LIV

I sat in my room and watched Supernatural after Myra left. She said that she needed to finish some homework and that we'd hang out later, which I didn't doubt. But, I realized I hadn't asked her about Ryan before she left. Which I figured would have to wait.

My parents were quieter, which made me assume they were starting to relax. I'd been upstairs for a few hours, and I was starting to get hungry. It was pretty dumb to keep me locked in my room, if they really stopped to think about it. I was already pregnant. I could at least go and get something to eat.

I was about to leave my room when my door opened, and there stood my mother. She looked at me, now in my pajamas, as I was grabbing my phone and about to escape from this cozy prison.

"I was just looking for my charger," I told her.

She sighed, "I was coming to ask if you'd come downstairs, so we can talk about... This."

I nodded, "okay."

My mom went down first and I followed behind her into the living room, where my dad sat waiting for us with his eyes closed. As I sat down, he looked at me and smiled. Well, tried to smile. It was like this uncomfortable, lopsided smirk. And the smile did not reach his eyes.

"At least he's trying," I thought to myself.

"Well," my mom started, folding her hands over her lap, "we needed those few hours to get angry, sad, and process all of our emotions about what's happening. This situation is far from ideal. I can't control what you do with your life, but I always thought we'd be welcoming grand children after you were married, many years after you graduated university and established your career... Anyway, it's not ideal, but we love you no matter what. So, we wanted to hear what you want to do, and then help you navigate through this. I hope you're planning to finish school?"

I nodded, which caused the tears in my eyes, to fall onto my cheeks. I wiped them away, then smiled, "yeah, I am. I want to have this baby, and I want to be a great mom, and I wanna finish school. I-" I started crying harder, and my dad reached out to rub my back. I buried my head in my hands as I cried even more, the feeling of relief washing over me.

"I t-thought you were gonna k-kick me out-"

"Pumpkin, we would never. Our success is for you, our children. So that you can have an easier life than we did," my dad told me. I looked up to see him smiling at me, which warmed my heart.

I wasn't sure what I'd do if my parents didn't have my back. Even though they were gone so often, they were still there for me at a distance. Their opinions mattered to me. They mattered to me.

"Well, I wasn't able to tell you before, but he--the father--wants to meet you guys," I said. My parents were much calmer now, so they just nodded.

"We won't have to chase him down to take responsibility," my dad asked. I laughed, shaking my head.

"That shouldn't be a problem, dad."

My mom rolled her eyes, "I can promise you that I will love my grandchild more than words could ever express. But the father..." She grimaced, "Je ne sais pas."

Even though I had a lot to say in defense of Rob, in that moment I couldn't help but laugh.

******

I took a long sip of my almond pumpkin spice creme latte as I sat across from Rob at Cafe Cerise. He watched me gulp down my drink, a small smile on his amused face. He'd ordered a cappuccino with agave that was getting colder by the second. I dropped my cup, sighing with satisfaction. It'd been so long since I'd had pumpkin spice anything. Especially since it was seasonal.

I love autumn.

"I think you're meant to drink those when they're hot," I told him as he stared at me.

Rob laughed, "yeah, I have been drinking it. But I've burnt my tongue one too many times, so... Best to be patient."

I nodded as I picked up my vegan croissant, "I watched a documentary a few years ago before I went vegan. I've also read a few articles but basically, dairy is bad news, especially for babies. I try to eat as healthily as possible most of the time, but I get cravings. Especially now. Luckily for me," I took a small bite out of the croissant, "mmm... There are vegan alternatives for some of my favourite things. Comme le croissant."

"Comme," he asked.

"Like, in French," I said.

"I didn't know you were vegan," he commented.

I shrugged, "it's not usually the first thing I say."

Rob nodded, "so, only vegan food for you. As healthy as possible."

"Yup... So, what happened with your parents?"

He shifted in his seat slightly, clearly uncomfortable at the mention of his parents. We'd been here for almost an hour, mostly just talking about how our weeks had been so far. I was so hungry, I didn't even want to think about bracing the topic until I had some calories in my system. I wasn't necessarily expecting him to be excited about his parents' reaction, but they way he looked was making my stomach hurt.

"Well, I told them about the baby first. I figured that would make them happy. And it did. They're really excited to be grandparents," he looked out the window next to us, a smile playing across his mouth.

I could feel myself relax, and I leaned back in my seat. "Well, that's good. But that doesn't say what they think of me."

My eyes went to where his gaze had traveled as I waited for him to respond. I was getting used to silence between us, with everything that was happening in our lives. A lot of quiet time was necessary to think, process, and collect our thoughts, our feelings.

He turned back to face me, "when I told them about you, they weren't exactly 'over the moon' about it. But, eventually they were fine, and they're happy to meet you."

My frown flipped up to a smile, and I took a celebratory sip of my latte. All my nerves dissipated and I was completely relieved. The last thing I wanted was to have some kind of lifelong beef with my baby's grandparents.

Rob was still making a face, and I could not understand what his problem was.

I rolled my eyes, frustrated at this point with his silent eyebrows and expressions, "okay, scrooge, what aren't you telling me?"

"My parents and my girlfriends don't have the best history. There was one girl they liked back in college, but that didn't last very long," he looked up at me, and seeing the question I wanted to ask written all over my face, added, "it didn't end well. She cheated on me, I was absent. Anyway, the point is, I am not excited about them meeting you."

I heard everything he was saying, and it all made sense. Past 'trauma' and all that. Still, I couldn't ignore the little slip he'd made in his story.

"My girlfriends..."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me, Robert. My parents will be coming with, remember? I'll be fine." I gave him a smile, but he didn't seem convinced as he took a few sips of his cappuccino. I took a mental note of that, because it looked like coffee relaxed him in some way.

My hands went to his once they were back on the table, my fingers ran over his knuckles gently. I could feel my heart beat a little faster, and his warm hands under mine felt good. Rob stared down at my hands on top of his for a while, before he moved to lace his fingers between mine.

When I looked up, he was watching me.

I sucked in a breath that I didn't even notice I was holding, then sighed. "What," I whispered, my eyes staying on his.

"Just..." He shook his head, like he was trying to get rid of the thought, "nothing." Rob smiled warmly at me, and gave my hands a squeeze, "I hope you're ready to meet the parents."

I laughed, "I am as ready as I'll ever be."

*********

A/N

I almost wrote 'God' instead of 'Rob'. Lol, I've been watching soooo much Supernatural.

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Thanks so much for reading and for all your support!

-Ruth