by Natalie Ann
“You might not be attracted to me if I’m big and fat.”
He shook his head. “Rene, stop overreacting.”
“You’ve been overbearing, I can overreact,” she said stubbornly.
“It’s not the same.”
“Yes, it is,” she argued, then wiped the tears off her cheeks.
“Fine. You can win that one. As for work, I’m sure Max is going to be fine with it. He’s not going to fire you and you know it. Besides, it’s going to be the niece or nephew of his business partner. Celeste wouldn’t let him live it down.”
“I know that thought is completely irrational on my part.” It still didn’t stop it from popping into her head, though.
“As for your parents and Nick and their reactions—we’ll deal with it. It’s not going to be any different than my family, trust me.”
“Your mom will be upset?” she asked, never really thinking about that.
“I’m sure. We’ve always been close. Closer than me and my father, but she will still remind me that I should have known better and that I need to step up and be responsible.”
“You have. You’re trying to. I’m the one saying no.”
She hoped he didn’t ask her why. She didn’t want to have to tell him she wouldn’t move in or marry him until she knew how he felt about her. Not just their child.
“It won’t matter to my mother. I guess I can be thankful that my father isn’t around. It’d matter a great deal to him, this situation.”
“I’m sorry, Cole.”
She never stopped to think about the burden this was on him. He was a man of honor, she knew that, and she was taking that away from him.
“Don’t be. It’s not either of our faults. It’s just something that happened. For what it’s worth, I’m not really sorry about it, either.”
Chills ran down her arms in the warm sun. “You’re not?”
“No. Sometimes the best things are those that aren’t planned. When it’s all said and done, things will be fine. I know it. We’ve just got a long several months ahead of us.”
She nodded. “I guess that’s why when we’re together I don’t want to talk about it too much. I just want it to be about us. Not about all the outside interference.”
He smiled. “We’re grown adults living on our own, with good jobs. There isn’t anything anyone needs to do for us that we can’t do for ourselves. That’s not a lot of interference.”
He was right, she knew that. “Words, approval, and acceptance mean a great deal to me. Maybe they shouldn’t, but they do. And when I don’t get it, it hurts.”
“Tender, huh? Just like Nick and everyone else says.”
“Some things will never change.”
“You can’t let what others think bother you at this point in your life, Rene.”
“I can’t stop it, either. I guess all I can do is limit my reaction to it.”
“You could. I could too. I get it though. I know my mother’s reaction is going to hurt. And I know Celeste will come to my defense, like she always did when I was a kid. But part of me just wishes my mother would keep her hurt and her opinion to herself.”
“Want to make another promise together?” she asked.
“What’s that?”
“Let’s not do this to our child. When they’re an adult, let’s not make them feel that they are letting us down. That they’d worry if they made a misstep or a decision we didn’t agree with, so they wouldn’t be stressed over our reaction.”
“It’s a promise,” he said.
Takes Two
“So when are you going to tell everyone?”
Rene turned when her grandmother asked that question. It was Sunday night, Memorial Day weekend. Cole had been mandated overtime for the holiday weekend and had left about an hour ago for an added second shift to the schedule. Nick and Mallory had left a short while ago, too.
They’d had a nice cookout by the water and just relaxed, the five of them.
“Tell everyone what?” she said.
“That you’re pregnant.”
Rene turned sharply to look at her grandmother, dread creeping up her spine. She figured someone would have guessed at some point and should have known it would be the person she lived with.
“Why do you say that? I think the better guess is that Mallory is pregnant right now.”
“I think she is, too. The question is why neither one of you is saying anything.”
Rene ignored the question directed at her. “I noticed Nick waiting on Mallory hand over fist today. It was kind of sweet.”
If truth was known, Rene was a bit jealous, but didn’t say that. She couldn’t when Cole was trying to do things and Rene was accusing him of being overbearing.
The difference was Nick looked at Mallory with love and care, Cole looked on with concern. Rene wanted to see the love.
“Nick has always been considerate, but this was almost overkill. Not to mention Mallory complaining how tired she was. Normally I’d brush it off as her spending a ton of time writing, but Nick let it slip that Mallory hadn’t been feeling well or writing her normal amount of hours.”
“I noticed she turned a little green over the potato salad when it passed by her.”
“She did. She never cared for mayonnaise, but never got sick over it, either.”
“I wonder how far along she is,” Rene said.
Would she and her brother give their parents grandkids around the same time? Rene was guessing Mallory probably wasn’t more than a few weeks or a month ahead of her at the moment.
“Probably not much more than you,” her grandmother said.
There was no getting out of this. “How did you guess?”
Her grandmother sent her a cocky smile, one that she reserved for when she knew she was right. “You live under the same roof as me. I see things.”
“Such as?” She wanted to know to make sure she was more careful around others.
