When we walked into the apartment, my brother was sitting on the couch watching television, so I discreetly tucked the test into my armpit and called out a hello as I rushed to the bathroom.

“Where’d you guys go?” I heard him ask Gram, but I slammed the bathroom door before I heard her answer.

I had to pee so bad that I danced around the bathroom as I pulled the test out, not bothering to read the directions before plopping myself on the toilet. When I was done, I stayed where I was as I set the test on the rim of the bathtub and pulled out the directions.

So I was sitting on the toilet, my pants around my ankles, and my un-brushed teeth making my mouth taste like shit when I found out I was going to become a mother.

Chapter 56

Callie

Gram was standing outside the bathroom door when I opened it, her eyes wide in question.

“We need to go to the grocery store for supplies.” I told her quietly, biting the inside of my cheek.

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I murmured, holding out the test.

“Okay, let me get my billfold and we’ll go now,” she told me with a nod, reaching forward to kiss my head. “But brush your teeth first.”

I’d seen movies and read books where the main character would wait days, or even weeks, to tell her man that she was pregnant. She’d hem and haw about the right time, as if waiting would somehow lead her to a favorable reaction.  I didn’t feel that way. Not at all.

I was bursting at the seams to tell Asa. I wasn’t worried about his reaction, or waiting until the perfect time to tell him. I just wanted him to know. I wanted to share it.

But there were a few things I had to do first.

There was a tradition in my family that had started with Gram. She was probably one of those women who prayed for a favorable reaction, and went out of her way to make sure the scene was set perfectly, before telling her husband she was pregnant. My grandfather had been an asshole. But when it came time for my mom to tell my dad about me, she’d followed in Gram’s footsteps and cooked him his favorite dinner, setting the table with her best dishes and lighting candles, even though she knew my dad would be over the moon with excitement.

Asa’s favorite dinner was my Gram’s homemade spaghetti recipe with a side of green beans cooked with little bits of bacon, and I was going to make it for him.

Our trip to the grocery store took longer than I expected because Gram had wanted to look at all of the new gadgets in the baby department. I would’ve thought she’d be pissed that I was barely nineteen and having a baby, but if she was she didn’t let on. She treated me like any other expectant mother, cooing at pacifiers shaped like butterflies and bitching about the price of diapers.

By the time we got home it was late afternoon, and I was worried about how I’d get everyone out of the house so Asa and I could have dinner alone. We hadn’t had any time to ourselves in so long that dinner together felt like a novelty, and I’d begun to wish that everyone would go home and leave us alone. I also didn’t want there to be an audience when I gave him the news. He deserved to be able to react however he needed to without having to worry about what everyone was thinking. Besides, the moment I told him the news should be just for us.

I’d just started unpacking the groceries when Farrah burst into the apartment with Asa following behind her. He looked tired and annoyed and I wondered what appointment had taken so long that they’d been gone most of the day.

“I got a tattoo,” she told me bluntly, pulling a banana off the bunch and peeling it quickly.

“A piercing, too, I see,” I commented, eyeballing the septum piercing that hadn’t been in her nose the night before.

“Yup!” she answered around the huge piece of banana she was practically inhaling. “Goes with the tattoo.”

I looked her over but couldn’t see the tattoo anywhere. When she caught my gaze, she tapped on the back of her neck.

“It’s on my neck. Hurt like a bitch, but it looks awesome. I’ll show it to you later after I take the bandage off.”

“Okay,” I replied slowly, watching her carefully. I hadn’t heard any mention of a tattoo before she went out and got it done, and I wondered what had led her to wake up that morning and permanently ink her body.

“Hey, Sugar,” Asa murmured as he strode into the kitchen, completely ignoring Farrah as he stepped past her. “You making dinner?”

“Yep,” I told him quietly, leaning up to kiss his lips.

“Callie, what are we having for dinner?” Cody called from the couch, making me clench my teeth.

“I’m making spaghetti and green beans,” I called flatly, turning toward the counter as Gram walked out of my bedroom.

“My favorite,” Asa mentioned with a smile, patting me on the ass.

“Cody and Farrah, we’re going out to eat, get your shoes on,” Gram ordered at the same time.

My brother, who had been leisurely strolling into the already crowded kitchen, stopped abruptly, his mouth dropping in surprise as his eyes narrowed. “Oh, hell no.”

“Not another word out of your mouth, Cody Daniel,” Gram snapped at him, stopping in front of him to push him toward the door with both hands on his belly. “We’re gonna give them some time alone.”

“I’m hungry as hell; I don’t care where we eat,” Farrah piped in, completely oblivious to the undertones in our conversation as she walked toward the front door. “Take your time, kids. I’ll take Gram to the bar after dinner!”