15. Maci
15
MACI
“I ’m going to apologize now for anything my dad may say about my love life. The filter has left him when it comes to, you know, my ex.” We’re standing on the front step of my parents’ place. Tysen suggested we stop here before his mom’s, or else the whole county would know about not only us being together but the child we’re expecting, too. I really hope he’s joking about that part, not that it would matter, I guess. Between my parents and Samuel, there aren’t many other people who I’m around.
“Babe, relax. I’m not worried, and you shouldn’t be, either.” He takes my hand, lacing our fingers together in order for me to stop spinning my ring on my index finger. It’s a nervous habit I’ve tried to kick, except it’s either do this or twirl the ends of my hair, and since that only causes breakage, I figure this is the better option.
“Easy for you to say,” I respond as the door opens. The last guy my dad met was Chad the chode, and we all know how that worked out. This time around, I want my dad to love Tysen as much as I do, and yes, that’s easy to admit, that I love the father of my child, at least to myself. I’ve yet to tell Tysen those three little words. I will, though, just as soon as this day is done and we’re back at his place.
“Easy for you to say what?” Dad answers the door. Mom peeps in beside him.
“My, aren’t you a handsome man.” Is secondhand embarrassment a thing for yourself? Because if so, here I am, standing still, trying not to look like a fish out of water.
“Mom, Dad,” I say, slightly flustered. Tysen drops my hand and offers his to my dad first.
“Hi, Mr. Vesper, I’m Tysen. It’s nice to meet you.” Dad takes Tys’ hand, and they do that weird thing men do, squeeze each other’s hand and making sure neither of them winces. I roll my eyes. Meanwhile, Mom is mouthing he’s hot, and I can tell he’s a keeper. Mom doesn’t think that Tysen can’t see what she’s doing, making excited faces and silently clapping her hands. I look from her then off to the side, where Tysen is trying to hold back the quaking of his shoulders.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Please call me Frank.”
“My turn. I’m Eloise, and none of that handshake stuff. I’m a hugger.” Mom moves in.
“Hi, Eloise.” Her arms wrap around his shoulders, and he dips down to meet her much shorter height.
“I like him already. He has the balls to look me in the eye and shake my hand. Unlike the last piece of shit.” Of course, of-freaking-course, my dad had to bring him up.
“Dad, do you think we can move this inside before we give the whole neighborhood a show and you tell them all about my past?” Tysen moves back to my side. His hand captures mine and gives it a firm squeeze to reassure me that he’s not bothered by the turn of events.
“Yeah, Frank, let’s take this inside. Maci said she has some news to share with us.” Mom takes Dad’s hand and pulls him away from the entry so we can be let through.
“Thank you,” I breathe through a wave of nausea. My hand goes to my lower stomach instinctively, and Mom watches the movement like a hawk.
This morning, my eyes opened to an empty bed. The sheets were cool to the touch, so, clearly, Tysen had been up for a while. When I rolled over to get out of bed, there, on the nightstand, greeting me, were a glass of lemon lime soda, a few crackers, and the ginger chews Luke suggested we pick up. I sank my head back on the pillow, looked up at the ceiling, and pinched myself hard enough for me to say ouch . When I started to get out of bed to use the bathroom, the queasiness hit, and I used the tools available to me to hopefully not be on my knees in front of the porcelain throne.
We make it inside the house. Dad closes the door while Mom is still eyeing me suspiciously. The way my stomach is doing a dance inside of me might have me running to the nearest bathroom rather quickly. Except I’m pretty sure the reason in this instance has nothing to do with the child inside of me and everything to do with the news we’re about to deliver.
“Oh my god, Maci is pregnant,” Mom says, slapping a hand over her mouth as soon as the door closes behind us. My shoulders sag in defeat. This is not the way I would have liked the news delivered, but I guess the Band-Aid is ripped off either way. “I should have known. Your body has changed right before my eyes, and I didn’t even question it.” What does she mean, my body has changed? I mean, sure, my boobs are a bit fuller, and I’ve also gained a couple of pounds since being back, but the weight has everything to do with her and Dad feeding me non-stop. A trait that Tysen has seriously taken over.
