Chapter 21 #2
The second thing I realized? That while my being the baby’s dad didn’t change whatever was going on with Darcy and I, it one thousand percent changed how I felt about telling her family she was pregnant.
Before I got into Darcy’s car this morning, it was all a lie.
I didn’t know if her plan was to tell them I was the father, or only that I was her boyfriend, but regardless, to me it was all going to be a lie.
But now? Now it was the truth, and I’d have to look her parents in the eyes and tell them I’d gotten their daughter pregnant.
I wasn’t ashamed, it was what it was, and neither of us were children, but after having met her family, I finally understood why Darcy hadn’t wanted to be alone when she told them.
They weren’t judgemental, but it was clear that they loved their children, and had high opinions of them.
Trying to live up to that kind of standard could put a lot of pressure on a person.
We’d discussed the plan for how we were going to tell them at length in the car, but we’d only been inside her parents’ house for just over an hour when it all went to absolute shit.
A bottle of wine was being passed around the table, and I passed on it because, for starters, wine was terrible—the headaches were unbearable and it tasted like spoiled grape juice—but I also passed to alleviate the attention of Darcy passing as well. It didn’t work.
“Did you start a sobriety streak or something, Darse?” Garrett joked from the other side of the table. And before Darcy or I could speak, or stop her, Linnea answered.
“She can’t drink you dummy.” It was clear she’d realized her mistake the second the words left her mouth. Her dark blue eyes widened in the classic “oh shit” expression, and she slapped a hand over her mouth.
All eyes snapped to Darcy, and I could feel her shrink beside me though her posture hadn’t changed.
She hadn’t moved at all, but her eyes narrowed at her sister.
We knew her slipping was a possibility, but Darcy was convinced, since she’d survived Thanksgiving, that she’d be able to make it through Christmas Eve dinner.
That’s all Darcy had wanted to do. The plan was to tell everyone over coffee and before board games.
“Why can’t you drink?” Jack asked from the head of the table.
I promised Darcy in the car that I’d let her take the lead in all of this, but as she sat there, still glaring at her sister, the only thing I wanted to do was take charge—to answer him for her so that she didn’t have to.
Her voice was prickly, and she still hadn’t peeled her gaze away from Linnea. “Well, this wasn’t how I was planning on announcing it, but since the cat is out of the bag . . .” She met her father’s gaze and then glanced at her mother. “I’m pregnant.”
There were sixty seconds in every minute but this one.
This one had a thousand, and every one of those seconds was silent and heavy.
All eyes were still locked on Darcy, with the exception of Linnea whose eyes were bouncing around the table at everyone else, and Garrett.
Garrett was homed in on me, my death playing out a dozen different ways in his icy glare.
Shelby broke the silence, her voice gentle, but lacking its usual chipper tone. “What do you mean you’re pregnant?”
Darcy shifted, and I grabbed her hand under the table, squeezing it lightly. “I mean, I’m pregnant.”
“But, how? When?” her mom stammered, and a wave of sympathy washed over me because I remember how it felt to hear those words and be so severely caught off guard.
But I also knew how they were sounding to Darcy in that moment—disappointed and upset, when she really just wanted happiness and support.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Darcy’s tone had grown defensive, and I dragged my thumb across the back of her hand, hoping to ground her.
“Darcy,” Jack chided cautiously, like a father who knew the exact limits of his daughter’s temper.
“I’m trying to understand, sweetheart. I thought you didn’t want children,” Shelby said.
Darcy shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
Shelby looked at her other daughter. “How long have you known?”
Linnea glanced at Darcy, unsure of what the correct answer was. “Well, I—”
“Since before she was supposed to,” Darcy interrupted.
“When were you going to tell us?” Her father sounded hurt, but the whole situation had started to feel more like an interrogation than a pregnancy announcement. It felt like we were teenagers messing around instead of grown adults.
Darcy’s eyes were back on Linnea. “The plan was to tell you tonight, after dinner.”
“I’m sorry, Darse,” Linnea said, dropping her head.
Shelby returned her attention to Darcy. “How far along are you?”
“Twenty weeks.”
From the expression on her mom’s face, you’d swear she had reached across the table and slapped her. “You’re twenty weeks pregnant and only telling us now?”
My gaze snagged on Cory as she slowly knocked back the contents of her wine glass, her tattooed hand reaching for Garrett’s, who still hadn’t stopped glaring at me. I didn’t blame her. The air was tense, but more than that, it felt combustible.
“Correct.” Her response was sharp, and I moved my fingers up to her wrist, her pulse thrumming aggressively.
“But why? Why wouldn’t you—” Shelby’s eyes were brimming with tears.
Darcy scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I tell you?
” She pulled her hand out of my grasp. “Do you realize you haven’t even congratulated me yet?
All you’ve done is question me like one of Garrett’s arrestees!
” Her voice broke over her words, the hurt, frustration, and anger she felt slipping past her mask of indifference.
“We’re sorry, Darcy girl. I think we’re just a little surprised is all,” Jack said, sharing a look with Shelby that I didn’t have time to dissect before Darcy pushed back from the table.
“As are most people whenever someone tells them they’re pregnant.” She stood, throwing her napkin on the chair behind her. “Excuse me.”
“Wait, Darcy. Where are you going?” Shelby asked, but I barely heard her.
Reaching out, I grabbed hold of her hand. “Darcy?”
Hazel eyes met mine, and I could see the unshed tears swimming in them. Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough for me to hear her. “I need a couple of minutes alone. Come find me in a bit, okay?”
If anyone could understand needing some space, it was me, so while it was the last thing I wanted to do, I released her and watched her walk into the living room. A couple of seconds passed before the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the house.
“You’re the dad, I presume?” Jack’s question brought my attention back to the table.
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Shelby wiped at the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. “You must think we’re terrible people.”
“No, I don’t. I know terrible people, and you’re the furthest thing from that.
I think it’s a lot to digest on the spot.
” I offered her a small smile, then stood.
Darcy had said she needed a couple of minutes, but it was cold and snowing, and I couldn’t sit here comforting her family when they weren’t the ones who needed it.
Plus, I’d never been all that good at following directions.
“I’m going to go get her. We’ll be back. ”
I was in the living room, putting my coat on when Garrett walked around the corner. He didn’t say anything, but then he tossed something at me, and I snatched it out of the air before it hit me in the face. Keys.
“Take my truck,” he grumbled. “She’s a fast walker—you’ll get to her faster.”
I nodded. “Thanks.” I’m sure there would be a conversation between the two of us to follow all of this up, but I didn’t have time for that now. Right now, I needed to go find Darcy.