L E O N I E
The room was so quiet that I could hear the waves on the other side of the road, hitting the shore and crashing against the sand. Each face that I met was shocked. Jaws dropped. Eyes wide. Stares aimed at my stomach as if they expected the baby to unzip my flesh and introduce itself.
"Actual?!" Jess was on the edge of the sofa. I nodded and she inhaled a sharp breath. "Shit, Lee. That's— wow."
She didn't look disappointed. Just stunned out of words. "I'm fine," I said, giving Heath a brief smile. As usual he was being observant. But supportive nonetheless. "Yeah we're going to figure it out. It'll be fine."
I heard a sob and I looked over at Sarah. She was in tears. Her cheeks were red and her nose was running. Alex was comforting her and I think Heath wanted to as well. He went to stand up but Sarah waved him off.
"I'm okay," she choked. "I'm just happy for you both."
Sarah probably assumed that she'd never get to see Heath have children. Or perhaps she was upset because she would never have children. I wasn't sure. But I knew that if I kept looking at her, I was going to have another melt down.
As it happened, a distraction was provided. I looked forward just in time to see Bray spring up from the sofa. He circled the coffee table and knelt in front of me. "Dude," he cooed. "A baby. You're going to be a mom? That's fucking frightening."
I smacked him on the shoulder but we both laughed. And then the weirdo put his ear to my stomach and draped between my legs like he was a foetus whisperer. He was honestly too strange sometimes.
"I can't wait to meet him."
"Him?"
"Uncle Bray is going to get you on the team dude. Football star through and through."
Jess leaned forward. She looked perplexed. "That's not even your baby Bray. We can have our own one that you can turn into a football prodigy."
He stood up. "Fuck no. I can give this one back to Leonie. That's the point. I get to do fun uncle stuff and her and Heath get to change butts and stay up all night."
"You'll get to be an uncle when I have a child," Jade laughed. "Leave that baby alone. You'll corrupt it."
"Will not," he slapped his sister in the leg as he fell back into the sofa between her and Jess.
"I am aunt Jess though," Jess added, grinning with excitement.
I felt so much warmer than I expected to when I told them that I was pregnant. Sarah was calmer now. Jess had sprung straight into baby name ideas. Jade and Bray were arguing about which one of them would have a child first. Bray was more than happy to opt out of leading that competition.
"So you're keeping it?"
I looked at Amy and found the disapproval in her frown. Ethan gave me an apologetic smile for his girlfriend's insensitive nature.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Why?"
I let out a short disbelieving laugh. "Uh because we want to? Because there's no reason why we shouldn't."
Her brows shot up. "No reason?"
"Amy," Bray snapped.
She ignored him. "School might be a reason. You haven't even graduated. What about college? What about all of the changes to your body. What about your mental health—"
"Don't—"
"What about your emotional maturity? That's another life that you have to raise into a stable human being. Oh and then there's the fact that you and Heath haven't even been dating for six months. There's a few reasons."
My jaw clenched and I was glad that Heath had his arm around my waist. However, I could feel him becoming tense beside me as well.
"I'm not an idiot Amy. I work with kids. Sick ones. I love children. I want to be a pre school teacher. It's no—"
"Teaching for six hours a day and having children of your own that require 24/7 care is not the same thing."
"I'm sure it's not. But lots of women seem to manage just fine. And don't bring up the past again. I'm not that person anymore. So shut it! I can learn. I am in a good financial position. Heath loves me. He's supportive. All things considered, I'm in a better position than a lot of other teen moms."
Her laugh was sarcastic. "Yeah they're all supportive and want to stick around until the baby arrives and they actually see what the real deal is."
"I'm not leaving," Heath said, low. His deep dangerous voice made me wet.
Amy ignored him and shrugged her shoulders. "I just think that it's ridiculous. It's a lifelong commitment. Not one that you make just because you're happy and in love and think it's all perfect from here on out. The smartest thing to do would be to get rid of it. Go to school. Get a career. Establish yourself in a stable relationship and then think about having kids."
"Yeah that whole plan sounds great, Amy. Smart even. But that's not happening because I'm pregnant now and I'm staying that way because this is the course that my life has taken and you don't have the fucking right to tell me to get rid of my baby!"
The room crackled with tension. It was quiet but I knew my friends well enough to know that they would have been itching to jump in on the argument. But they knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't want that. Not that we'd really given anyone the chance to get a word in.
