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“Sooooo, you already know about Ryan and me, right?” My eyes flicker back and forth between Sharon and my dad.
My dad grumbles. “No thanks to you.”
“I’m sorry, guys. I really am. I know it was wrong to keep this from you, but I saw you’re his coach and then found the article about you guys having a rocky relationship, and I got nervous.”
My dad’s features tighten and he sighs. “Harper, you should know better than to believe the media. You’ve witnessed it countless times throughout my career that they print lie after lie. Whatever makes good money.”
“I know. And I was planning on telling Ryan when I came to visit him, but then I saw you guys arguing in the parking lot, and you two told me about the new swimmer and how you guys were butting heads, so I thought it would be better to wait for a little while. I didn’t want to ruin anything for Ryan, and I also panicked about what that revelation would do to him and me. And then Ryan told me this horror story about his ex and the sponsor, and I was terrified to tell him. After that, days turned into a week and a week turned into a month and so on.”
Sharon pats my knee. “I’m sorry you felt the need to keep it to yourself. It sounds like it was a lot to deal with. I’m not sure what I would have done either.”
My dad looks like he can’t decide how to react. He appears neither happy, nor unhappy, so I take it for now and plow forward.
I clear my voice and try to calm down my frantic heart. “But there’s more.”
This time, my dad reacts, and his eyebrows shoot up. “What is it?”
My knee bounces, and I’m not even trying to get it under control. “I’m pregnant.”
Sharon gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes already glistening.
A second later, she puts her arms around me and presses her mouth against the top of my head. “You’re really pregnant?”
“I think I need to sit down.” Dad plops onto the couch and rakes a hand over his face. “Just to be clear, Ryan’s the dad, right?”
“Oh my gosh, yes.”
He nods for what feels like a minute with his gaze resting on my stomach as if he can magically see my tiny belly through my shirt. I can notice the difference, especially since some clothes don’t fit anymore, but most of it is caused by the bloating and overall weight gain and not an actual pregnancy belly.
Sharon still hasn’t let go of me, holding me to her side like I’m precious. “I really like him.”
The corners of my mouth lift. “I do too. A lot.”
My dad huffs. “He’s a reputable guy, and he takes good care of his brother. Not everyone would have stepped up the way he did. He’s definitely a million times better than Ben.”
Sharon’s hand tightens on me. “Bill.”
He shrugs at her. “Come on, you never really liked him either. He’s always been a kiss-ass, which doesn’t fly well with either one of us.”
I move out of Sharon’s embrace and sit ramrod straight. “Wait a second. You didn’t like Ben? Neither one of you? Why is this the first time I’m hearing about that?”
My brain is spinning, trying to think back to when my dad and Sharon visited Ben and me in New York or when we went to see them.
Sharon flinches and pats my arm. “I’m sorry, sweetie. But you had your rose-colored glasses on. The only thing that would have come from us telling you would have been a strain on our relationship. It wasn’t like we could give you a specific reason. We just had this weird feeling about him, I guess.”
I shake my head, having a hard time processing this new info. Not that it really matters anymore. Ben’s in the past and will stay there forever.
Sharon’s posture relaxes, and she leans back against the cushions. “So, how far along are you?”
“Almost thirteen weeks.”
“Oh wow, that far already? Have you been to the doctor then? Are you and the baby doing well?”
I nod, grabbing my purse to get my ultrasound photo from last week. “We just had our first trimester screening last week, and everything looked perfect.”
Sharon sniffles as she accepts the photo from me, taking it all in. When she holds it out to my dad, he reaches for it with shaking hands.
“You’re going to make me a grandpa, huh?”
