“But I can come,” her mom finished pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Okay, well we’re all here now.”
“We who?”
“Um, well, Lilly, Jen, Jacque and the others,” Sally said vaguely.
“Oh, so you brought your young man?”
“No mom. It’s just the females,” Sally cringed as she realized that she had used the word females, which was not something humans said in reference to women very often in everyday conversation. “Oh, mom, can you stop by and pick up Jen’s parents? They don’t know Jen’s here so let’s make it a surprise.”
“Oh! That’s a wonderful idea; see you in a few.”
Sally hit the end key and was already moving before she heard Jen’s voice behind her.
“I’m going to kick your ever loving gypsy ass, Sally Miklos!” Nervous laughter flitted around the store as the others watched Jen attempt to go after Sally.
Peri reached out and snatched Jen’s arm before she could grab Sally’s pony tail. “Calm down Jen or you’re going to go into labor and get Lilly’s pretty floor all bloody with your pregnant body fluids.”
Jen looked at Peri and smirked. “Did you seriously just say pregnant body fluids?”
Peri rolled her eyes. “Yes, I did, and why do you three always insist on asking if someone seriously said something? Do you think that they didn’t seriously say it and therefore feel the need to double check your hearing by asking?”
“Did you seriously just ask that?” Jen asked and the room erupted into laughter.
Peri huffed as she pushed past Jen, “Why the hell did I decide to come with the girls?”
“Because we are entertaining,” Elle told her.
“Yes and so is a cage of chimpanzees. I’m just waiting for you all to start crapping on the floor and then throwing it at each other, all the while squealing and pointing.”
The laughing jumped up a notch and when the knock on the front door of the store finally came, Jen was doubled over holding her stomach as she giggled. She wiped the laugh induced tears from her eyes as she prepared herself for all hell to break loose in a completely different way than she was used to. Put her before a psycho witch, a bossy possessive werewolf, or a deranged warlock and she smirked. But put her before her parents who didn’t know that she was married, let alone pregnant, and she wanted to crawl into the deepest hole she could find.
Lilly unlocked the door and pushed it open. Sally’s mom walked in and squealed when she saw Sally. Jen’s mom was next and then her dad. Her mom’s eyes lit up as they landed on her and then dropped to her stomach.
“Surprise,” Jen said lamely and let out a deep breath when Alina walked up next to her and put an arm around her and then smiled at her parents. Alina’s charms were legendary, but they were about to be put to the test.
“Jennifer.” her mom smiled and moved towards her wrapping her in her arms, effectively pulling her from Alina’s.“Hi mom,” Jen said and it came out muffled as her mom tucked her head into her shoulder.
“Oh, I’ve missed you!”
“You too,” Jen said as she pulled back and attempted to untangle herself from her mom. Her dad came up next and gave her one of those one arm hugs that were equally awkward and annoying.
“Hey Dad,” she said as she quickly hugged him back and then pulled away.
The room was completely silent after the brief reunions and all eyes were on Jen and her parents.
“Jen’s pregnant,” Sally suddenly blurted out. Heads swung around and eyes landed on her and she slapped her hand over her mouth as if it had acted without her consent.
“Thank you for that,” Jen muttered as she glared at Sally and then looked back at her parents. It was obvious by the looks on their faces that they had really just been hoping that Jen had suddenly developed a love for Pork Rinds and had been eating enough of them to support North American sales all by herself.
“Surprise again!” Jen said in a sing song voice and a shoulder shrug.
Jen’s mother’s mouth dropped open and then closed, only to do it again, making Jen think of a fish that had been taken from water and was desperately gasping.
“How,” she finally sputtered.
“Well, mom,” Jen’s voice took on the patronizing tone that seemed to always tick her parents off, “when two people love each other, they want to show it. And sometimes they show that love by taking their clothes off and going at it like rabbits.”
Jen looked past her now shocked mother to the forms of Jacque and Sally, who were making cutting motions across their necks and mouthing for her to shut up. She simply shook her head. She was eighteen. Her parents could look at her like she had lost her mind, but they couldn’t punish her, not any more.
“You’re really pregnant?” her dad finally asked.
“Yes dad, I’m really pregnant. I’m pretty sure there is no such thing as sort-of pregnant, but I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen once or twice a year―me being wrong, not being sort-of pregnant.”
“Is it this Decebel guy?” her mom asked.
“Yes it is Decebel’s baby.” Jen couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across her face at the mention of her mate. Regardless of all their crap, she was caring his child, made out of love and that was definitely something to smile about. And she had just shocked the hell out of her parents and that was just a bonus, like when you find a couple fries thrown in with your order of tots from Sonic. Bonus fries were the best.
“Where is he?” her dad asked with a frown.
“He didn’t come,” Jen told him.
“He let you travel by yourself in that state?” her dad growled and pointed at her stomach.
Alina stepped forward, and though she had a smile on her face, her eyes told a different story. “Jen is perfectly safe with me, with us,” she amended as she motioned to all the women in the room. “Decebel and the other males had business that required them to stay in Romania, and the girls wanted to take a little break. We have a doctor with us,” she motioned to Cynthia who waved and smiled. “Dr. Steele keeps a close eye on her.”
Jen’s parents continued to stare at her. Their eyes darted every now and then to Lilly, giving her looks that clearly said they blamed her for their knocked-up daughter. The tension in the room was palpable.