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“Sweetheart, we will get through this. You are not alone.”
She strokes my hair, trying her best to soothe me. Yet Dad is still eerily quiet. With tear-soaked eyes, I glance up to see him staring at the table. His expression is still blank, not a single ounce of anything.
“I know you’re disappointed in me. I’m disappointed in myself. I love college, and I finally decided I wanted to study medicine. Now, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Find a job because I need to raise this child alone.”
“Alone?” Dad butts in. This time his emerald eyes have turned into a dark shade. “Who’s the father?”
I swallow the lump inside my throat. Perhaps the bomb didn’t go off earlier, but it sure will now.
“Someone I haven’t been with in a while. He’s not in my life.”
“Who?” Dad grits.
“Hunter Cash,” I choke. “Just say how you feel, Dad. You’re disappointed in me, and now I’ve ruined my life.”
Dad doesn’t respond. He stands up and walks out of the room without a word. Not long after, we hear the slam of the door to his office. The sound is enough for me to begin crying again.
“I couldn’t do it, Mom. I couldn’t terminate this pregnancy. I’ve done it once and never want to go through that misery again.”
“Alexa,” Mom says softly. “We would never ever expect you to do such a thing. You’re almost twenty-one. You’re an adult. I know how scary it is to be young and expecting a child with a man who isn’t in your life. I also know how hard it is to lose a child. Did I ever tell you that you were a twin?”
“A twin?”
Mom nods with a pained smile. “I was just about to cross over to the second trimester when we lost him. A boy, just like your father had always wanted.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” I whisper.
“It was never meant to be. The pain never truly goes away, but I’m blessed to have you and your sisters. And soon, another grandchild.”
“Oh, Mom,” I sob.
She holds me for the longest time, and it’s exactly what I needed all along. There is no greater love than the love of a parent. I just hope I can be everything to my child that she has been to me.
“You give your father some time to adjust, okay? He will come around. He always does with you girls.”
“I know. But Mom? Just so you know, I’m not going to tell Hunter about the baby. He has his own family to raise. I don’t want to complicate things for us.”
“Alexa, you may feel this now but may change your mind later. It’s important for both parents to be given an opportunity to raise the child. They don’t have to be together, but a parent should never be deprived of the opportunity. I just want you to think about that.”
“C’mon, Mom. Hunter is having a baby with Kathy. I don’t want my child to be second best while he plays happy families with someone else.”
“I understand. I wouldn’t want that either. I just want you to think about it. That’s all I’m asking.”
We talk for a long while, but it’s inevitable I’m going to have to go to Dad’s office and talk to him before I leave. As I walk down the long hallway to his office, I take deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling, just to calm myself down. My knuckles tap softly against the door, but he doesn’t say a word. I enter with caution to see him staring out the window.
“Dad, please talk to me.”
Silence.
“I… I need you to say something. Anything. Be angry, be sad, just talk to me, please,” I beg.
“Alexandra,” he warns in a stern tone, but then his face falls. “I’m trying my best here to be the father you need. Not the man you’ve loathed during your teenage years.”
I walk to where he is standing and wrap my arms around him, desperately needing him to hold me tight. At first, I feel him tense, then he hugs me tight, and once again, my tears flow as the emotions overcome me.
“Please don’t cry, sweetheart,” Dad murmurs as he kisses the top of my hair. He pulls away but keeps me close. Staring into my eyes, he wipes the tears away from my cheeks. “I will always love you, no matter the circumstances. You just have to understand this is a shock to your mother and me. It was the last thing we expected from you.”
“I know that,” I agree with a nod. “It’s the last thing I expected from me too. I just need you to know I didn’t do this on purpose to hurt you. I was stupid and naive. I wasn’t thinking straight and—”
