Delicate

Chapter 47

HAVEN MCQUEEN

"Well, this is fun, right? Family dinner at the McQueen's?" Katie smiles hopefully as we settle into my car. "And you're looking good. You look healthy."

"Yeah, it should be good," I put on a small smile filled with mostly guilt.

Somehow, I feel like I'm taking a dog to the vet to be put down. It feels deceptive to pretend like all we're doing is having dinner on my depressed broken-up behalf, but it's just a ruse to get everyone together so I don't have to tell my dad and Katie about the pregnancy separately. I'm afraid of both of their reactions and I can't go through the same stress twice.

"So before we get there, what's the update with your parents anyway? It's been a year since they've been back together, so...are we talking wedding bells?"

"Oh," I breathe in as I jump out of my thoughts. "I have no idea. They haven't said anything about marriage, but I don't think that'll be a shock if they decide to get back together that way. The only thing that would change is my mom would be a McQueen again, but as far as my dad views it, everything that's his is already hers and it never stopped being that way."

"That's sweet," she coos. "How fun would it be to go to their wedding, too? Not a ton of people get to say they can go to their birth parents' wedding as a grown adult."

"Yeah, I think it would be fun," I agree and flip the question around to hear how her family is doing before she can potentially ask me about how I'm feeling about the breakup. My goal is not to lie before I can get the truth out.

And as we arrive at my parents' house, it's clear that my dad is none the wiser when he greets us at the door with a wide smile to see me and Katie together for the first time in forever. I can't remember the last time she was here at this house with me.

"Hey, Kit-Kat," he hugs her the same way he always hugs me.

"Hi, Dad," she dramatically pats his back before letting him go to hug my mom next. They aren't quite as close only because it was always my dad that she was around while we were growing up, but she came with me to Georgia for a few weeks in the summer when it was my mom's turn to have me so they know each other well enough.

"Well, Rosia just finished dinner so we can sit down at the table," my dad gestures for us to come further inside.

"Where's Blue?" I ask.

"He just ate so he's outside," James explains. "He seems to be happy out there."

As soon as Rosia sees me, she makes a squeaking sound of excitement as she comes over to hug me tightly. I laugh as I hunch over slightly to reciprocate and tell her I'm fine after not seeing each other for a handful of months. She cleans the house once a week, but she hasn't cooked for us in a while.

"Thank you for dinner," I feel my mouth watering at the scent of her famous spicy shrimp pasta. She was the first person to get me to try shrimp and like it as a child.

"Of course," she pats my cheek. "Go eat before it gets cold."

Not needing to be told twice, I follow everyone into the dining room on the other side of the kitchen while she stays behind to quietly begin cleaning up. I sit next to Katie with my dad at the head of the table and my mom across from us, and I'm the first to grab a piece of the cheesy garlic bread in the basket in front of me.

My dad takes it upon himself to fill all of our wine glasses with the Merlot from the bottle on the table, but I'm not stressed about it even as my mom and I share a very brief look. Just because it's in my glass doesn't mean I have to drink it. The food is what I'm most excited about.