“Just a girl from class,” he says.
Mike coughs behind me, so I swing my head to look at him before looking back at Brandon.
“A girlfriend?”
“A girl that is my friend, yes.” He smiles.
“Should I be worried?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “No, Mom.” He sighs.
“Will you be home for dinner?”
“No. I think were going to get something from the diner,” he says and his cheeks brighten slightly, making me wonder who this girl is. “I have to go change. I’ll be home by ten at the latest.” He kisses the side June’s head and then mine before disappearing downstairs to his room.
“Do you know who she is?” I ask Mike after a few moments.
“Nope, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you anyways.”
“You wouldn’t?” I ask, feeling my eyes narrow.
“Nope. Dude code, baby. We don’t gossip with women about women.”
“You don’t gossip with women about women, but you gossip about women to men?”
“Men don’t gossip.”
“Then what do you call it?”
“Exchanging valuable information.”
“So…gossiping,” I state.
“Nope.” He smiles, leans in, and kisses me once.
“All right, June Bug. Come to Great-Grandma so Grandma and Grandpa can get some alone time,” Emma says.
I almost blurt out, “Holy shit!” because I never thought that I was a grandma and I definitely never thought I would be a pregnant grandma. A grandma pregnant by a grandpa. Could my life get any more ridiculous?
“I’m gonna help Mom get her in the car,” Mike says, so I kiss June one more time before passing her over to her grandfather.
“I will call and let you know what November and Susan say about our shopping trip,” Emma says, following Mike out the door.
“Just let me know,” I mutter, hoping that November is quick on her feet.
“Be back in a second,” Mike says.
I watch him carry June to the car and put her in the car seat before kissing his mom’s cheek and coming back up the stairs to me, where we both watch his mom drive away.
“Now will you tell me what’s wrong?” Mike asks as soon as the front door is closed.
I turn to look at him. I want to tell him that I’m pregnant, but the words are stuck in the back of my throat.
“Nothing,” I mumble and head for the kitchen, where I pull out the chicken breast I left to marinate in olive oil and a ranch dressing packet this morning.
“You don’t seem like nothing’s wrong,” he says, watching me.
“I’m fine,” I repeat as I start up the oven and place the chicken on a baking pan, before going into the pantry and getting a few potatoes to peel.
He comes over to where I’m standing at the sink and takes the potato peeler from my hand. Then he sets it on the counter next to the sink before turning me around to face him.
“What happened at the school?” he asks.
It takes a second for the question to register before I respond. “Nothing. Brandon has raised his GPA and the guidance counselor believes that he could get into pretty much any school he wants to,” I tell him.
“Okay, so if it’s not Brandon, then what happened at your appointment?”
“Nothing,” I say then sigh when his eyes narrow. “Okay, promise you won’t freak out.”
“Kat.”
“Just promise.”
“Tell me,” he says.
“I’m pregnant,” I say when I realize that he’s not going to give up or promise me that he won’t freak out.
His body stills and his face goes blank immediately. “What?” he whispers so quietly that I more read his lips then hear the words.
“I’m pregnant,” I repeat. I’m completely shocked that the words are coming out of my mouth.
I know a few women who waited until later in life to have children. I never thought that I would be having another child. I was sure that I wasn’t even able to. When I was with my husband, we never used anything to prevent pregnancy. It just never happened. Plus, breast cancer runs in my family and my doctor advised against the pill.
“How did that happen?” Mike mumbles.
I close my eyes and drop my head. “Unprotected sex and stupidity,” I answer, opening my eyes and looking at him.
His eyes roam over me then land on my stomach. “You’re sure?”
I don’t even say anything—I just walk to my bag, pull out the internal ultrasound pictures, and hand them to him.
“You’re pregnant,” he says, looking at the picture.
“I am.”
“How far along are you?”
“He thinks eleven weeks,” I say quietly, closely watching his face.
“Do you…” He stops to look at me and I see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “Do you want to keep it?”
Shit. Through all of this, I haven’t even thought about not keeping him or her. I nod then bite my lip to keep from crying.
“Jesus, I don’t even know what to say about this,” he says, looking back down at the pictures.
“I don’t know either.”
“Will you be okay?” he asks, looking at me again.
“The doctor assured me that the baby and me should be fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“There are risks at my age, but he says they are minimal considering how healthy I am.”
His body relaxes and his hands pull me closer as he shoves his face into my neck. “I’m scared to death but happy as hell,” he says against my neck.
“Me too,” I say, pushing my fingers through his hair.
“I think it’s going to take a few days for this to sink in.”
I smile as he kisses my neck before he pulls away and puts his hands on either side of my face.
“You’re pregnant,” he says, and I nod. “With my baby.”
I smile and whisper, “Yes.”
“Wow.” He pulls my face towards his.
When I’m close enough, his lips press against mine. His tongue runs over my bottom lip and my mouth instinctively opens up under his. My hands fist into the front of his shirt so I can keep standing as his taste and the feel of his hands tangling into my hair cause my legs to go weak.
“You guys have a whole house. Do you have to do that in the middle of the kitchen?” Brandon says, breaking the moment.
Mike pulls his mouth from mine then smiles, looking over at Brandon. “Thought for sure that we would be on our own in a year. Looks like we have along ways to go until we have an empty house,” Mike says quietly.