Chapter 15
fifteen
HARPER
T he other shoe drops a couple days later when Maven and I sit down to watch the latest installment of a Netflix reality show. She’s on the couch scrolling through her phone while I put the finishing touches on the flavored popcorn. Tonight, we’re trying a brown-butter lemon recipe I found.
I drizzle the mixture over the popcorn then use my clean hands to mix it all up. When it’s properly coated, I wash my hands again.
I’m bringing the bowl into the living room when Maven gasps. When I turn the corner, I see that she’s looking at her phone, mouth wide open in shock.
“What’s going on?” I set the bowl on the coffee table.
She looks at me, her eyes falling to my stomach, and wordlessly holds out her phone. I frown, already knowing just by the shift in her eyes what I’m going to read, but I take it, turning it around so I see what’s on her screen.
No surprise when I see the Buzz Wheel app.
DID OUR WILD CHILD BAILEY GET MORE THAN SHE EXPECTED?
Seems our very own Harper Bailey may have gotten a little more than expected, in that she’s expecting!
Pictured below is Harper with who is believed to be the father.
Reports are that the two of them looked pretty cozy at Hudson and Palmer’s recent nuptials, and it seems that the magic in the bedroom may have resulted in a little magic bean!
Harper was spotted in neighboring Sunrise Bay buying prenatal vitamins, baby daddy in tow. Maybe it’s finally time for our forever bachelorette to settle down.
Congratulations to the expectant parents!
I scroll a little further down, and there’s a picture of Finn and myself in the store, and I’m holding the prenatal vitamins. As I hand back the phone, my eyes close, and I breathe in slowly. Fucking Buzz Wheel. I can’t believe it outed me before I’ve even told my parents.
My parents.
“I’ll explain later,” I call out as I rush to the front door, grab my purse and my keys, and bolt out of the house.
I fire up my car as soon as I get inside it, and my tires squeal as I back out of the driveway, heading toward my parents’.
I’ve been trying to drive more responsibly since I found out I’m pregnant, but I throw all those intentions to the wind as I speed over to my parents’ house, praying I get to them before they catch wind of this from someone else.
Or from looking at that damn app. It’s like a Lake Starlight ritual—finish your dinner, settle in for the night, pull up the app, and get the scuttlebutt of what’s going on in town.
I squeeze the steering wheel as I turn onto their street, heart racing.
I’d planned to tell them tomorrow, I really did. And I wasn’t looking forward to it. But them finding out like this makes it even worse.
As soon as I stop in their driveway, I throw the car in park and kill the engine. I pull the keys from the car, but leave my purse on the passenger seat, not wanting to waste the extra few seconds it would take for me to grab it.
I run up to the front door and don’t bother knocking. I just whip open the door and go inside, slamming it behind me, praying I don’t find them in the kitchen again. “Mom? Dad?”
No one answers, so I look through the house. They’re not in the dining room, not in the kitchen, but I stop short when I find them both in the living room.
“Is it true?” my mom asks with tears in her eyes.
My stomach sinks, water pooling in the corners of my own eyes. “Yes.”
I dissolve into tears and stand on shaky legs that might give way until my dad’s arms wrap around me.
I hug him back, squeezing him tightly and not wanting to let him go.
His scent reminds me of my childhood and the way he would always comfort me whenever I was upset or hurt.
He always made me feel safe. He still does.
So I stay in his embrace until I have no more tears to shed. He gives one last rub down my back then pulls away, looking at me with concern. He squeezes my shoulder and leads me over to the couch to sit.
I force myself to look at my mother, bracing myself for the disappointment I’m sure I’ll see there. But it’s not disappointment, it’s sadness.
“Say something,” I croak past the lump in my throat.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Her voice is a near whisper.
“I was scared.”
She takes my hand and squeezes it. “But we could have been there to support you. Why did you feel like you couldn’t come to us?”
“Because I didn’t want to disappoint you.” I crumple into tears again, and this time, it’s my mom’s arms that wrap around me.
Whereas my dad’s hugs have always given me a feeling of safety, my mom has always given me strength. I try to soak in some of that strength now. I gather myself and draw back.
My mom wipes the tears from my cheeks. “Sweetheart, we could never be disappointed in you.”
A sarcastic laugh barks out of me. “Yeah, right.”
My mom frowns, glances at my dad and back at me, waiting for me to explain more.
“You guys are always disappointed in me whenever I mess up. Whether I brought home a crappy grade from school, or you didn’t approve of my taking a year off after high school to figure out what I wanted to do before going to college, or how much I date.
Sometimes it feels like all I do is disappoint you. ”
My mom shares a look with my dad, and it’s him who speaks next. “Harp, there’s no doubt you kept us on our toes when you were growing up, and yeah, there were times that you made us angry, but it never meant we were disappointed in who you are as a person.”
My mom squeezes my hand, so I turn my attention back toward her. “We love the funny, spirited, and caring woman you’ve grown into.”
“Really?” The weight I’ve been carrying around falls off me and melts into the floor.
“Of course. It’s upsetting to think that you didn’t already know that.
” She brings me in for another hug. I glance at my dad while I embrace my mom and realize he looks a little misty-eyed.
