Page 39 of Crossing the Lines for Love

She returned to her seat, and my father reached for my hand under the table.

“I’m sorry, baby girl. Your mother is absolutely right?—”

“I always am,” she mumbled.

He nodded in agreement. “As usual, your mother is right. There hasn’t been a day in your life when you didn’t have my support, and today won’t be that day.” He kissed my cheek and released my hand.

I was grateful for my parents and their support. They didn’t always agree with how I handled things and had no problem voicing their opinion, but ultimately, they allowed me to live my life, make mistakes, and learn from them while supporting me every step of the way.

“Well,I guess it’s our turn. We should probably tell you a few things about our son, which might explain our reaction,” Ma began. “He’ll probably disagree with most of what we say, but it needs to be said.”

“Say whatever you need to say, Ma. It’s cool.”

She sighed and hesitated briefly before speaking. “Niko being an only child has made him selfish in many ways. He doesn’t always consider how his desires and decisions affect others. I could give you numerous examples, but the biggest example is the little angel sitting beside him. The woman who gave birth to our grandson had no desire to be a mother. However, when she told him she was pregnant, our smooth-talking son convinced her to keep the baby, and he'd take full responsibility.”

“Ma, I didn’t smooth-talk her and did exactly what I told her I’d do.”

“You can call it what you want,” my father interjected. “And while your actions are commendable, you didn’t stop to think about how Deuce would feel later on in life when he discoveredthe woman who carried him for nine months and brought him into this world wanted nothing to do with him.”

“He doesn’t need her,” I pointed out.

“No, Son.Youdon’t need her. Children need both parents. Of course, there are situations when relationships don’t work out, and adults have to co-parent. However, that’s a completely different situation than choosing not to be a part of your child’s life,” Ma said.

“Is this how you’ve felt all along? You think I’m selfish for wanting my child?”

“That’s not what your mother said, Son. You’re selfish because you fail to consider how other people are affected by your decisions.”

“As your parents, we can take some of the blame because oftentimes, you were the only person you had to consider, and we didn’t create enough instances for you to put someone else first. Randall and Marissa, don’t take what we’re saying the wrong way. Niko is a good person with a big heart, and he would never intentionally hurt your daughter. Aranda, we want you to be sure you’re prepared for the aftermath of your decision. If you’re not, the resentment you’ll feel will ruin the very love you sacrificed everything to have,” my mother said.

I never knew my parents felt this way about me. Hearing them call me selfish and explaining it the way they did hit deep. The worst part of it all was they were right about everything.

The rest of our meal was quiet and tense. Our parents made small talk, which helped it feel less awkward, but Aranda and I didn’t talk much to each other or anyone else. I didn’t have to wonder what was on her mind because I was sure our thoughts were identical.

The tension in the air didn’t lessen when our parents left. Initially, I wanted my son to spend the night with us, but myparents wanted to give me and Aranda time to talk without distractions.

They’d been gone for over an hour, and we’d cleaned the kitchen and showered together but had yet to exchange any words. I was deep in my thoughts, and based on her silence, I assumed she was too.

We crawled into bed, and instead of moving to the center and getting wrapped in each other’s bodies like we usually did, we went to opposite sides and turned our backs to one another.

An hour passed, and I wasn’t any closer to sleep than when my head first hit the pillow. So, I took a chance and rolled over, scooted to the other side of the bed, and wrapped Aranda in my arms.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.

She turned to face me, and because it was dark, with only slivers of light provided by the streetlights between the blinds, I couldn’t see her as well as I wanted.

“Your parents made some valid points.”

“I wish I could disagree with you and show you I’m not that person, but I can’t.”

“I wanted this just as much as you, so you can’t take all of the blame.”

“Wanted?”

“What?”

“You said youwantedthis. Does that mean you don’t want this anymore?”

“No, I mean, yes, but…”

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