AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sit and rock, the chair soft and comfortable. “It’s perfect.”
Hunter crosses his arms over his chest, standing tall and proud. His smile is genuine and sweet, and I wish I could express how much this means.
“Hopefully, you and baby girl make a lot of memories rocking together.” His face lights up.
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, beaming. “My mom used the same rocking chair for each of us, and it now creaks after years of being used. But it always felt special.”
Hunter watches me with a look of pride. “So now that you know the gender, do you have any names picked out?”
“I’ve narrowed it down to a few, but nothing concrete.” My head falls back as I rock back and forth, the motion causing my eyes to close. “Oh shit.”
“What?” Hunter’s brows furrow.
“We have to do a gender reveal announcement.”
“What the heck is that?”
I snort. “It’s exactly as it sounds. You reveal the gender on social media basically, or in our case, the fake Instagram page. But I should call my parents first and tell them.”
“How do you want to do that?” he asks. “Reveal it?”
“Hm…Maddie probably got a good picture of us today, so I’ll probably just use one of those shots and attach the sonogram picture.”
“Oh, okay.”
I stand and walk toward Hunter. “There’s someone else I need to tell.”
He nods as if he’s been thinking it too.
“I don’t know if it’ll destroy them or give them some peace of mind. Either way, they deserve to know they have a grandchild on the way.”
An hour later, Mr. and Mrs. Locke arrive at the apartment. They’re all smiles and hugs as soon as they see me. I haven’t seen them since Brandon’s funeral, and I feel awful for not staying in touch. We’ve all been grieving in our ways.
“Lennon, sweetheart. I’m so glad you called. Thank you for inviting us over,” Mrs. Locke says, her wide smile giving me the courage to tell them the news. I purposely wore a loose-fitting shirt so it wasn’t obvious right away.
“Thank you both for coming,” I say. “I’m sorry it’s been so long.”
“Oh nonsense,” Mr. Locke chimes in. “We know things have been tough.”
“Are you back at work now?” Mrs. Locke asks as I lead them into the living room.
“Yes, started yesterday,” I reply just as Hunter comes from his room. He’s dressed in casual clothes, the soap from his shower still lingering throughout the air.
“Hunter!” Mrs. Locke beams the moment she sees him. He gives her a big hug, tells her how pretty she looks, and soon she’s chuckling at his charm. Mr. Locke gives him a handshake and side hug, telling him how good he’s looking.
“So glad you two stayed friends,” Mrs. Locke says as the four of us sit.
“She’s kinda stuck with me,” Hunter jokes. “Or I’m stuck with her?”
“Ha!” I burst out laughing. “It’s a mutual agreement we’re stuck with each other.”
Hunter and I lock eyes, and he flashes me a shit-eating grin and a wink.
Damn him.
“Well, there is a reason I asked you guys over,” I start, and the room goes eerily quiet. Hunter walks across the room and stands next to me. I look up at him, and he gives me a nod of encouragement.
Swallowing down my nerves, I clear my throat and begin. “After Brandon died, I found out I was pregnant.”
Both of them gasp, neither saying anything, and I’m not sure if I should continue or if this announcement is too much for them.
“You’re pregnant?” Mrs. Locke asks just above a whisper, and I already see the wetness in her eyes.
With a closed smile, I nod. “Yeah, I just found out today that it’s a girl.”
“Oh my gosh.” Mrs. Locke comes toward me with her arms out, and I stand to meet her. “A true miracle, Lennon.” She wraps me in a hug, her voice is strained with emotion. “I can’t believe this.” She pulls back slightly, then looks down between us.
“I can show you pictures,” I say, then ask Hunter to grab them from my purse for me.
“We’d love to see them,” Mr. Locke says, giving me a hug next.
“You look so tiny still,” Mrs. Locke comments.
“I don’t feel that way.” I laugh then press a hand to the top of my bump so they can get a better look through the baggy fabric. “Trust me, she’s in there.”
Hunter grins as he passes me the sonogram pictures. We sit back down as I pass them out.
“Oh goodness.” Mrs. Locke gasps, then covers her mouth. “Her nose.”
“Looks just like Brandon,” Hunter chimes in, and we all nod.
“She looks a lot like him already,” I say with tears in my eyes.
They inform me they have a lawyer for Brandon’s case and plan to sue the person who hit and killed him. It’s painful to hear the details of the accident and see how this is weighing on them—on all of us. Mrs. Locke tears up when she says the case could take years if the other driver’s insurance fights it, but if they can get a wrongful death win or life insurance money, they want to save it for me and the baby. It’s completely unexpected, but I tell them thank you anyway. I never knew so much had to be dealt with after the fact, but I was mostly out of it for those first couple of months. Either way, I hope they win the case, so they can get some closure. I think it’ll help them the most.
