Page 47 of Not My Finest Hour

When the two of us enter the living room, Fern is sitting up on the couch, staring at us with the TV muted. She stands up and positions herself right in front of me.

“I heard everything,” she says, tears in her eyes. “These walls are very thin.” She embraces me in a hug, hanging on just a little too long. “Congratulations to the both of you. I know the timing isn’t what you wanted, but I’m here for you. Seriously. Whatever you need.”

I wipe away the tears from my cheeks before they make it to my chin. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you.”

She approaches Justin next and gives him a hug. “You’re going to make great parents.”

“Thank you,” he says once she lets go.

My gaze travels to the freezer. “Fern, I love you, but you’re interrupting my ice cream time.”

ChapterSeventeen

“You know you’re going to have to tell Mom and Dad sooner rather than later,” Fern says to me the next day. We’re in the kitchen having breakfast that consists of two sunny-side-up eggs for each of us, and some toast to dip in the runny yolk. Fern made me breakfast this morning because she wanted me to have a protein-filled start to my day.

“I know, and besides, it’s not like I would’ve wanted to keep it from them anyway.”

“When are you going to do it?”

“I just told Justin yesterday. Can I at least have some time to live with this news myself?”

“I think you should tell them today. You’ll feel better letting them know as soon as possible, and you know Mom is going to be over-the-moon excited about it.

“Shouldn’t I wait until after the first trimester?” I did a little research last night once Justin left and learned that if a woman is going to lose a baby for whatever reason, it typically happens during the first trimester. “You know, in case something happens and this pregnancy doesn’t carry to term.”

“You can do what you want, but she’s our mother. Wouldn’t you want her support if something does happen with this pregnancy?”

I think about this for a moment and decide that Fern’s right. I’d feel better if they knew as soon as possible. And in case I get morning sickness, I don’t have to lie to them about what’s going on. “Fine. But I’d rather have them come over here. Their house is a disaster right now.”

“Okay, but what should we make?”

“I think we should let Mom decide that,” I say. “That’s her domain anyway, and I think she’d enjoy cooking in a functional kitchen like ours.”

“And then she can bring whatever she wants to make with her, or we could all go to the store together,” Fern says.

I nod, then dial Mom on my phone. She answers on the third ring. I tell her our plan, and she says she’ll run to the store before coming. She agrees to make chicken and dumplings, but first she wants to know if we have certain ingredients. She runs me through a long list, and most of it we don’t have. She also has another list for dessert, and again, we don’t have a lot of it, so she says she’ll take care of it.

“What did she say?” Fern wants to know once I hang up.

“She and Dad are coming over, but I’m thinking maybe this was a mistake. She’s going to be bringing the whole grocery store with her when she comes. My goodness, her list was like a mile long!”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

But it is that bad when they arrive on our doorstep with five full bags of groceries.

“Geez, Mom. Did you save anything for anyone else?” I ask.

“And that’s not all of it,” my dad says. “There are two more bags in the car.” He heads back down to their car and comes back with the other bags. Fern and I help carry everything into the kitchen.

“This can’t all be for one recipe,” Fern says, eyeballing the amount of food in front of us.

Mom shakes her head. “No, of course not.”

“Then why did you get so much?” I ask.

“I just figured you girls needed some extra food in the house. I know you two are busy and can’t always get to the store,” Mom says.

I nod along, because sure, why not let her think that Fern and I are too busy to go to the grocery store? My mind flashes back to what Fern and I did all afternoon which was nothing. We sort of cleaned the kitchen and then watched TV with the rest of the time.

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