Amy stood up with her book and her brown leather shoulder bag. "Fine then Leonie. Congratulations on your baby and the end of your opportunities," she turned to leave but stopped and looked at us again. "Ethan and I broke up last night. But we thought we'd keep it to ourselves until after Sarah's wedding. You know, so that we weren't making shit about ourselves. Guess we didn't need to worry about that after all."
Ethan stared at the floor. I thought that he might have told her that she didn't have to leave. I certainly wasn't going to be asking her to hang around though. Not after she'd put me on blast like that. I understood her point. Her concerns. But there were better ways that she could have tried to get them across.
She walked out of the room and a moment later, the front door slammed shut. We were all quiet. Not sure what to do next. Heath leaned down beside my ear. "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine," I smiled and squeezed his hand. It'd take a lot more than Amy being opinionated to upset me. Opinions were fine. It was all in how you argued them that decided whether I'd respect it or not. "Don't stress. I'm not going to listen to her."
He gave me a quick kiss.
"You good bro?" Bray asked Ethan who was vigorously rubbing his face with exhaustion. Ethan nodded.
Sarah gave him a small smile. "You didn't have to worry about keeping it a secret. Alex and I are getting married but that doesn't mean that what others are going through is less important."
Ethan nodded with appreciation and while he did seem fine, I could see that the break up had effected him. How could it not? They'd been together for two years. Whether it was what they both wanted or not, there had to be a grieving process.
I could see Jade on the sofa beside Bray. Attempting not to look too pleased about the fact that Ethan was back on the market. "So," she looked at me just in time to see the warning glare that I was giving her. She stuck out her tongue and grinned. "What'd your mom say about the baby? And Heath. Jazz must have been less than pleased."
Heath laughed and ran a hand through his hair. I twisted so that I could watch his blushing grin. Ugh, he made my stomach go stupid. His hoodie was bunched around his neck. Stubble coated his jaw. His hair was tousled and his strong bicep flexed under his sleeve when he lifted his arm.
"We haven't told our moms."
"Ooh shit," Sarah laughed.
"Yeah," he nodded with a wince. "I think we planned on telling them both at Christmas lunch tomorrow. Right?"
He looked at me and I nodded. "Yeah. While the lot of them are together. It's gonna be fun. Can't wait."
"You don't even sound sarcastic," Bray said, sitting forward with his elbow on his knee as he leaned and grabbed a truffle.
"I'm not being sarcastic. My Gran will be there. If we're lucky, the shock will kill her."
"Lee!" Jess gasped.
"Relax. I'm kidding. Sort of."
On Christmas morning, I did everything I could to avoid Gran. During breakfast, I talked so much that I could barely put food in my mouth and the old witch was only able to get two or three judgemental sentences in. Which I ignored so that I didn't flip the table and tell her to fight me. At eleven, I went into my bedroom, claiming that I needed to get dressed.
I stood in the shower for forty five minutes. I fluffed around getting dressed for another half n hour and I did hair and make up for another hour. I could have had the whole process done a lot faster but I wanted to drag it out until Heath arrived and I had someone to step in and protect me from a murder charge.
My outfit was festive. So I thought. I wore a bright red long sleeve dress that was a tight fit with a low square neckline. It made my butt look so good. If we were going out, I would have put on a pair of shimmering gold platforms that I had somewhere in the closet. But instead I put on a pair of slippers and incorporated gold into the outfit with some hoop earrings.
My hair fell in a tousled wave down my back. It should have looked a lot more put together considering how long I was hiding in my bedroom. But I was going for a natural but cute mess. I decided on a full face. Contour, highlight, gold shimmer on the inner lids. It was cute. I doubt I'd have put this much effort into my appearance if I hadn't been avoiding the oldest evil entity that I knew. Thanks Gran.
Heath text me just as I'd run out of reason to stay locked up.
On the elevator x
I smiled and slipped out into the corridor, beelining straight for the front door. I could hear mom and gran in the kitchen. Someone was bitching about something. I ran straight past and didn't peep inside. Instead I got to the front door and swung it open just as Heath tapped on it. He looked perfect. He wore a button up shirt. It was dark grey with the sleeves rolled up the elbows and tucked into his cream dress pants that had a thin black belt wrapped around them. Drool. His arms were fucking spectacular.
Jazz and Sarah were with him too. I tried not to look like a starving animal and stepped aside to let them in. But I could see Heath looking me up and down and it made me sweat.
"Merry Christmas," I smiled and gestured the three of them in. Sarah was cute in a pair of jeans rolled at the ankle, heeled booties and a long white oversized cardigan that fell to below her knees. "Those shoes are so cute."
