“You know, these family evenings together are really wasting my Monday nights.”
I jokingly complain as I shove another potato into my mouth. I try hard not to brush my arm against Jason’s. If only the idiot hadn’t been late, then he wouldn’t have gotten stuck next to me. Mom and dad had decided to take us to this new restaurant a few suburbs over.
Josh snorts as Jacob rolls his eyes.
“What better things are there to do on a Monday night? You have school tomorrow.”
Dad tells me with a huge smile. I don’t know why, but he’s been so overly happy these past couple of days… It must be the affects of on-coming old age.
“Please!”
Mom pushes dad from her seat beside him. Both her Stefanie are in hysterics.
“You can’t talk! You’d be out at all hours of any day partying! And anyway, Alicia doesn’t go tomorrow.”
Dad snorts.
“You have it wrong, babe. We threw the parties!”
Jacob shakes his head no.
“You have it wrong, too Caleb!” He laughs. “We were the parties!”
This time I snort, but it backfires when I start to choke on my pumpkin. I feel my airways start to close as tears come to my eyes. Despite almost dieing, I still manage to laugh.
Someone hits my back a few times, hard, but it helps. Dayna in front of me passes me a glass of water. I nod in thanks.
“Way to almost kill yourself, stupid.”
I look to the right of me and glare at Jason. He’d said it under his breath, but I still heard him. Even though he just possibly saved my life, I still cuss him out… In my head. No way am I thanking him!
“What? You don’t believe we were the hottest things walking?” Jacob asks me. “We were like sex on legs!”
I spit my water out into my food as a fit of laughter comes.
“Oh, trust me,” I chuckle. “I believe you. I’ve seen pictures!”
I take another drink of water.
“You were all quite the lookers! But what I also believe,” I continue. “Is that you’re all living in the past.”
There were a few snorts and eye rolls and I chuckle again.
“Food not as good as mine?”
Jacob asks me.
“You didn’t have to hurt their feelings by spitting water in it. Don’t worry, I’ll cook you some garlic chicken at home, you can stay at our house.”
He tells me and I shake my head no.
“Actually,”
I swallow my beans.
“As of a few days ago, I’m now a vegetarian. Why do you think I ordered vegetables?”
I raise my eyebrows as Jacob frowns.
“So no more garlic chicken?”
I shake my head.
“No more garlic chicken.”
Dad decides to but himself into the conversation.
“What do you mean no more garlic chicken? I thought you love that stuff?”
I shift uncomfortably. How will my parents take to my new found fondness of animals?
“Well I’ve decided to become a, uh, vegetarian.”
Dad frowns as mom gives me a huge smile.
“That’s good for you, Licia.”
Dad shakes his head.
“Why, though?”
I shrug.
“Because it’s wrong,” I tell him. “And when you really think about it, it’s sick, too.”
Dad sighs.
“I guess if that’s what you really believe in.”
I nod and Jason beside me snickers.
“Alicia,”
I cringe from the way he says my name.
“Why don’t you tell everyone about your other decision? You know the one you made at school?”
I feel myself freeze as everyone’s eyes turn to me. Anger comes over me and I snap, turning around in my seat.
“What the hell is your problem?”
I spit at him and he smirks at me. I hear a few gasps from all around us.
“I don’t have a problem.”
He tells me as he too turns himself around in his chair, facing towards me.
“Oh, and Kane asked me to tell you how disappointed he is that you’re off the market.”
Then in a whisper, so only I can hear, he tells me,
“He thought you’d be a real good fuck. I thought otherwise.”
I gasp as tears come to my eyes.
“Alicia?”
I turn back around in my chair and look at my dad. His eyes are hard, but when he sees the tears in my eyes they soften.
“You have a boyfriend?”
He asks me, and though he’s trying to be nice about it, I can still tell he’s angry.
“Girlfriend, actually.”
I turn around and can’t stop myself from backhanding Jason.
There are more gasps around the table.
“He’s lying! Don’t even listen to him!”
My mom has a shocked look on her face while dad’s expression is a blank mask. Dayna and Stefanie both have their hands either in their hair or on their faces, clutching at something. Josh’s mouth is hung open while Jacob is laughing.
“I don’t lie.”
My mouth drops.
“That there is a lie!”
I go to hit him again but he grabs my hand, preventing me from it. I stop and look down at where our skin is touching. As though realizing he just touched me free willingly, he pulls his hand back.
“I have the proof right here.”
The next thing I know he has his phone out and is passing it around the table. I put my head in my hands as I groan. This is not a good thing!
I suddenly hear my mom burst out in laughter and I look up at her. Everyone else is watching her, too.
“Oh, please!” She exclaims. “It’s only Savannah!”
I sigh in relief. I should have realized that as soon as mom and dad saw the video and who it was with that they would have understood.
“There’s not a thing that these two wouldn’t have already tried!”
My dad clutches his face. He probably just had a really awful mental image.
Not only do my cheeks burn from embarrassment, but they burn because my mom is right. Let’s just say there was a party a while ago, and both Savannah and I were off our faces. We did indeed… Experiment.
There are a few chuckles from Dayna and Mom, mostly Jacob.
“I knew it wasn’t possible you were a lesbian. I remember last year, on Christmas vacation, when you were telling me how the guy you kissed had amazing-”
I cut him off as my face burns to a hideous red colour.
“Let’s not go over this.”
Dad raises his eyebrows at Jacob but Jake puts his head down and finishes the last few pieces of meat on his place.
When everyone had settled down and the dramas were over, we all order deserts.
“Should we get any wine?”
Dayna asks the other adults and at the same time, mom, dad, Stefanie and Jacob all say no.
I give them all a weird look as they give each other the same look.
“Why is nobody drinking?”
I ask them suspiciously as I put my fork in my mouth, leaving it there so the taste of coffee cake lingered in my mouth.
My mom takes a huge breath and at the same time Stefanie takes Jacob’s hand.
“I’m pregnant.”
The fork falls from my mouth as I look between my mom and aunty. They look at each other and gasp.
“You’re pregnant?”
They both ask and nod yes at the same time.
“When are you?”
My mom starts and Stefanie cuts her off.
“Due?”
They nod again before both saying,
“January third.”
This is beyond weird. They’re both pregnant? And due on the same date?
Realization suddenly comes to me and I gasp.
“Aunty Stef!”
I squeal as I push my chair back, jumping up and running around the table to her. My mom and Dayna soon both do the same.
I pull her in for a tight hug and congratulate her before moving away and letting mom have her turn.
Of course I’m excited for my mom, I mean; I’m going to have a baby brother or sister! But it’s more exciting, more breathtaking to find out that Stefanie has conceived her first child. Especially when she’d been told she wouldn’t have been able to ever.
I give Jacob a big hug and can’t help but smile at his huge grin. He’s just like a little kid!
After everyone had congratulated all four of them, and I’d given my mom and dad each a big sloppy kiss, we all sat down and conversation just flared over the new exciting news.