“You’re eating a ton of food lately, yet you haven’t gained any weight. You’re going to bed earlier and yet still look like you are dragging at times. You even took a nap yesterday.”
Unfortunately, there was no way to hide those things.
“Fine. Yes, I’m pregnant,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I messed up. I always mess up.”
“Come here, sweetie. Accidents happen.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” Rene said, sniffling.
“You planned this? I never expected that of you. Why?”
“I didn’t plan it. I mean, I just don’t want to think of my child as an accident.” She told her grandmother how she ended up pregnant.
“Cole should have been using more protection. He is the wiser one when it comes to this.”
“It’s not his fault,” Rene argued. “I’m the one that asked him to stop using the condoms. I was having a reaction to them and I thought it’d be fine since I’d been on the pill for years. I just never thought about increasing the dosage.”
“It takes two,” her grandmother said.
“I know, I know.”
“Then stop saying you messed up.”
There was no arguing with her grandmother when she got like this. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“What does Cole think about it?”
“He’s good with it. Scared like me, but we don’t want to tell anyone yet.”
“Why’s that? Because it’s early?”
“That, and we don’t want to take anything away from Celeste’s wedding. It’s just another month. She’s been through so much and deserves to have the attention on her right now.”
“Makes sense. Why not tell your parents at least?”
“I’d rather wait a lot longer for that.” She was dreading that conversation.
“It’s not like they can ground you,” her grandmother said, smiling.
“Very true,” Rene said, her lips twitching as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Do you think they will disown you?”
<
br /> Rene snorted. “Hardly. They will be disappointed, though.”
Which was worse than anything else in Rene’s eyes. Her whole life, all she wanted to do was make her parents proud. Make Nick proud. Not be the girl that never knew which direction to go in and then stumbled when she did.
“At first. Or maybe not. I expect they will be shocked. It’s just natural. But you’re an adult. A mature adult that can take care of yourself.”
“No one thinks that but you.”
“Cole doesn’t think you’re a mature adult?” her grandmother asked. “If not, then he shouldn’t have knocked you up.”
“Nice, Grandma.” Leave it to her grandmother to make her laugh. “No, he knows I’m a mature adult. Though lately, I probably haven’t been acting like one.” She stopped and waved her hand. “He just doesn’t think I can take care of myself. Correction, he wants to take care of me.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t need him to.”
“What does he want to do that is annoying you? I can see it on your face.”
She’d never been good at hiding her emotions. “He wants me to move in with him.”
“That doesn’t seem like a horrible suggestion. It’s not like he asked you to marry him because you were pregnant.”
“He sort of did that, too.”
“Really?” her grandmother said. “I’m assuming since you won’t move in with him, you said no to the marriage.”
“He didn’t really ask. I said no to the moving part and then he said something to the effect of ‘then you won’t like my next suggestion.’”
“So he suggested it, but didn’t ask?”
“Exactly.”
“If he asked, you’d say yes?”
“No,” Rene said. “I don’t want him to ask. I don’t think we should get married just because I’m pregnant.”
“He’s not happy with that, I’m guessing. That you turned down his suggestion for marriage or living together.”
“Not really, but he understands.”
Her grandmother nodded like she understood, but Rene knew that was the last thing her grandmother was thinking. “What are you going to do when the baby comes? Cole doesn’t strike as me as someone to give up time with his child. Frankly, I’m surprised he isn’t pushing harder to have you with him now.”
“I told him I’d make a decision before then.”
“This has to be hard on him, too, Rene.”
She didn’t expect her grandmother to side with Cole on this and was miffed over it.
“It is, I know, but not as hard as it is on me. I’m the one going through it.”
“True. Physically, that is. Emotionally, not even close. Cole is a man of honor. He was raised to be that way and to take responsibility for his actions. To protect, especially those he cares for. It has to go against everything inside of him to let you have your way right now. Have you considered that?”
She had, but didn’t want to admit it. “Are you saying I should give in to make him feel better? Even if it’s not what I want?”
“Not at all. I’m saying you need to think about the reason you aren’t moving in with him, and decide if it’s a petty reason, or something else.”
“There’s nothing petty about it,” Rene said. How could her grandmother say that?
“Then what’s the reason?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I think I would. I think I do. You want him to want you there for you, not because of the child, but because he loves you and for no other reason.”
The tears started to fall some more. “What is wrong with that?”
“Nothing. Do you love him?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you don’t know, how can you expect him to know?” her grandmother asked.
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it? I’ll ask again, from the heart now—do you love Cole? Or do you truly not know?”
“I think I do. I’m not sure what it means to love someone, though. Someone besides family. I’ve never felt this before. I’ve never been in this situation. Do I love him because he was my first lover? Do I love him because I’m pregnant?”
“Or do you love him because he makes you feel like you can be the person you always wanted to be?”
