Chapter 91

Chapter 15 "Babe, can you hurry up?!" Grayson called from the front door. "Your parents want us there in fifteen minutes and it takes us at least twenty minutes to get there!" I sighed, grabbing one of Grayson's sweatshirts and pulling it over my head. Before I walked out of our bedroom, I saw the ultrasound picture laying on my dresser. I picked up up and put it in the sweatshirt pocket. Today was the day. The day I had to tell my family. I couldn't hold it off any longer, especially because Dr. Shay told me I could start showing as early as twelve weeks, and in three days, I would be twelve weeks. I grabbed my suitcase since we were going to be staying at my mom and dad's house for the weekend. I missed them a whole lot and I thought it would be good if I were to stay longer than one day. I had to admit, I was stalling a bit, but Grayson wouldn't put up with it. He was starting to get very impatient. "Come on, let's go," he said when he saw me. I put on my shoes, taking my time without making it too obvious. By the time I was finished, he looked even more impatient. But he didn't say anything. He just grabbed my hand and gently pulled me out of the apartment, closing the door behind me. I was still wondering how I could tell my family. It wasn't going to be easy to just say, Hey, I'm pregnant. I wanted to ease it into them. I didn't know if it was possible. "I know what you're thinking," Grayson said once we were in his car and driving to the house. "You're trying to think of a way to tell your family. Just say that you're pregnant." "It's not that easy," I said. "Even though they are understanding, I'm worried about what my mom might think. She was always so protective and on the edge after what happened with Ben." "Don't go there, Poppy," he said. "Us having sex and making the baby has nothing to do with the fact that he almost raped you. The keyword is almost. And you two weren't dating when he decided to be a jackass. We are dating, so it's different." I sighed. "I know. I can't help it. I'm worried about what they will say." "Like I've said before, they won't be mad," Grayson said. "You're not in high school. You're in university, you're moved out. They see you as a responsible, young adult who can make her own choices." I didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride. I really hoped Grayson was right. We got to my parents' house in about twenty minutes. Grayson turned off his car and faced me, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "They won't be mad," he said again before giving me a quick kiss. We got out of the car and walked inside the house. My mom immediately rushed over and gave me a hug. "Oh, Poppy! I missed my little girl so much! You never came down for a visit!" "Sorry," I said as I hugged her back. "University has been very stressful. And you can always come to our apartment to visit." "That's true," she said before moving over to Grayson. She gave him a hug. "Hi, Grayson. It's nice to see you again." "You too," Grayson said, hugging my mom back. I loved how my parents got along with Grayson, my dad especially. "Sorry we're late. Poppy took forever." "Oh, it's fine," Mom said. "I was just setting the food on the table. By the way, Gale and Graeme are here as well." Grayson furrowed his eyebrows. "Really? I thought they would have spent Thanksgiving with our parents." "They both wanted to come when they found out you were coming," Mom said. "You're lucky to have siblings like them." Grayson smiled faintly. "Yeah, I am." "And one of Tony's coworkers is here as well," Mom said. "Her parents are currently overseas and she didn't want to spend it alone, so Tony invited her. But they have been arguing a lot, so just a heads up." I couldn't help but smile. "Is her name Charlie?" Mom nodded. "Yes, how did you know?" "No reason," I said as I walked into the dining room where everyone else was. I really couldn't wait until Tony and Charlie started going out. It was going to happen eventually and I was going to laugh in Tony's face when it did. Dad stood up from his chair and gave me a hug. "How's my little girl?" he asked. "Good," I said. "I missed you." "I missed you, too," Dad said. "Is Grayson treating you well? I'm just kidding, I know he is. At least, he better." "Don't worry, Gene, I'm still treating her well," Grayson said as he entered the dining room, carrying a tray of food. I didn't even realize that he went to the kitchen to help my mom. Again, I loved the little things he did. "Define well," I said, just to tease Grayson. He just glared at me. I sat down at the table, beside Tony who had Charlie on the other side. And surprise, surprise, they were arguing. I was tempted to say, Will you two just kiss already? but I didn't know if Charlie liked him. I just knew he liked her. Gale and Graeme, Grayson's older siblings, both said hi to me and asked me how I was doing. I loved Gale like an older sister and I was still trying to get used to being friendly to Graeme. He wasn't exactly the nicest person when I first met him and he even used to beat Grayson, but he apologized and showed Grayson how sorry he was. And now, he was a sweet guy. Grayson sat down beside me when he finished helping my mom bring food to the table. "When are you going to tell them?" Grayson asked in a whisper so nobody else heard. "Soon," I said. When my mom sat down, we shortly began serving ourselves. Grayson grabbed the bowl of potatoes and began scooping some onto his plate before going to mine. He did one scoop and I told him more. I was starving after all. Another scoop and I told him more. "Hungry much?" Tony asked, noticing the pile of potatoes on my plate. "Didn't something like this happen when I went over to visit?" "Well, I'm sorry for being hungry," I said, filling my plate with other food. As I looked around the table, I saw the I had the most food on my plate. This baby was sure hungry. We began eating, everyone talking