AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Frank took a deep breath and spoke then. “Janie, I know you grew up without a mom so you might not have a good sense of what’s okay and not okay for a woman.”
I cut him off.
“This has nothing to do with Mom. Nothing at all,” I insisted. “I made these choices as an adult, and it has nothing to do with your divorce.”
“But Janie, if you’d had someone to talk to, maybe you wouldn’t be dating Mason,” my father choked out, his voice unsteady. “Are you sure you’re pregnant? Are you sure he’s the dad?”
I wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or sad because Frank was clearly engaging in some magical thinking, hoping against hope that this wasn’t happening. After all, it’s not every day that your daughter and stepson decide to have a physical relationship. But the pregnancy test was clear.
“I’m definitely expecting,” I said firmly. “And Mason is definitely the dad. He’s my stepbrother, I know, but we’re step-siblings, so it’s not like there’s a blood connection. The baby’s going to be perfectly healthy,” I reassured.
I could hear sputtering over the phone as Frank tried to process this information. Uh oh, this was going to be bad because things were moving too quickly for him. But my dad surprised me once more.
“Janie,” Frank said slowly, “I’m just worried about you. About you and the baby,” he amended. “I don’t care about Mason. I don’t care about gold medals or swimming or any of that because it’s all noise and distraction. I just want to make sure my daughter’s okay. Are you? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.
I drew a big sigh of relief then because Frank had come through for me, even after three big bombs – the dancing, the relationship with my stepbrother, and now the resulting pregnancy.
“Daddy,” I said reassuringly, “I am most definitely okay. I’m going to survive. You know I’m a survivor.”
“But you’ve never had any female guidance,” he said worriedly. “Have you thought about the baby? Are you going to keep it?”
I paused momentarily. This was something I’d spent some time thinking about, and hadn’t come to any conclusions yet. I’d lain awake nights asking myself if I could raise a child alone. Could I be a single mom, without a partner? Because at the moment Mason was embroiled in this transgender scandal, and besides, we were step-siblings. He’d jeopardize whatever endorsements he had left if he revealed he was the father of his sister’s baby. So I decided to be truthful.
“I don’t know, Daddy,” I said slowly. “I don’t know if I’m keeping it because I don’t know if I can be a single mom.”
It was painful to acknowledge this horrific truth and yet, I needed to be realistic because I’d been struck by so many events recently, including Mason’s betrayal and all the inevitable consequences. Honestly, I could hardly think straight. What were my options? Termination? Adoption? Keeping the baby? It made my head hurt and I didn’t even want to think about it sometimes.
“Well, get yourself out of his place,” said my dad shortly. “Move out, immediately. Now that I know what Mason’s done to you, you’ve got to extricate yourself from his influence. Stay with friends tonight, or even a hotel if you have to,” he commanded. “I’ll wire you some funds.”
“No Dad, it’s okay. I dance remember?” I said quietly. “I have more than enough money to find a new place to stay, and I’m going to leave immediately. Mason’s got this scandal going on, and I don’t want to add to it by revealing our illicit affair. I’m sorry, Daddy, to do this to you. It just happened, and there are no easy answers.”
“There’s one easy answer: you lose the son of a bitch, that’s what,” he sputtered. “You sue him for child support, and blast him out of your life.”
I took a deep breath.
“Listen Dad, that’s just a knee-jerk reaction because Mason didn’t force me into this relationship. I went willingly, and to be honest, I really thought we had something more. But now, he’s got so much on his plate, that I need to step back in order to give him room. Heck, I need room to think about what I want, and to find out what really happened,” I said slowly. “He told me some stuff about the woman, Vanity, at the center of this scandal, and I need to process it.”
“Well,” Frank replied resolutely. “We’ll figure it out together, honey. The Bowens always stick together.”
I smiled tearfully. I was grateful to Frank and his unquestioning support. I just wish things hadn’t come to this. After all, I don’t regret my relationship with Mason, or the ensuing pregnancy. If anything, I was already leaning toward keeping the baby and treasuring him or her with all of my heart.