“Well, Mom, that would be because I wasn’t aware, either, until around twenty-four hours ago. Surprise!” I look at Tysen. He’s got a slight smirk on his face, and when I look back at Dad, he’s grinning himself.
“Have you been sick? Your mom was all the time, morning, noon, and night,” Dad says, not congratulating or scolding us, just diving right into making sure his little girl is okay.
“She’s getting better now that Luke gave her some over-the-counter medicine and a prescription if it gets too bad,” Tysen chimes in. He further tacks on, “Luke, my friend, is a doctor. He won’t be seeing Maci for the duration of her pregnancy. I think she’s worked out that she’ll want to see his partner at his practice.” I squeeze his hand, and he throws me a wink.
“Come here, my girl.” Mom opens her arms, and I fold into her. The wave of nausea subsides, and the waterworks try to take hold. I blink the tears away. This is not ideal. I should still be getting back on my feet. The need to come up swinging is at the forefront of my mind. Then there’s also the other part, the softer side of me, that is jumping for joy, overly excited to be carrying a life inside me and to have Tysen right beside me during the entire process.
“Thanks, Mom, you know, for not being upset.”
“I could never be angry with you. I’m just glad you have a man in your life who deserves you. It says a whole lot that you found out yesterday, and he’s here with you today. Plus, Tysen is not bad on the eyes.” The last part of her statement, she whispers quietly.
“And what about flying? Surely, she shouldn’t be doing that anymore,” Dad asks Tysen. I perk right up, ready to put my foot down if either of the men in my life try to dictate my life.
“She can fly up until the last couple of months of her pregnancy,” Tysen reiterates what Luke mentioned yesterday.
“I’d rather she didn’t.” Dad crosses his arms over his chest.
“I can’t say that I blame you. We spoke about this last night. I own Vaughn Elite Air, a private jet company that we charter four times a week. That’s how we reconnected,” Tysen continues, but I move toward him, my hand wrapping around his arm, silently telling him not to go into full detail because ick . “I met her the day she was leaving Vegas.”
“And that’s enough of that. We’re all adults, and I love you, Mom and Dad, but you don’t need to know the logistics. We lost touch, I happened to be on his plane, and he saw me lose my cookies. Romantic, I know.” I fling my hand that’s not occupied with the man standing next to me. “Tysen had been trying to find me all along, you see. So, anyways, back to the story. I’m going to turn in my resignation at the airline and work for Tysen. Samuel will also be with me because, you know, he’s the one who helped me secure the gig in the first place.” I take a breath and get the rest out so hopefully, we can celebrate for a few minutes before heading to his mom’s house, where I’m sure we’ll repeat the process, hopefully without me getting queasy. “Also, the pay is better, and the benefits are superior to what I’d receive anywhere else. I’m also moving in with Tysen. He and his friends will be around later this week to grab what we can’t today. Since becoming pregnant has now made me unable to lift a box.”
“Nonsense. We’ll load everything up in your dad’s truck and bring it over later today,” Mom slides into the conversation.
“Will that work for you and Tysen?” Dad asks.
“Yeah, I’ll grab your number to get things squared away,” Tysen replies.
“What about my car?” I ask.
“I’ll follow your father over and park it in the driveway,” Mom offers willingly. I look up at Tysen. He looks down at me, and I can tell that he likes the words I used.
“I’ll have my friend swing by, help you load it. How many vehicles do you think we’ll need?” he asks. I drop my gaze, suck in my bottom lip, and drag my foot across the tile floor. We never really made it into the living room; we’re still standing in the foyer.
“I’ll show you all the boxes and let you be the judge of that. Our girl here enjoys her clothes and shoes,” Dad calls me out.
“I get it honestly.” This causes Dad to laugh. Mom swats at his arm and chuckles herself. Tysen takes it in stride, and finally, when everything is said and done, we move to sit down to iron out more details but make them PG rated.
Mom sneaks me a few crackers when she realizes my nausea is still giving me fits here and there. I’d have grabbed one of my ginger chews, but my purse is in Tysen’s vehicle, and he and my dad are talking about his jet, so I don’t want to interrupt to grab his keys.
I mouth a thank you to her, she takes her seat, nods her head, and I can tell she’s squirming in her seat, ready to ask more questions. I settle in for the long haul and answer as many as I can.