Page 113 of The Infiniteness of Yesterday
“You’re back sooner than I thought you’d be,” her mom says. “Was it too windy on the pier?”
“No, it was fine,” Harlow replies, and pulls out a chair. I take the one beside her. “We … uh … wanted to talk to you guys about something.”
Her dad arches a brow, eyeing me up. “Is everything okay?”
My hand finds Harlow’s beneath the table, and I give a gentle squeeze. “Everything’s fine,” I answer, making eye contact with Harlow, telling her silently that she’s got this.
I had told her that I was fine to be the one to break the news to her parents, but she insisted she needs to be the one to tell them.
I give her an encouraging nod. We need to get this out in the open. The three weeks we’ve taken to talk over things and come up with a plan has gone by in a blink.
“What’s this about then?” Her mom takes a sip of wine, smiling at us.
Harlow takes a deep, steadying breath and blurts out, “I’m pregnant.”
Her mom freezes, the wine in her glass sloshing when she sits it back down on the table. Her father looks just as stunned, his gaze ping-ponging between the two of us.
“We were careful,” Harlow goes on. “But obviously not careful enough, apparently. Did you know condoms aren’t one hundred percent guaranteed?” She gives a humorless laugh. “Who knew?” She shrugs. “Well, I guess we know now, but … yeah, I’m pregnant.”
“You’re joking right?” Her dad asks me, and I shake my head. “Fuck,” he groans, scrubbing a hand down his face. Zeroing in on his daughter, I’m relieved to see no judgment, just pure concern. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “I’m fine. Just feeling sick most mornings, but it hasn’t been too awful. I haven’t seen a doctor yet.”
Her mom is nodding along and appears in deep thought. My guess is she’s already planning things out.
“You’re keeping it,” her dad says. It’s not a question, but it’s not a demand either. He seems to sense we’ve already made our decision.
“Yes,” she answers. “I want to keep it.” She looks over at me with a soft, tentative smile. “We want to keep it.”
Facing her dad, I say, “I wasn’t sure about returning to school next year. With this happening, I plan to work full-time and save up as much as I can. I would appreciate if I could stay here with you guys. I understand if you don’t want that, but I want to be here for Harlow and the baby as much as I can. This is my baby too and I assume full responsibility.”
Her mom blows out a shaky breath. “Let’s take things one day at a time for right now, okay? First things first, I need to schedule you an OBGYN appointment,” she tells Harlow. “Then we’ll go from there, okay?”
Harlow nods. “I’m really sorry about this.”
Her mom frowns. “This isn’t ideal, sweetie, but please don’t feel sorry. We’re here for you, okay? All three of you.”
It feels like a sucker punch hearing her sayall three of you. It’s not just Harlow and me now. We have a little person that’s half her and half me. We’re more than just a duo. We’re making our own little family.
“Thank you,” Harlow cries, getting up to hug her mom and then her dad.
I’m grateful for her sake that they’re taking this so well. She’s been beating herself up enough, even though I’ve assured her it’s not her fault and she doesn’t need to feel guilty.
“Do your parents know?” Her dad asks me.
I shake my head. “No, we wanted to tell you first. We’ll head over there next.”
He nods in understanding.
“I love you guys,” Harlow says in a watery voice as she sits down again. “Thank you … I … I need you guys.”
Her mom nods in understanding. “We’re a family, sweetie. This isn’t going to be easy, but we’ll get through this together.”
I smile at Harlow, and she smiles back.
There’s still worry in her eyes, but this time I also see a bit of hope.
CHAPTER 43
