AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll see if they’re available tomorrow evening.”
Chapter Eight
“You’re what?” Isabel Flannigan shrieked.
“Nick and I are pregnant with twins,” Becca repeated.
“And you’re getting married, Rebecca.”
It was a command, not a question. And it tightened every fiber in Becca’s body.
“No, we have no plans to get married, Mom.”
She glanced at her father, who was sitting quietly in the striped gondola chair with his arms crossed. He was staring somewhere into the distance, and he hadn’t said a word since Becca had broken the news.
“I will be there for Becca and the babies,” Nick said. “They will have my full emotional and financial support.”
Isabel glared at Nick.
“And are we supposed to cheer for you for owning up to your mistake?”
“Mom. These are your grandchildren. Please, don’t call them a mistake. They may have been unplanned, but they are certainly not a mistake.”
Isabel continued her tirade as if she hadn’t heard a word Becca had said after Nick and I are pregnant with twins. “Getting married is only the decent thing to do. You play, you pay, Rebecca.”
Becca wanted to tell her mother that the reason she wasn’t getting married was because Nick didn’t love her. Not that way. But her biggest fear was being shoehorned into a loveless marriage, and because of it, she and her children and her coerced husband would end up living an unhappy life.
Just like you, Mom and Dad.
But of course she didn’t say that. If she had, she would’ve said it in front of Nick, and the wrath she would’ve had to endure for embarrassing her mother in front of a stranger would’ve made the admonishment she’d received after breaking the news of the pregnancy look like nothing.
“With all due respect, Mrs. Flannigan, we didn’t come to ask for your advice or your blessing.”
Oh, good Lord. All the air whooshed out of Becca’s lungs. And she wanted to hug Nick for it. He’d just succeeded in very politely and respectfully putting Isabel Flannigan in her place. How in the world had he managed that?
Oh, but wait, he wasn’t finished.
“Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan, Becca and I are here out of courtesy to you. You’re the grandparents of our children, and I hope that we can count on you to be supportive, but we need to establish that the way Becca and I choose to live our lives and how we raise our children is our decision.”
Isabel opened her mouth as if she were going to say something but decided better. That was a first.
“Of course it’s your decision,” said Patrick Flannigan. It was the first indication that he’d heard a single word spoken this evening. “I just hope you understand this comes as a shock. It’s the last thing we expected from Rebecca. We always thought she would take a more traditional path. And, young man, we met you for the first time five days ago. We don’t know anything about you. So why don’t we start with...how long have you known our daughter?”
Nick and Rebecca looked at each other. If ever there was a chance that he could read her mind, please, let it be now. Surely he would know that they didn’t need to know about the one-night stand. But just in case—
“We met at the hospital, the night of Victor’s accident.”
“Let the man speak for himself, Rebecca,” her mother said.
She hated how a single comment from her mother could make her feel fourteen years old. She braced herself for her parents to do the math and, from the sum of the equation, figure out she’d gotten pregnant that night.
Instead, her mother insisted, “Why were you at the hospital the night of Victor’s accident?”
“I’m an emergency medicine doctor,” Nick said. “Becca had some questions about her nephew’s condition, and I was happy to answer them. We had dinner, and the rest is history.”
Yes. Perfect. Becca held her breath for a moment, waiting for them to catch on, but if they knew, they didn’t mention it.
Thank you. Becca glanced at Nick again and there was that subtle, sensual bond that connected them like a thread.
He understood her. At that moment she thought she might possibly be in love for the first time in her life.
After Isabel and Patrick Flannigan were satisfied with the grilling that they had given Nick, Isabel said, “Then I suppose you and Rebecca will be doing double duty on Thanksgiving. I’m sure you want to see your parents, too.”
