Authors: Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
Dad pulls up in the rental and Mom and I both get in the
back seat, so that Dad could chauffeur us around like he
used to when I was a teenager. Mom and I giggled all the
way to the restaurant, while Dad kept calling us Madam
Olivia and Madam Elizabeth and asking where we wanted
him to take us.
We arrived at the steakhouse and go in to get seated.
Our waitress is very nice and after Dad heard all of the
specials of the day, he ordered for the three of us. He did
when he would take Mom and I out on dates and it seemed like old times, so Mom and I just laughed and went along with it.
After our waitress finished taking our orders, both of them stared at me, waiting for me to tell them what was going on.
To have parents drop everything in their lives for a full week with absolutely no explanation, they deserved to
know what was going on with their only child, so I tell them
everything up until the pregnancy news. Mom was the first one to say anything.
"Oh, Sweetheart. It sounds like you've truly met your soul
mate and Henry? It sounds like we may be getting a couple
of grandchildren that sound absolutely sweet and
gorgeous." Dad nods at her and grabs her hand, but he's staring at me in wait for why I seem so devastated.
"Yes Elizabeth, I heard that too, but Olivia. Something has
happened, hasn't it? Has he hurt you? If he has, then it’s
time that I introduce myself to this Cash Kingston! I don't
care how big his castle is or how much money he has. He's
hurt you, hasn't he?" Silent tears fall from my face, while I nod at my father.
"Yes Daddy, but I know in my heart that he still loves me
and in his own way he can't help it. The thing is. I don't
know how else to say this other than to just spit it out but,
I'm pregnant. You are going to be grandparents again and
I’m having twins!" My mother was the first one to react,
while my father stayed quiet.
"You are? Twins? Oh Olivia! That's wonderful news! I
think I'm going to cry. After Derek and the kids died, I
never in a million years thought that you would ever
again... Oh, I'm so happy! So, does this mean you two will
be getting married? Isn't this wonderful news, Henry? Our
baby girl is having twins, sweetheart!"
"I heard her Lizzie, but something has changed and I can
feel it. What happened, Olivia?" I can't get anything past my
father.
"Do you remember me telling you about how his wife
Vanessa died? In childbirth? Well, he has it in his head
that I'm going to die too. When he looks at any pregnant woman, he thinks they've been given some sort of a death
sentence."
"But Honey, you've always had such easy pregnancies and
deliveries, haven't you told him that? Were you trying to
get pregnant?" I shook my head.
"In the beginning of our relationship, he flat out told me that
Gideon and Eden would have to be enough for me as far as
children go, which they were, they are. If I were not
pregnant now, I could help raise them for the rest of my life
and love them as my own as I already do. I told him that I
was fine with his conditions, but that if I were already pregnant we would just deal with it, to which his response was that I would get rid of it." Both of my parents are
shocked at what I just said and my father looks furious.
"He can't make you do anything that you don't want to do!
It's time I met him and give him a piece of my mind!"
"I know, Daddy. Trust me. I stood up for myself, he didn't
like it, but I guess you could say we agreed to disagree and
left it at that. Never in a million years did I think that I was
already pregnant when we had that conversation." I reach
for my glass of water, because this is the most that I've
talked in days and I'm dying of thirst. I have to remember that I just got out of the hospital just this morning.
"So, let’s fast forward to last night. I sort of got into it with
one of his employees at the party, and Claudia came to my
defense and screamed at her that I was pregnant and that
was how he found out." Mom gasped and held her hand to
her mouth.
"How he found out what? That you were pregnant? Olivia?
Do you mean to tell me that you didn't even tell him when
you found out? How far along are you, honey?"
"I'm 13 weeks pregnant and no, I couldn't tell him, because I
didn't want to fight about getting rid of it, so I wanted to wait until I was too far along for him to even consider it.
He was furious by finding out that way." This time it was my dad that spoke up.
"Olivia, I honestly can't blame him. You've been lying to
him for what? Weeks? And he finds out at a party in front
of his employees? I imagine he's probably embarrassed."
"Honestly Dad, I could care less if he's embarrassed. The
first thing he said to me was that we could make an appointment first thing Monday morning to get rid of it. When I told him how far along I was, he asked me to
choose. Either him or the babies. When I wouldn't
choose, he told me that I should move back in with Claudia
and then he said I could stay with Gideon and Eden while
he went to China for a couple of months for work."
"Oh, honey. You're talking so fast you're making me
dizzy! Where do you two stand now?"
"Well, I was admitted to the hospital last night after our
huge argument, because I passed out due to dehydration and
exhaustion and probably the stress of the argument." I
squint my eyes for the shouts that I know are coming from
both of them.
"What?
You were in the hospital and you didn't tell us?"
"We are your parents! We should have been called! Does
Claudia know? She should have called us!"
