3. Gigi
CHAPTER 3
Gigi
TWO WEEKS LATER
The first trimester is finally over. It’s time for me to face the music now.
Think of happy thoughts, Gigi. Picture the ocean. Picture the park. Picture being with Luke and the twins.
With trembling hands, I open the door to Mocha Break, a coffee shop just five minutes from campus. I’m waiting for the barista to finish my order of decaf coffee when the woman of the hour makes her appearance. My mother’s lips transform into a wide grin when she sees me.
“ Piccola mia!” she calls out to me with her arms wide open, barreling through the students that are here to get their fill of caffeine. “My little baby girl. Look at you! Getting prettier by the second.”
Mom eyes me up and down, gripping my biceps in the process. I secretly say a silent thank you to myself for having the good grace of wearing a loose top today. My stomach doesn’t show the proof of carrying two lives inside of me yet, but I’ve been making a point of wearing baggy clothing lately.
According to Dr. Patel and the keyboard warriors on internet forums, a lot of things can still go wrong before the twelfth-week mark. I didn’t want to stir up drama just before my appointment yesterday, but when Mom told me she was going to visit me and Luke, I told her to come today. I knew. I just knew whatever the doctor was going to say during the exam, either way, I was going to need my mother.
It turns out, I spent day and night researching miscarriage symptoms for nothing. A and B, that’s what Luke and I call them, both have heartbeats and are growing a normal amount of arms and legs. We heard it ourselves. We saw it ourselves. Luke and I cried during the ultrasound. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Luke shed a tear, not even at Andrew’s funeral.
“Luke will be a little late,” I tell her, tucking a few loose strands of my black hair behind my ear. “He has a meeting with one of his professors. Where is Vince?”
My mom shakes her head as she looks for loose change to put in the tip jar. “Not coming, baby. He couldn’t take the day off.”
My heart already breaks for Luke. When I called Mom to set today up, I told her to bring Vince along with her. That we had something important to tell them. I can’t imagine having a dad like Vincent Palmer. As flawed as my parents might be, when I tell them I have big news, they have never once left me high and dry. For anything.
“Alright, then,” I sigh. “I’ll put my coffee down on that table next to the window and go to the toilet.”
When I come back, Luke is already sitting across from Mom. He’s taking his baseball cap off as he runs his hand through his dirty blond hair. By the way my mom is laughing at whatever Luke is saying, I figure he hasn’t told her anything. If he’s cracking jokes, I also know he’s doing his best to butter her up. My boyfriend is not the type of guy who tries to impress people for the sake of it. He’s trying to bank some brownie points before she flips out.
“Gigi, look who’s already here!” my mom yells.
The moment I claim the seat next to Luke, he gently puts his hand on my thigh under the table. A simple gesture. I got you. Don’t worry.
“How did your meeting go?” I ask.
“Good,” Luke answers, nodding. “He said I could start next month.”
“What are you starting next month?” my mom chimes in. “Is it your thesis already? I thought you complete it on your last semester.”
“No. No. You’re right. It’s not my thesis.” Luke clears his throat. “I applied for a part-time job at the university. A professor of mine put in an ad a while ago looking for a student to do admin work.”
“Ooh,” Mom coos. “That’s exciting! You have always been such a hard worker. I’m so proud of you, Luke.”
Luke’s cheeks turn slightly red as he stifles his smile, but his leg starts bouncing and I bet I know the reason behind it. You’re probably going to take that comment back in a second, Mom.
“What about you, Gigi?” My mom shifts her gaze toward me, still as perky as ever. “What’s new with you? What’s the big news?” She’s so happy, and giddy, and curious—a state she’s always in when she visits me—that I’m starting to have second thoughts about breaking the news to her. I’m about to rain on her parade.
I take one last look at the father of my child, her stepson , curse myself in my head for missing the shot appointment, remember the unadulterated joy I felt when I saw A and B yesterday, and open my mouth.
Think of happy thoughts, Gigi. Picture the ocean. Picture the park. Picture being with Luke and the twins.
“Mom, the reason I told you to come here today is because Luke and I have something we’d like to share with you.” She opens her mouth, but I cut her directly right off. “I’m pregnant.”
My mother’s jaw hangs open. My mother swallows. My mother starts cursing in Italian. My mother continues to curse in English. My mother gives Luke the death glare. “Goddammit. I told you, Lucas.” When she purses her lips, I know she means business. “I told you to be careful.”
“It was me,” I blurt out. “I forgot to set a reminder for my follow-up shot appointment. I had so much on my mind, and I just forgot, Mom.” I feel the back of my eyes burning as the pitch of my voice goes higher. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Gigi.” I see the disappointment on her face, but she grabs my trembling hand, anyway. “Honey, how could you be so careless?”
“I had a lot on my mind,” I repeat myself, knowing it’s not a good enough reason. “I just had too much on my plate, Mom.”
Andrew dying. Banging my stepbrother. Exams. Questioning my moral compass. More exams. That video. Wracking my brain, trying to figure out who in the hell would bully Andrew. I wish the list would stop.
“Have you been to the doctor?”
“She has,” Luke answers. “She’s done with the first trimester.”
Mom touches her lips with the tips of her fingers, her eyes glassy. “Oh, my goodness. You guys are keeping the baby.”
“You’re the first person to know,” I tell her.
I take my bag that’s hanging on the back of the chair and take out the printed sonogram pictures—the one from when we found out and another one from yesterday. Tilting the papers a little bit, to make sure that the group of students sitting next to us don’t see it, I hand them over to Mom.
She shakes her head the moment she holds the two small papers in her hand. “You’re having twins,” she whispers, a hint of a smile forming on her lips. The sad kind or the happy kind, I’m not sure. “That’s why you got yourself a job, isn’t it, Luke? Why would you need it otherwise?”
Luke nods. “It’s the best I can do at the moment, Bianca. At least if I want to finish my bachelor’s degree on time and also be with Gigi for the pregnancy. I’ll look for something better once I graduate.”
“And you, honey?” she asks me. “What’s your plan? And please don’t tell me you’re dropping out of school.”
“I’m not,” I answer. “I’ll take next semester off and probably the semester after that, depending on the childcare situation. Until then, I’ll try to work as many shifts at the restaurant as possible to save up.”
Both Luke and my mother frown at my admission. I don’t know which one is upsetting them more—me taking a year off college or me wanting to work so we can save. I know it’s not ideal, but— you have to stop doing this, Gigi . I made a plan last night. Excel sheet and all. My mom’s health insurance covers me as a dependent, and after talking to Janice from the customer service hotline yesterday, I found out they will only cover the cost of prenatal visits. Cost-sharing will be applied for the hospital bills related to labor and delivery. We need all the money we can get if we don’t want to go bankrupt before we even get our lives off the ground.
“You don’t have to, Gi,” Luke says. “I told you I inherited my grandma’s house.” Shifting his attention to my own mother, Luke continues. “This is why I wanted Dad to come today. We agreed not to do anything with it until I graduated from college, but maybe we can sell it. It’s in the middle of nowhere, though, so if we want to get rid of it before the twins come, we need to fix it up now. Who knows how long it’ll take until someone takes interest.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Mom says softly to Luke, waving her hand in the air. But I know the look on her face. She doesn’t think Vince will cooperate. She’s doubting he will even be happy for us. I don’t even think she’s there yet, herself.
I still remember what Luke’s dad said about our relationship.
It’s wrong .
I wonder how he’s going to react to the news that I’m carrying his son’s children.