The Best Deceptions (Want You Bad sequel)

Chapter 11

**This chapter is brought to you by a depressive episode!! Shoutout to Bayside, without whom I may not have held onto my sanity the past few weeks. Anyway, I hope you're all doing well during this pandemic; stay safe and stay home! And if you're 'essential' like me, please, please, please take every precaution you can!! xx

"Natalie, you're going to be fine," Sutton murmured into my hair as we sat on my couch. My mom was due to arrive in the next hour, and I had started to panic over telling her I was expecting her first grandchild. "Your mom loves you; she's gonna be stoked."

I chewed my lip as I pondered that, my head still planted on Sutton's chest as he held me. My mom and I had a great relationship, but I knew that she had always wanted me to be married before I had children, since she had not been. In my eyes, though, I had always seen my mother as nothing less than strong, raising me mostly by herself for the majority of my life. I didn't want to remind her that, technically, I had already been married to my baby's father. "It's just not the way she wanted to have grandkids, and I don't want her to feel like she failed as a mom, because I know how she operates. She's always been hard on herself."

"I don't think she'll see it that way, but I don't really know her."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and meet her? And also provide moral support?"

"Garrett will be here, Nat. I'll try to come by tomorrow and meet her. This feels like a family thing."

I bit my lip to refrain from telling Sutton that I thought of him as family. "Okay, but expect a call later on so we can talk about what happened."

"Pizza's here!" I cheered, running to the front door to grab them. Garrett nodded at me over my mom's shoulder as she spoke. He was inn charge of keeping my mom occupied while I set everything up in the kitchen. Luckily for me, my mom was in the middle of gushing over Garrett's hair in a man bun, which she just adored, and how devastatingly handsome Garrett was. She had always loved Garrett as the son she never had, and he often referred to himself as her favorite child...and he was probably right.

Once everything was set up, I called them into the kitchen, chewing my lip nervously. Mom let out a laugh when she saw three pizza boxes on the island. "Goodness, Natalie, there are only three of us. We don't need a pizza each."

I shrugged, hoping it appeared casual. "We all prefer different toppings, so this was easier. Middle one is yours."

I held my breath as I watched Mom lift the lid of the box, brow furrowing as she realized something was on the inside of the lid. I had taped a copy of the most recent sonogram there and written 'Eat up!! My mommy can't be the only one with a belly!!' Her hands went to her mouth and she turned to me with tears in her eyes. "Nat?"

I nodded. "Surprise," I said in a soft voice, still wary of how she would react.

"How far along are you?"

"About 12 weeks. We're keeping it hush, but obviously you deserve to know."

She blinked and nodded before speaking again, voice level. "Not to be crass, but do you know whose..."

I nodded. "Yes. It's Louis.'"

She stared silently at me, clearly trying to hide her surprise. "When did that happen?"

I cleared my throat to avoid saying 'Twelve weeks ago,' and instead told her the answer. "Erin's wedding. We got to talking after, and it was very emotional, and it really just sort of happened, as dumb as that is to say."

She pursed her lips. "And how is he taking this? Assuming you've told him." It was no secret that my mom wasn't Louis' biggest fan after our divorce. Her opinion of him was less than low; it would take a thesaurus to find a word that properly described her feelings.