“That too,” Rene said, realizing her grandmother was always right.
***
“What the hell happened?”
Cole turned to see Amber rushing into the room he’d just walked into holding a towel to his head to stop the bleeding. It wasn’t helping much; head wounds always bled like a bitch.
“I got cut,” he said sarcastically. It would be his rotten luck she’d be at the hospital when he was brought in.
“Let me see it,” she said, reaching for him once he was seated on the bed.
The nurse checking his vitals raised her eyebrow. “You don’t work here,” Cole said to Amber.
She looked at the nurse. “It’s a head wound.” Reaching forward, she took the towel away. “And the gash is partially on his temple. I’m calling Dr. Hamilton in.”
“He’s not on call this weekend,” the nurse said.
“Just stitch me up and get me out of here. I don’t need a plastic surgeon.”
It didn’t matter; Amber pulled her phone out and called Max anyway. “He’ll be here in twenty minutes. I’ll get you cleaned up and ready to go once Melissa is done.”
Cole leaned back and shut his eyes. His head was pounding and he didn’t feel like arguing right now.
As if this day wasn’t bad enough, Rene came rushing behind the curtain the same time Max did. “Oh my God. Cole, what happened? Do you have a concussion?”
“No concussion,” Amber said.
“Why did you call her?” Cole asked.
Great, just what he needed. He didn’t want Rene all upset in her condition. He was going to wait until he was home before he let her know. That way she could see for herself he was fine.
“Seriously?” Amber asked. “She might be small, but she’s been a bit snarky lately. I didn’t want to make it worse if she knew I was here and called Max in and didn’t tell her.”
“Snarky, huh?” he asked Rene, turning to look at her. He was glad to know he wasn’t the only one treated to that side of her lately. Who would have thought someone as tiny and sweet as her could turn into a mini viper?
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t push it.”
“See what I mean,” Amber said, laughing.
“Let me see what we’ve got here,” Max said.
“Just staple it shut or something,” Cole said.
“There is no way we are doing that,” Rene said. “Your scar will be too big and it’s partially on your temple.”
“It’s just a scar. I’ve got plenty,” he said.
“That’s why they called me,” Max said. “When it’s all healed it won’t be much of one. Besides, Celeste would want you to look your best when you give her away in a month.”
Cole rolled his eyes and let everyone fuss over him. He felt Rene grab his hand, and somehow that made the pain dull.
He was worried she’d be upset, but she wasn’t. She was just watching what was going on and comforting him at the same time.
“This is going to sting,” Max said. “Amber’s going to numb it, but the needle is worse than anything else. Then I can get to work.”
“Shit,” Cole said, clenching his teeth. “I told you to just staple it. That would have been less painful.”
“Probably, but it wouldn’t look as good when it was done, either,” Max said.
“What happened?” Rene asked him, just calmly looking at Max and Amber now, then dropping her eyes to his and back to what was being done.
“A fight at a party. Drinks and rednecks don’t mix. Chairs went flying and when one splintered over someone’s back, the piece caught me in the head. And here I am, entertaining you all now.”
Rene kissed his cheek. �
��No one is entertained.”
“Speak for yourself,” Amber said. “This is probably the only way I could get my hands on Cole.”
Cole watched as Rene glared at Amber, only to hear both her and Max laugh. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and knew who it was.
“Grab my phone out of my pocket, Rene. It’s Celeste.”
“How do you know?” she asked, leaning over him to get his phone.
“Make sure it’s just his phone you’re grabbing there,” Amber said, giggling a little. Seriously, they were stitching his head and cracking jokes like they were at a bar.
Max snorted. “Amber, do you ever let up?”
“I can’t. They are just too cute together. Look at Rene blush right now. Not Cole though, nothing makes him blush.”
Cole ignored Amber and Max and addressed Rene. “Tell Celeste what’s going and tell her I’m fine.”
He knew his sister would call. She would have known something was wrong, the same way he always knew something wasn’t right with her.
“She wants to come to the hospital,” Rene said, putting her hand over the phone.
“Tell her I’ll be home soon and will call her then. There’s no need for her to come out.”
“She said to tell you she loves you, and that she and your mother will stop over in the morning.”
“Fine,” he said.
“Don’t you want to tell your sister you love her back?” Amber asked, laughter in her voice.
“I don’t need to say it,” Cole said. “She knows.”
He looked at Rene when he said those words, hoping for some reaction, but he got nothing.
Faults
Midmorning the next day, Rene was sitting on Cole’s front porch snacking on some fruit before lunch when she saw Celeste’s car pull into the driveway.
“Hi,” she said to Celeste and Ginger.
Neither woman looked too stressed at the moment. Of course, Cole had called them when he’d gotten home, talked to them both and said Rene was staying with him, so they had nothing to worry about.
“How’s he doing?” Celeste asked.