She looked down as she walked past with a bagful of gifts and laughed. "You chose them. In London."
"Oh!" I couldn't remember half of what I'd bought her during our holiday. "I have such good taste."
"Merry Christmas." Jazz pecked me on the cheek and followed Sarah inside, cradling a dish of something. I smiled and tried not think about the fact that I had her grandchild cooking in utero.
Heath closed the door and watched his mom and sister until they turned the corner, and then, just as I'd hoped he would, he wrapped his arms around my waist, pushed me back into the wall and kissed me, hard.
"You are killing this outfit babe," I murmured between his tantalising kisses. My hands went into his hair and I tiptoed to get closer. "A whole daddy."
He leaned back and looked down at me with amusement. "I'm gonna get that a lot now, aren't I?"
"Yes daddy."
He laughed and his hand held me tight on the waist. His gentle squeeze moved a bit lower and he held the side of my bum. "This dress is gorgeous."
"Yeah I better make the most of tight clothes before my body changes forever."
He cupped my face and kissed me. "You're always going to be perfect."
I inhaled a deep breath and laced our fingers as I leaned off the wall. "We better go and join the others before I get naked right here."
He tapped me on the bum as he walked behind me with our hands intertwined. We wandered into the kitchen where Sarah was sitting at the kitchen table with Gran. I immediately wanted to rescue her and I had no idea what had been going on in the last three minutes. Mom and Jazz were at the kitchen counter preparing food and chatting.
Gran twisted in her seat, her white hair was pulled back so tight that I thought she might have been attempting to pull her skin back with it. Her old knitted poncho draped over her hunched shoulders and she fixed me with a narrow glare.
"There you are," she croaked and her old fogged over stare moved up and down my body. "What are you wearing? A piece of cloth? The bible says to be the salt of the earth, Leonie. . . . not the slut of the earth."
Sarah's brows shot up and she held a hand across her chest as she blinked.
I scoffed. "I think you've got enough salt for the both of us Gran."
She frowned and opened her wrinkled lips to fire back. But mom spun around, wiping her hands on her hideous frilled Christmas apron that Gran gave her years ago and she never wore. It was hiding her perfect cashmere sweater dress with a ruched neck.
"Mom," she smiled as though she needed to pop a Valium. "This is Heath. Heath, this is my mother. Mildred. Merry Christmas."
Heath smiled beside me and I rested my head on his chest when he put his arm and me. "Merry Christmas, Meredith." He turned and nodded at Gran. "Pleasure to meet you."
Liar.
"You as well young man. You seem very put together. Which makes me curious as to why you're dating Leonie."
I frowned. Jazz winced. Sarah seemed like she couldn't tell whether to laugh or not. Mom pinched the bridge of her nose and I smiled.
"Well he's a med student Gran and I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. A thick stack of cash for his company. No self respecting man would ever want to date me."
She huffed and waved her fossil hand at me.
"Your granddaughter is an amazing woman," Heath said with a strong voice and a soft smile. Moist. He held me close. "She's done a lot for my sister. She's generous and giving. Funny. Hilarious even. I feel really blessed to have her."
"Oh shit," I laughed, looking up at him. "I have actually spent so much coin on Sarah. Huh. I guess I did pay for your love."
"Shut up," Sarah giggled. Heath looked down at me and shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
Of course it was a joke. I knew Heath loved me for no other reason than I was who I was. I could feel it when he held me. I could see it when he looked at me. If nothing else, his reaction to me telling him that I was pregnant was evidence enough.
"It smells great in here," Heath said as I headed for the fridge to pour a drink each. "Can I help with anything?"
Jazz smiled, a little proud and moved to the side so I could get some glasses from the cabinet. Mom looked around at the countertop where dishes were spread from one end to the other. Far too much food for six people. But I couldn't wait to start eating. I hadn't had anything like nausea or morning sickness. I hoped that it stayed like that. I threw back a soda but Heath didn't want one.
"No I think that I'm just waiting on some potatoes in the oven. Oh and the chicken pot pie. We could go and do gifts while we wait for the rest of the food? It'll be about half n hour."
We all nodded in agreement and mom helped Gran hobble out. She lowered her into moms arm chair, Heath and I sat on the end of the sofa and mom, Jazz and Sarah sat in the middle of the sofa. The gifts that Sarah had carted in here earlier were spread under our small black Christmas tree. Mom was so pissed off when she came home and found that I'd bought a black tree and covered it in silver and pale blue lights and baubles.
Gran was even more horrified. Bingo bitch.
Traditional green was the preferred tree but too bad.
