Page 33 of Eggnog and Edging
Ross clears his throat. "No PDAs."
We pull away from each other then I extend my hand to Ross. "Thank you for not standing in our way."
He reaches over the bar and shakes my hand. "Damn you for making this so complicated."
Then he releases my hand, circles around the end of the bar, and motions for me to come in for a hug. "You take care of my baby girl."
I don't think he knows that nickname can sound so different, but I'm not going to bring it up. At least I went with Babycakes.
I turn around, give her a wink. "I promise to take very good care of her."
Ryker steps forward, extends a hand. They briefly shake before Ross pulls him in for a hug. "Not going to lie, son, I was starting to get worried when you weren't dating. Is this why?"
Ryker nods reluctantly.
"Give me some time. I can't afford to lose all three of you.” It sounds like he chokes up but he covers it with a cough. “I'd have nothing."
"You're not going to lose us." Starla rushes over, pulling us all in for a group hug.
"Enough.” Ross squirms away. “Go help her pack."
Starla smiles at him and it looks like he softens again.
He says, "You'll always have a home here."
“Thanks, Dad.”
The three of us retreat to Starla's room.
"No funny business under my roof," her dad calls down the hallway.
Starla has another suitcase packed on the bed. She grabs toiletries from the bathroom, then we head to the door, taking the first step into the rest of our lives.
“One last thing,” Ross says.
Starla stops dead in her tracks but doesn’t look at him. I think we were all hoping to get out of here without any more trouble.
“Promise me we’ll still do Christmas dinner together.”
Her shoulders relax. “Promise me you’ll still help decorate the gingerbread men.”
Cookie decorating has been a family tradition ever since I can remember.
The tension is fully broken. “We have a deal.” Ross nods while raising his glass. “Now get out of here.”
On the way down the front path, Starla says, “I can’t believe he’s playing it so cool.”
Ross covered his struggle sufficiently enough that Starla doesn’t feel the intensity of it, but I could see it in his eyes. This just about broke him. I imagine the only thing worse would be losing all three of us, so he went with the lesser of two evils. “He’s a long way from cool, but he’s doing his best. We’ll need to keep everything as normal as possible for a while.”
“Quite a while,” Ryker says.
“Sounds doable, at least until I start showing.”
I wait for her to say what she’s going to show him then realize what she means. “You can’t know that you’re pregnant already.”
She stops between the cars. “If I’m not, then I suspect I will be soon.”
Ryker lights up with excitement and puts a hand on Starla’s belly. “How soon before a pregnancy shows?”