“I’m just upset that you didn’t feel like you could come to us with this.
” My mom pulls away and palms my cheek. “I would have liked to be there for you.”
I give her a watery smile. “Sometimes I just don’t feel good enough. Easton is, like, this amazing professional baseball player, and you two have your whole love story that everyone in town obsesses over. It’s easy to feel like I’m not living up to everyone’s expectations for me.”
Mom shakes her head. “Love story?” She fights her smile, looking at Dad. “We had a one-night stand in the back of your dad’s Jeep. I could have very well become pregnant that night.” She pats my cheek and lets her hand drop. “Your story is your own, Harper.”
“The only person whose opinion of your life you should worry about is your own,” my dad adds. “From our perspective, if you’re happy, we’re happy.”
I exhale a relieved breath. “Really?”
“Yes,” my mom says, wrapping one arm around my shoulders. “And believe me, your brother is just as wild as you. We’ve probably fawned over his accolades in baseball too much, but he’s far from perfect. No one is. No one should be. I’m sorry we’ve made you think we weren’t proud of you.”
I nod and rest my head on her shoulder. “He’s out there making a big splash.”
Dad laughs and comes to sit on the other side of me.
“And so are you. You started your own wedding planning business and are making a name for yourself. Just because more people out in the world know your brother’s name doesn’t make what he does any more successful than what you’re doing.
Everyone in this world has their own paths and their own dreams. East’s dream was to play professionally, and we supported him.
He made it, but had he not, that love we have for him wouldn’t have waned. He wouldn’t have disappointed us.”
“And you aren’t disappointing us. I love the fact you never take my suggestions. It shows I raised an independent woman who thinks for herself and has self-confidence in her decisions. As much as I’ve praised my parenting for that, I see now where I might have some work to do in other areas.”
“That’s the thing you’ll find out when it comes to being a parent. You second-guess everything you do, and hindsight really kicks you in the balls when you mess up.” Dad places his hand on my knee.
“Your dad is right—well, except for the whole kick you in the balls thing. You’re always worried you’re making the wrong decision.
Sometimes they turn out great, and other times you wish you had a do-over, but good thing kids are resilient.
” Mom smiles at me as if she’s joking. “Now…” My mom’s gaze drifts to my stomach. “Can we talk about…”
I cringe. This is so uncomfortable talking about my one-night stand with my parents. “Yeah.”
“How are you handling the news?” she asks.
I blink a few times. It’s not the reaction I expected. I thought she’d grill me for all the details of how and when and why and dig in on how I plan to do this alone. “Well, better now. At first, I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t feel real. But I’ve gotten used to the idea now.”
“So, you’re keeping the baby?” She holds my gaze.
I nod. “Yeah, I am.”
Her stoic face morphs into a huge grin, and she places a hand over her heart. “Oh, that makes me happy.”
My head rears back. “Wait. You’re excited?” I look between my parents.
“Of course. A baby is always a blessing. You know how hard it was for your dad and me to have you and your brother. We’d never look at a grandchild as anything but a gift. Oh my god, I’m going to be a grandma!”
Tears well in her eyes again as she laughs to herself and looks at my dad. There’s so much love between them when they look at each other like that. It used to gross me out as an adolescent, but now as an adult, I realize how lucky they are to have found each other.
“I can’t wait,” my dad says. “Do you think they could call me Pops instead of Grandpa?”
I can’t help but laugh myself. “If that’s what you want.”
“Don’t look so surprised, sweetie. Jeez, are we really that bad?” My mom shakes her head.
“No, I just… I thought you’d be upset with me. Angry maybe.”
She takes my hand again. “Honey, if you mean would we prefer that you were happily married when you had your first child, then of course we would. Only because it would mean you’d have the full support of the father, that’s all.”
I guess that makes sense. It hadn’t dawned on me.
“Does the father know?” my dad asks.
I nod. “I told him last week.”
“It’s the guy from Buzz Wheel?” my mom asks.
“Finn, yeah.”
“How did he react to the news?” My dad’s voice is gruffer now, like if Finn acted poorly, he’d be hunting him down and making sure to set him straight.
“Surprisingly well. I mean, it’s not like he was excited or anything, but he didn’t lash out at me.”
“And he’d better not in the future either,” my dad says.
I roll my eyes “I know, Dad.”
“He’s quite handsome,” my mom says with a grin.
“Eww, Mom. Gross.” I cringe.
She shrugs. “I’m just saying.”
“Well, stop saying.” A full body shiver works its way through me.
“I don’t know what is going to happen with Finn at this point.
He lives in Vermont, so…” I shrug. “I’d like him to be involved, but we’ll see what he says.
He plans to return to Alaska this week. It might take some time to figure out. ”
“Well, you know your dad and I are here for whatever you need. Anything at all.” My mom drills me with her eyes.
I smile at them both. “Thanks.”
Now that my parents know, this pregnancy feels more real than ever. I stay for a while longer, and when I get back into my car, I check my phone. It’s blowing up with phone calls and texts—no doubt I have Buzz Wheel to thank for that.
But I don’t want to deal with anyone else tonight, so I turn my phone onto silent, then back out of the driveway. There will be plenty of time to deal with all of that tomorrow.