"Who's going to hand the gifts out?" Mom asked, holding her large glass of wine. She might have shown patience for her mother. But she was feeling it.
"Gran can," I said.
"I'll do it," Sarah stood up and wandered over to the tree. She picked up a handful of gifts and started handing them out. I guess she didn't feel like doing more than one trip. Fair enough too. I ignored the others and practically snatched Heath's present to me out of Sarah's hands and tore the paper off. As soon as I saw the collage of photos in a beautiful white wooden frame, my heart sped up.
There were photos of us at the beach. Ones that I didn't even know had been taken. Heath and I were sitting side by side on our towels. Laughing. There were photos of us in London. We were in the London Eye. I was sitting on the rail. Heath stood between my legs and he stood tall, his frame dominating mine as he stared down and I looked up. We weren't even dating then and we looked like we were in love. There was the photo that we'd taken right here on the couch on the night that we'd been goofing around at thanksgiving. I was sitting on Heath, holding his face, his lips a breath from mine.
It was so beautiful. But the sweetest part might have been the blank box in the middle. I looked at Heath and he winked.
"There was a photo in there. But I took it out and thought we could put someone else in there when the time comes."
I leaned over and kissed him. Once. Twice. Once more. "I love it."
Sarah stood in front of us and gave Heath a gift box. She smiled knowingly when she looked at the frame and shook her head with amusement. It might raise some questions but we planned on coming clean soon anyway.
Heath unwrapped his gift and his jaw dropped open. Inside was a brand new iPhone. An Apple smart watch and an iPad. He just stared at the items in disbelief.
"Those will be super useful for studies. Even more when you start an internship. You can link them all up and schedule shit and. . . I dunno. The Apple guy was going on about it. Don't be weird. Just say thanks."
"This is—"
"Just. Say. Thanks."
He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you. This is too much but I appreciate it."
I could hear Sarah squealing. She received something similar. Mom and I went in on all of their gifts together. I turned to look at them all and smiled, their excitement was gorgeous. The atmosphere was positive and uplifting. I sighed with content.
"I'm pregnant." The entire room snapped into silence. I smiled. "Merry Christmas."
Wrappers stopped crinkling. Smiles were gone. Well most. Sarah was pursing her lips and trying very hard not to smile. Heath nudged me and I could tell that he'd wanted some warning. But come on. He couldn't be surprised at this point.
Mom let out a harsh breath. "What?!"
"Ha!" Gran sat forward and pointed. "What a shock."
"Mother," mom snapped. "Not. Now."
Jazz swallowed and looked between her son and I. "Is this true?"
He palmed the back of his neck and nodded with an apologetic look. Mom clapped a hand across her mouth.
"Leonie."
Gran made some sort of noise with her throat. "Like mother, like daughter huh."
"Not. Now." Mom shot daggers at the old bitch in the corner but my interest was peaked.
"Excuse me?" I piped up.
Gran chuckled. The sound could be compared to a frog dying. But whatever. "Your mom here was knocked up before she had a ring on that finger too. Would have embarrassed the hell out of us if she hadn't married Hank before she started showing. Good boy Hank was. Could have done a lot better than your mother here."
Mom looked humiliated. And while I wish that she'd told me earlier, I wasn't going to make her feel outnumbered. Plus, I knew that this wasn't something that I would hold against her. She was pregnant before she got married. It happened a lot.
"So what?" I drawled. "Old news. We're talking about Heath and I."
"No one can accuse her of being stupid," Gran carried on with her old smokers voice. "She's locked one down nice and young. She'll be collecting cheque's before you know it."
She obviously had no idea of the Gilmore's financial status. I looked at her and tilted my head to the side. "You taking your meds, Gran? You must be due a heart attack." I tapped the imaginary watch on my wrist.
"Uh," Jazz looked uncomfortable. "Can we get back to the fact that you two are having a baby. Heath? You're studying medicine. You want to be surgeon one day. This is. . . a big deal. For both of you."
Mom nodded in agreement but she wasn't losing her mind. Which I had sort of expected. I'd been bracing for a screaming match to be honest.
I went on to explain that we had a plan and what we'd do and I assured them all that it wasn't the end of the world. Jazz looked like she was on the brink of tears but she kept herself together.
"Have you had a dating scan?" She questioned after I was done explaining.
"No but we will. If we can get in before the wedding. Otherwise we'll do it after New Years."
"We'll do it tomorrow," she said. "At the hospital. We'll make time and I'll find someone to do it."
I looked up at Heath and smiled. I had no objections to getting a little look at our nugget together.