "what are you gonna do with the baby?"

My hands went to my belly, touching it gently as I smiled to myself.

"Robert and I are gonna raise it," I looked over at my friend, "together."

*********
A/N

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-Ruth