about how they were doing in school or their job. Graeme was in his last year of university, so only three of us were in school. The rest had a steady job. When everyone was about half way done eating, except for me because I was very hungry, Mom said, "How about we go around the table and say something we're thankful for? I'll start. I am thankful for the wonderful family and friends that I have." We all went around the table, saying something we were thankful for. What Charlie said made me smile. She said she was thankful for us inviting her over for Thanksgiving and how friendly we all were. She was very nice, aside from the fact that she argued with Tony a lot. Tony went, then it was my turn. And I decided it was time to tell them the news. "Well," I said slowly. "I am thankful for my loving family and how understanding they are, even if there's a chance that I could be pregnant. Your turn, Grayson." Grayson was sipping on some water when I said that, and he choked on it. I guess he didn't expect me to drop it on everyone like that. The room was quiet then, the only noise was Tony's fork dropping onto his plate. "Grayson, your turn," I repeated. "Yeah, don't turn the attention on me," Grayson said. Some boyfriend... "Poppy, did you just say you're pregnant?" Mom asked, her eyebrows raised. I sighed, pulling the ultrasound picture out of my pocket and handing it to her. She took it and looked at it. Almost immediately, I saw tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Happy tears. So not the reaction I expected. "It's so beautiful," she said. "Gene, look at this." She handed the picture to Dad, who had a huge smile on his face. "Wait," I said. "You're not mad? You're not going to tell me your disappointed in me?" "No, of course not," Mom said. "You're moved out and you're not in high school. You're eighteen, Poppy. We're not mad at all." "And this is the part where I should have bet on it," Grayson said. "See? I told you, Flower." "Wait," Tony said. "Is this why you were starving when I came over to your house and why I saw you at the doctors? That was in September. How far along are you?" "Twelve weeks on Sunday," I said. "And you didn't tell us?" Dad asked. "Well, I wanted to tell you all in person," I said. "And I was a bit scared to see your reaction, to be honest. I thought you were going to be mad or disappointed." "Aww, my little brother is going to be a dad!" Gale gushed. Then she suddenly frowned. "What the heck, Grayson? I thought we all decided that I would be the first to have a kid!" "Well, that requires you dating someone," Graeme said. "At least I never hit on Grayson's friends," Gale shot back. "Hey, that was one time," Graeme said. Gale raised an eyebrow. "Okay, a few dozen times, but we're over that. I'm a better person now." I looked at Mom and Dad again. "Are you sure you're not disappointed? You're not going to say that eighteen is too young to have a kid?" "Well, it's young, yes," Mom admitted. "But I know you and Grayson. You're taking responsibility for what happened and we all know it was going to happen eventually." "What?" "I have never seen anybody as close as you two," Mom said. "Heck, your father and I weren't even that close when we were dating. There was probably going to be a slip up sometime." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "M-mom, we've only done it once," I said. "It was your first time and you didn't used a condom? Wait. You've been dating for over a year and a half and you only had sex recently?" I dug my face in my hands, my cheek burning a lot. I did not want to have this discussion at all, especially with so many people listening. I sneaked a peak at Grayson, finding that he was not affected at all by the conversation. He was just calmly eating his mashed potatoes. "How are you not affected by this?" I muttered. Grayson looked at me. "I've been through worse." "Not embarrassment wise." Grayson shrugged and continued eating his mashed potatoes. I hated how he could act so cool about things like this. "Mom, can we not talk about... you know?" "I'm sorry, sweetie," Mom said. "I do want to talk about the baby, though. Any names picked out?" "I'm only eleven weeks," I said, looking at her. "We don't know the gender yet." "It's never to early to pick names," Mom said. "Are you hoping for a girl or a boy?" "I'm hoping for a girl," I said. "But I will be happy if it's a boy. And Grayson's happy either or." Mom smiled. "I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother. Geez, Poppy, you're making me feel old." Just then, Tony reached for something on the table, accidentally knocking his glass over and spilling it. All over Charlie. "Tony! You got red punch all over me!" she said, getting up from her seat. "I am so sorry!" Tony said. "Here, I'll show you where the washroom is." Tony led Charlie upstairs and I couldn't help but smile. "They're probably going to have fun in the washroom," I muttered. "Poppy!" Mom said. "That was not appropriate!" "What? Don't tell me there wasn't sexual tension between the two of them, because we all know there is." Mom sighed and shook her head as Dad smiled. "I ship them," he said. "See, Mom?" I asked. "Dad thinks so. And Dad, I told you, you're not allowed to ship people." "I can ship who I want," Dad objected. I rolled my eyes. "You know, Tony told me he thinks she's extremely gorgeous." Dad gasped. "No!" "Yes! Grayson is a witness!" "Gene, stop acting like a teenager," Mom said. "And stop encouraging Poppy that something is going to happen between Tony and his coworker." "Are you doubting me?" Dad asked. "Izzy, we all know they like each other. Why else would Tony invite her here and why else would she accept?" "Because she doesn't have any family here," Mom said. "Mom, don't deny the sexual tension between the two," I said. "Poppy, stop saying sexual tension," Mom said. "Can we please finish this dinner without discussing Tony's relationships? Thank you."