“Avery Rose, what the hell is going on?” he yells, his booming voice ringing in my ears.
“How did you get this number?”
“Don’t forget who I am. I am capable of anything. But I asked you a question.”
“What, Dad? I got married. I’m pregnant. What else do you need to know?”
“Watch your tone with me, Avery Rose.”
“No. You watch yours. Don’t try to act like you care. You don’t.”
He draws in a sharp intake of breath and roars, “The hell I don’t. I love you.”
“Whatever,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re embarrassed.”
“What the hell? Did you come off your meds?”
Wow. “Okay, and I’m done.”
“You hang up on me, I swear…” he threatens and I don’t know what he is swearing to, but his voice does scare me.
Pausing, I shake my head. “What, Dad? What do you want?”
“I want to fix this. This can’t happen. I won’t let you ruin your life like this.”
“I’m not ruining my life.”
“The hell you aren’t. You’re a baby. We will get this marriage annulled. And the baby, we’ll find a good home for it. We can fix this.”
“It isn’t a dog, Dad, it’s my baby,” I cry as I shake my head. “And, for once, I don’t feel broken, I feel whole. I’m happy.”
But he isn’t convinced. How would he be? He doesn’t even know me. “This isn’t smart. You don’t even know the guy.”
“I do, and I love him,” I say firmly. “I’m not divorcing him or giving my baby up.”
He doesn’t say anything, and the only thing I hear is his labored breathing while Jace moves his fingers along my forearm, trying to keep me calm. I really don’t know what I would do without him. “Your dreams are gone if you do this, Avery. You realize that, don’t you?”
“No, they aren’t.”
“So, you can be a singer and have a baby? Please. Not when he’s got a one-way ticket into the league. Be realistic. He’s gonna dump you the first chance he gets!”
“No, he won’t,” I say and Jace looks up at me, a promise that will never happen in his eyes.
“You’re being naïve. This isn’t going to work.”
That’s my biggest fear, but I won’t let him know that. I have to believe in Jace, in us, and I won’t let anyone deter that. My heart is slamming into my chest, and I know I can’t keep going round and round with him. It’s obvious they are only concerned with how this makes them look, so there is nothing else to talk about. “Yes, it will. If you don’t support us, then why are we still speaking?”
“So that’s it? It’s your way or no way?”
“It’s my life, Dad. I want this.”
He lets out an exasperated breath and roars again. “Avery, are you insane? You don’t want this. Who wants to have a kid at eighteen or be married?”
“You’re right, I didn’t. But I am now, and that’s it. There’s nothing else to discuss ’cause I’m staying married to Jace and I’m having our baby.”
Wow, I sound strong. So sure.
And for once, I am.