"Yes, Claudia knows and I'm fine. I begged the doctor to
release me early, so that I could get away and I had to swear
that I would stay hydrated and get plenty of rest. Amelia,
Cash's mother, suggested that I visit you both, so that I could
think while she watched the kids this week. She's the only
one that knows where I'm at, so if Claudia calls you, please
tell her you've talked to me and that I'm fine, but please
don't tell her where we are."
"Why are you so mad at Claudia?"
"It's not that I'm mad at her exactly. She really let Cash
have it and I was proud of her, but I guess I'm more upset
that I didn't get the chance to tell Cash the way I wanted to,
instead of her just blurting it out the way she did. I also
don't want to hear her bashing Cash. I still love him! I can't
help it and he's... Well, I knew he wasn't going to have
the best reaction, but I just assumed that our love for each
other would cause him to change his mind about the way he
feels about pregnancy. I guess I was in denial."
"Well honey, I don't mean to defend Claudia, but if you
wouldn't have lied in the first place, she wouldn't have been
put into that situation. I've always said, one lie turns into hundreds of lies to cover the first lie and that's why honesty is always the best policy."
"I know, Daddy. And you're right. I was wrong in keeping
it from him. I am guilty of that and I owe him an apology
for that, but he owes me so much more. He broke my
heart! I don't know where we go from here. So, that's why I called you two. I need my parents more than I've ever
needed you two. When Derek and the kids died, there was
nothing that you could do to help me but to just love me
and let me cry and try to accept that they were gone. There
was nothing to fix. What was done was done. Now, I
need rest and time to think about what to do next and fun!
Lots and lots of fun! I'm so sick of crying!"
"Honey, your father and I are getting old. I don't know how
much fun we can get in to."
"You're in your fifties. You're not even close to old age.
Dad can golf, while we go shopping and we can go to
dinner every night. They have a spa at the resort, massages,
pedicures, manicures. I don't care what we do as long as
we have fun doing it, okay Mom?" I finally get a giggle out
of her.
"Okay, Sweetie. You know how I love to shop. But let’s do that tomorrow. All I want you to do today is eat and rest!
You're feeding three people dear and we need to fatten you
up for the babies!"
Oh, how I love her. Both of them. I'm so relieved that I
didn't get the third degree for getting pregnant out of
wedlock or sleeping with Cash too soon. It's nice to finally be of age to be friends with my parents with no judgments
and nothing but unconditional love.
********************
A couple of hours later, after all of us were full from our dinner, we headed to the resort that I had booked for all of
us. Mom and Dad were surprised that I got us separate
suites and didn't like that I had spent so much money on
them.
I told them that I just wanted them to have some privacy
and to feel like they were on their honeymoon again
without worrying about their daughter being in the next
room. I didn't miss the look that Dad had given Mom, and I
could tell that he was happy about my decision.
"Honey, please get some rest tonight. Thank you so much
for this gift you've given us. You know I've always begged
your father to take me away for a weekend, but he always complained about the money.
You have always truly been our gift from God and have
been such a blessing to our lives. We love you, sweetheart."
"Oh, Mom! Please don't make me cry! Just knowing that I
can treat you both after everything you've done for me,
makes me so happy. And I promise! I bet I'm asleep in five
minutes, I'm so exhausted."
Ten minutes later, I've brushed my teeth and put a tank top
and shorts on to sleep in and crawl into bed. I know I
shouldn't, but I pull my phone out of my purse to see how
many phone calls and texts I have. It takes five minutes for
my phone to stop sending notifications and pull my
voicemail and texts up.
There are over 100 texts from Cash and almost just as
many from Claudia, and around 20 voicemails from both of
them.
I can't help myself but to look to see what they both
had to say. I look at Cash's first.
Why did you leave without letting
anyone know? Have
you thought
about the safety of the babies?
Seriously? Now he cares? They're babies now and not
fetuses?
.
I thought we were partners? You
can't just disappear without telling
anyone where you're going.
Your Dr. is an idiot! Does she
not know how long 24 hours
actually is?
Liv, I'm sorry. I love you.
Turn your damn phone on! Do
you have any idea how worried
I am about you?
Okay. Enough of that. I'm curious to see what Claudia has
to say.
I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!
I'm a shit! Please talk to me.
At least Claudia agrees with me about something.
Just letting you know that Cash
is going crazy looking for you. I've
never seen him so scared!
Caleb told me to tell you that I'm an
Idiot! No really, this is Caleb on Claudia's phone. I understand
why you left, Olivia. Take all of the
time that you need. My brother
needs to wake up and realize
what a blessing he has in you and
the babies. Your parents said you
were fine, try and get some rest
.
Well, at least someone agreed with me about why I left. I
ought to call Claudia, but I don't have the energy for the
conversation. My phone starts ringing and it’s Cash, so I
ignore it and let it go to voicemail.
I can't bear to listen to the voicemails, because I know that
if I hear his voice, I'll just melt and end up calling him.