Page 29 of Interference
“Hi, Daddy.”
My mom steps forward and gives me a soft hug. It takes everything in me to not lean into her.
“Emery, you look as beautiful as always, maybe a little pale, but beautiful,” she murmurs.
I want to tell her that the reason I’m so pale is because her grandchild hardly lets me go a meal without projectile vomiting, but I don’t.
“Who’s this?” Daddy asks with an edge in his voice.
“I’m Brett, sir. You’re your daughter’s boyfriend.”
I turn in time to see Brett hold his hand out to my father. I hold my breath, waiting to see what Daddy will do, and only release it when he shakes Brett’s hand.
I want to smack Brett. We never agreed he was my boyfriend. I guess it sounds better to tell them we are pregnant and together rather than the truth. This happened when we weren’t even a thing.
“Boyfriend, you never told us you were seeing someone,” Mom says.
“That’s because she’s not supposed to date,” Daddy mutters.
I close my eyes. Great. This is going fantastically already.
“Excuse my daughter’s manners. I’m Ellen, and this is my husband, John,” Mom says.
“Nice to meet you both,” Brett says before his eyes find mine. “Are you ready?”
Ready? Ready for what?
I shake my head when I realize he was asking me if I’m ready to sit down.
“Yes, let’s. I ordered everything, and it just got here a few minutes before you did,” I tell my parents.
The four of us move to the small table I have on the edge of the kitchen and sit down. Brett sits on my left, my father on my right, and my mom in front of me.
“You two went through a lot of trouble setting this up,” Mom says.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Brett smile. He thinks this is going well, but I know better. I can tell when my mom has an edge to her voice. She’s picking up that something’s going on, only she doesn’t know what.
She will soon, though.
“So how long have you two been seeing each other?” Daddy asks as he picks up his fork.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Do I tell them it’s new? Or do I admit that Brett’s been my fuck buddy for years?
“Your daughter and I have been seeing each other since freshman year but have recently started seeing each other seriously,” Brett tells him, catching me off guard.
Daddy’s eyes narrow. “And who’s choice was that?”
“Mine,” I blurt out, making everyone look at me. “It’s no secret that I didn’t intend to date anyone.”
“Until now,” Brett tacks on.
I hum, neither confirming nor denying. This shit is complicated enough as it is.
Hell, I don’t even know where things stand between Brett and me besides the fact that we plan on co-parenting together and that he wants to be an active participant in our child’s life.
“Emery, what’s going on? I can’t help but feel like we are missing something,” my mom asks.
