Page 29 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
"You're very welcome," Mrs. Rosewood said. She retreated, and I leaned back in my chair, exhaling.
"Tree ornaments, huh?" David asked.
"I've seen them," Gavin informed us. His cheeks had taken on a faint pink hue. "She tried to gift some to us too."
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Her best piece is a tree topper that looks like a penis," Caleb added.
We all laughed, and I felt myself relax further. Sitting here with my friends and family, sharing stories and cake felt so natural. Why had I ever been afraid of their reactions at all?
Maybe there'd never been any reason to. Especially not now that I had David on my side.
For the first time since seeing that blue line on the pregnancy test all those months ago, I thought that maybe things were going to be okay after all.
9
Sam
The ice cream parlor was closed on Mondays, so when my dad asked if I had time to pick out a Christmas tree with him that day, I agreed.
"Can't believe Paps is letting you drive his car," I commented as I climbed into the passenger seat of the Mercedes. After I'd nudged that tree with it, I'd been convinced Paps would never let another person touch his baby.
"You're the one who crashed it, not me," Dad pointed out. "I'm a responsible adult," he added in a tone of voice that was only half-serious.
"Yeah, sure."
"Don't give me that attitude, young man."
"Please," I said. "Last year, you stuffed a turkey with turkey."
"Being an adult means I can do whatever I please no matter what anyone thinks."
"So I can do whatever I please too?"
"No, you're not mature enough to be that silly yet."
"You're not making any sense."
"You'll understand one day," Dad promised, but I had my doubts. We drove up to a red stop light and he glanced at me as we waited for it to turn. "You know you can come home any time, right?"
"Yeah, I know that, but I enjoy living with David." I studied my Dad's face, but he kept his eyes on the road. Had I upset him and Paps? All this time, I'd been worrying about possibly being a burden to Sam's family, but I hadn't taken my own family's feelings into consideration at all. Dad was right when he said I left them out of the loop too often. "It's not like I'm trying to avoid you guys or anything," I tried to explain. "I just..."
"You enjoy being with David, I get it." A faint smile appeared on Dad's lips. There was something almost nostalgic about it, as if he was thinking back to a time when he had been my age. "I just want to make sure that you're doing okay. I never expected that you would end up in this situation. I feel like..." He paused as if to gather his thoughts... or as if reconsidering how much he wanted to say. "I feel like I failed you somehow," he said finally.
"No!" I said quickly. None of this was Dad's fault. Hell no. I could put up with the rest of the town gossiping and jumping to their own conclusions, but I didn't want my parents to suffer, thinking they'd made some sort of mistake in the way they'd raised me.
"We should have prepared you for college better," Dad said. "We should have kept you from making the same mistake we did."
"But you don't regret your mistake." He'd told me this before. He couldn't take it back now.
"I don't." Dad's eyes darted to me. "But I was also incredibly lucky because I was with an amazing guy."
I heard the implications of his words loud and clear. My situation was different because I didn't even want to confess who my baby's other father was. I sighed and looked out the window at the family homes we passed by. This town looked so damn peaceful you'd never guess all the drama going on here. "I'm with David now," I said, because that was all that mattered, didn't it? Not the way my baby had been conceived. Not that I'd gone to a stupid party. Not any of it. David and I and the baby, we were going to be a family, and we were going to be happy.
"I'm glad you two finally got together," Dad said, as if he'd been expecting it all these years. "But I wish you didn't have to put your future on hold for things to work out this way."
What was I putting on hold? Nothing except for college... But of course, my parents would think that was the end of the world. I bit my lower lip, thinking about how to respond. I didn't want to get into another fight with Dad today, not right now. Not over this.
