“Lora, Mom, take Frankie to the kitchen with you. Make her some food.”
“Sure. Yeah,” Lora breathed.
“For the record,” Frankie said, rubbing my arm. “I’m super fucking happy for you guys. You’ll make great parents.”
Her words made me smile. Just a little. “Thanks, Frank.”
When she was out of the room, it was just Cane and me. “I’m sorry he said that to you,” I whispered. “I should have told him before now and spared all of this drama and embarrassment.”
“Don’t worry about it. I understand his frustration.”
“But it doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t mean he can say whatever he wants to say to you just because he’s upset with you. He doesn’t have to be a dick about everything. You’re my fiancé, I love you, and he should respect that.”
“Well, first of all, you haven’t told him we’re getting married, so he has no idea we’re engaged. Second of all, this is a hard pill for your dad to swallow, Kandy. He has to get used to the idea of us. Men aren’t like women. It’s harder for us to process and accept certain things. We were friends once. Now we’re just…here. Stuck in an awkward situation, trying to live through it.”
“Well he has to learn to accept it and let things go. Not just for my sake anymore, but the baby’s too. I want the baby to have a good, happy grandpa. Not one who will talk shit about his or her dad because he isn’t on good terms with him.”
“Derek isn’t like that. He won’t spew hatred to an innocent child, especially his own grandkid.”
Ugh. For his sake, I hoped he was right.
The front door opened, and Mom came back inside. “Let him cool off,” she said, then forced a smile at us before closing the door and walking down the hallway to get to the kitchen.
“You heard her. Come on,” Cane said. “We aren’t going to let that ruin your birthday.”
“It’s already ruined,” I muttered as he draped an arm over my shoulders and escorted me back to the kitchen. Lora had music playing on her portable speaker, a song by Dua Lipa, and I was glad she, Frankie, and Miss Cane were focusing on the actual party and not what had just happened several minutes ago.
I suppose we were all used to the chaos because we all dealt with some form of it. None of us had lived a stable life. It was easy to brush off the minor things, like arguments and fights. And with that in mind, I decided to go along with it. Yes, Dad was upset, but he would cool down and get over it. His temper always got the best of him in the heat of the moment, but once it was over, he’d return to settle it.
And sure enough, after we all ate a slice of cake and recited lyrics to our favorite songs, Dad was back. He stood at the mouth of the kitchen, looking at all of us.
“Calm now?” Mom asked, quirking a brow at him.
He merely ignored her. “Kandy…can we talk?” he asked, and I placed my plate down. I glanced at Cane, who gave me a slow blink and a nod, and then walked past Dad, rounding the corner to get to the backyard. I sat on one of the lounge chairs as Dad closed the door behind him. He met up beside me, taking the lounge chair next to mine.
We were quiet for several seconds. From where we were, I could still hear the music playing in the kitchen, as well as some laughter.
“Look, I’m sorry for my temper before,” he finally said. “I just…I don’t understand. Why didn’t you just tell me? Why did I have to be last to know?”
“Because I didn’t know how to tell you, Dad. And I knew you would blow up like you always do. You’re like an Angry Bird.”
At that, he shook his head, but he couldn’t hide his smirk. “Kandy…the odds of you getting pregnant were slim. Your mom told me all about it. Of course I’d want to know right away that you are.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I focused on the ground.
“How many weeks?”
“I just hit the fourteen week mark.”
“Hold up…fourteen whole weeks you’ve been pregnant, and you didn’t tell me?” His brows drew together, but his eyes were soft. Playful. “If you still lived with me, I would ground your butt right now, you know that?”
I laughed.
“I’m just…shocked, I guess,” he went on. “I didn’t see it coming.”
“Well…then, I guess you’ll be even more shocked to find out that Cane and I are engaged now.”
“Engaged?” Dad’s eyes got even wider. “Are you kidding me? Anything else you haven’t told me?”
“No, Dad. That’s it.”
He sighed and was quiet for several seconds. “Engaged, huh?” he finally said.