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She beams with pride as she gazes up at her son, leaning into him. “He is pretty incredible. And you have a beautiful daughter. CJ really needed someone like her in his life. I couldn’t have wished better for him.”
CJ’s chest puffs out, ignoring his mum’s comment. “I really am perfect.”
I giggle, slapping his chest, and lean my head on his shoulder. “Stop, your head won’t fit through the restaurant door when we leave.”
He pouts, offended, before turning to Melanie. “Mel, a pleasure as always. Seems you’ve got yourself a catch,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.
I sigh. I can’t take him anywhere.
She laughs, shaking her head. She’s actually immune to his charms. Doesn’t mean she still wouldn’t do anything he asks. He’s hard to say no to.
“CJ, lovely as ever,” she says, before turning to Milly. “It’s lovely to meet you. Willow has sung your praises. I want to take a moment to say how grateful I am to you for being there for my girl. You’ve helped her tremendously. Thank you.”
Melanie steps forward, hugging Milly. Milly’s eyes widen for a split second but soon returns the gesture.
“Your daughter is strong. From what she’s told me about you, she gets it from you.”
When Melanie pulls back, she has tears in her eyes. “Yes, but since she’s been speaking to you, I’ve heard and seen a spark in my daughter’s life.”
“I’m glad,” Milly says, then gestures to the table. “Shall we order drinks?”
“I hope you haven’t waited long,” Dad asks. He kisses my temple before taking a seat next to Melanie.
“No, we’ve not long got here,” I tell him, sitting next to CJ.
I take his hand under the table and squeeze. When we planned what to say, we decided to tell them before we eat. We—I mean,I, felt that waiting until we had finished would be excruciating.
It’s now or never.
I kick CJ’s leg under the table, glancing at him. Sweat pours down the side of his face, and his Adam’s apple bobs.
I kick him again. He clears his throat, and faces our parents.
“Okay, so we had a reason for bringing you together this evening. First, we want you guys to know we have thought about this. We’ve gone over everything thoroughly.” He pauses, taking a swig of water that had already been placed on our table, before addressing my dad. “Sir, I didn’t take advantage of your daughter or force her into anything. I promise. This is a decision we made together. I need you to know that.”
That was not in our plan of action. I glare at CJ, pinching his leg under the table.
“What’s going on? You didn’t get married, did you? Because you’re young, Allie,” Dad says, looking between us with a mixture of confusion and worry. He scrubs his jaw, turning to Melanie for answers. She stares ahead, and I feel bad for putting this on her. But I couldn’t well ask her to stay home because there might be a family drama. She’s part of our family now.
“CJ, honey, what is going on?” Milly asks, frowning.
“It wasn’t planned,” he says, and just like that, my dad turns a deathly shade of grey.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out, sitting back and preparing myself for the outburst.
No one says anything. It’s so silent, you could hear crickets. My body is tense, watching my dad’s face morph from shock to worry.
“Allie, you’re twenty years old. You aren’t ready to have a baby. You haven’t even finished school.”
“Dad, women younger than me have kids all the time. We haven’t taken this decision lightly. We know what’s at stake.”
He bangs his fist on the table. “No, Allie, I don’t think you do. You aren’t prepared at all. It’s endless nights of feeding and changing nappies.”
“Dad,” I say quietly, stopping him.
“He’s right. Have you two really thought this through? It’s not just feeding and changing nappies. This is a big responsibility. I couldn’t even leave the house to get a loaf of bread without having to pack everything but the kitchen sink. And they aren’t babies forever. They grow. You have to think about finding a place to live, safeguarding your home, then stairgates, a nursery, school, funding uniforms. You two haven’t seen the world yet. CJ, you’ve always wanted to experience South Africa. You can’t do that with a baby.”
My eyes water, and CJ, sensing my distress, pulls me against his chest before facing our parents. “Your listing off reasons why it’s hard to have children, but you forget, we’re your children. Yet, here we are. You did it. I know we’re young, but we can do this. We don’t see not being able to do things like go out, go on holidays, or pop to the shop whenever, as our life being over. We understand changes are going to be made, but we’re ready for them. More than ready.” He takes in a deep breath. “We didn’t come here today to ask for your permission. We came here to ask for your support.”
