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“Who’s pregnant?” Rosanna was openly eyeing Becca’s stomach.
“Nobody you know. Rosanna, you remember Nick, don’t you?”
“Of course, the football game Friday night. Good to see you again. I have to run. If you do find yourself in the market for baby furniture, don’t forget I still have Victor’s stuff. It’s in the attic at Mom and Dad’s. I’m sure they’d be happy to get it down for you.”
Becca smiled at her sister, but there was an obvious lack of warmth. “I’ll keep that in mind. For future reference. See you later.”
Rosanna walked in one direction. Becca and Nick headed toward the exit.
As soon as she was sure Rosanna was out of earshot, Becca turned to Nick. “What was that? Of all the people to run into right now, right here? Why her? It’s as if she has radar that helps her zero in on finding me at my weakest.” She put a hand on Nick’s arm as if she needed to steady herself. He put his arm around her as they walked.
“Nick, I have to tell my parents. If they end up hearing the news from someone else first, they’ll never forgive me. It’s already going to be hard enough when they hear it from me. I just need to do it.”
He reached out and took her hand. “I’ll go with you. It’s all in how you present it. If you act like there’s something wrong, then they’ll take it badly. If we present it like the good news that it is, they’ll have to be happy for us.”
She scoffed and picked up a tiny pink outfit. “Obviously, you don’t know my parents.”
“Please, don’t take this wrong, but how old are you?”
Her brows furrowed. “We’re having twins, and you don’t even know how old I am. We are doing things backward, aren’t we?”
“We are two adults, and we are playing the cards that we’ve been dealt.”
She gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “I guess you’re right. And for the record, I’m twenty-five.”
“You are a grown woman. You have your own home. You’re supporting yourself. I know this will sound harsh, but your parents shouldn’t get to set the rules in this circumstance.”
She nodded, but she looked as if she was trying to convince herself that was true. “Do you really want to go with me? Because you don’t have to.”
“Of course I will. I—” A foreign feeling, that for a fleeting moment felt something like love, whooshed through him. He took a deep breath and realized it was just the protectiveness and an odd sort of possessiveness he felt for Becca. “We’re in this together. Come on. I’ll walk you to your car.”
They’d come in separate cars, since he was meeting her after work.
Out in the parking lot, Becca said, “Before you make up your mind about going with me, I have to warn you. My parents will insist that we get married.”
“That’s not their decision to make.”
“You’re right. But they’ll insist. So just be prepared. They like to pretend that they’re terribly old-fashioned, but really they’re just holier than thou. What’s ironic is they’ve both been unhappy in their own marriage for as far back as I can remember. They’ve done a very good job of pretending and putting up a front so that everyone else thinks they have this idealistic life. They’ve always held themselves a little above everyone else, which I believe is just a defense mechanism. Rosanna got pregnant with Victor when she was fifteen. She was always the wild child and I was the good girl. My parents pretended to be the happy couple. I guess we all just fell into those roles. My parents—it’s going to kill them to know that both of their daughters got pregnant outside of marriage.”
More pieces of the Becca puzzle, and they explained a lot. She was the good girl of the family who had probably jumped through hoops all of her life in order to win her parents’ approval. Rosanna was the one who pretended not to give a damn about what anyone thought. Nick knew how that was, pretending not to care. Pretty soon, it became a way of life. If you grew a tough hide, no one could hurt you. But to keep people from hurting you, you had to stop letting people in, and pretty soon people just stopped trying to reach you.
“Is Victor’s father involved?”
Becca shook her head. “He hasn’t been around at all. Victor has never met him.”
“Well, therein lies one huge difference. I plan to be there for you and our children. Tell me when you need me, and I’ll make sure I’m there.”
