I woke up to an empty bed, though I could hear some noise from outside. The room was different from our old one, and I was still getting used to it. At least, this one had a big enough bed for Stacey and me, though with me still going through my classes and taking a lot of night classes to make up for the time I’d missed, I was exhausted more often than not when I got back, and I didn’t get to do much more than sleep.

Just as well. It would be too fucking weird to be having sex regularly with our parents only a few doors away, even though the new house was big enough to house all four of us without too much awkward invasion of privacy.

I heaved myself out of bed. My phone was sitting on the nightstand, and I picked it up. I groaned when I realized it was still Friday. It was one of the days where I had the morning free, but my afternoon and evening would be fucking hectic.

Whatever, I thought to myself with a shrug. At least I can enjoy the morning.

I got out of bed. I was dressed in a pair of cotton track pants and a t-shirt I usually used to sleep in and decided I didn’t need to be properly dressed just yet. I went down the stairs, and to the kitchen.

“Hello?” I called. “What’s a guy gotta do to get breakfast around here!”

Two voices laughed from outside on the back porch. The back door was open; a sheer curtain hung up on the doorway. Mom and Stacey particularly loved the kitchen, not only because of the porch and a large backyard in the back with a lawn they made me and Paul keep in good condition, but because of the lighting. The room had large windows that showed off the backyard and let in plenty of sunlight, with even the top half of the door being made of glass.

I just thought it would be pretty freaky at night, if someone went down for a midnight snack or a drink of water, and found the curtains open. The shadows at night would scare me.

But, it was their favorite part of the house, and it helped them get along so that I wouldn’t give them any ideas.

“Come out here and keep your girlfriend company,” Mom said, showing up in the doorway, pulling the curtain aside. “I’ll get something for you quickly.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, pecking a kiss on her cheek as I passed her.

Outside, Stacey was seated on a rocking chair my mom had insisted on buying for her. The chair swayed gently. She was in a white, flowy dress that tried to hide the bump on her stomach, and failed. She smiled up at me, and I mirrored it, moving to kneel in front of her.

“And how are we this morning?” I asked, kissing her stomach.

She laughed. “Are you asking me, or the baby?”

I shot her a cheeky smile. “Both.”

I laid my head on her thigh and closed my eyes.

After how disastrous her mother had taken the news of her being pregnant, and me being the father, we’d been reluctant to take the news to my mom and her dad. I didn’t see them reacting any better. But, they’d come home unexpectedly to find us on the couch. Thankfully, all we were doing was kissing. It would have been hard to explain away, though, so we’d gone with the original plan and come clean.

At first, there had been disappointment. Mostly for us keeping our relationship secret in the first place, but that had died pretty quickly after Stacey reminded them they’d done the same, with much greater consequence. In comparison, even though Stacey and I hadn't been ready for a child, we were bringing new life into the world. Even with everything going on, it had uplifted everyone’s mood.

It still felt strange to me, how very accepting they’d been of this over the past few months.

“Here you go, Kevin,” Mom said.

I opened my eyes to find her holding a plate full of food on it. She handed it to me and took her seat again. I stayed where I was, but turned around, so my back was against Stacey’s knees. She played with the back of my hair gently as I ate.

“When do you have to go to classes today?” Mom asked.

“I have a class at two thirty. I should make it if I leave after lunch. It’s still pretty early.”

Stacey sighed. “I wish I could go to school with you. Staying at home is nowhere near as fun…”

“At least you’re still taking classes, though,” I reminded her.

Her stomach would only keep growing, until moving around would be uncomfortable for her. But our parents had gone with her to the school and talked things over with the principal so that she could make arrangements with her teachers in her classes. She worked from home, and I turned in and picked up her assignments for her. She still had to be in school for tests, though.

As long as everything went fine, she and I would still graduate together, and just before she had to give birth.

“I know you’ll be missing some of the high school experience, but it really would be better to get it out of the way before having a baby,” Mom advised. “Trust me, later on, you’re going to be so tired from looking after a newborn, and you’ll try to put it off until you find you’re a stay at home mom, and you wonder how that happened…”

I shot her a curious glance. “Is that what happened to you?”

She smiled down at me and nodded. “Your father and I never planned for you, in a way, you were our little miracle. We had to rearrange a lot of things in our lives, and I had to put a lot on hold. And when…your father passed…” she paused and blinked her eyes a few times. “When your father passed away, I realized I’d wasted too much time. I’d kept thinking, ‘later I’ll go back to my studies.’ Until I realized I was out of time, and I had to take on a bunch of jobs while going back to classes so I could get something to earn enough for us.”

Even now, she was still emotional when she talked about that time of her life. I barely remembered most of it, besides the fact that I got to be around Rod a lot because of it. Stacey reached for my mom’s hand and squeezed it in her own, Mom sending her a thankful smile in return.

The relationship between my mom and Stacey was probably the most surprising thing. Even before, Stacey hadn't talked much to my mom, and after thinking that she’d ruined her family… I’d been worried about how they would turn up.

Or, I might have been thinking too much. Mom had told me once she’d want nothing better than if she could have more children, even if it would be a struggle, and Stacey had always wanted a mother figure she could be close with and depend on. They found what they wanted in each other.

“And how’s the family doing today? Why is everyone outside?”

We looked up to Paul coming outside. He’d quit his old job, starting up a small online company that he could run from anywhere, in case he and my mom still needed to move, though the house we were currently renting was pretty far from the old neighborhood. His schedule was the most flexible, since he pretty much determined his working hours, and he’d been doing quite well.

“Just fine, honey,” Mom said, getting up and going to him. “We were just talking.”

She walked up to him and hugged him. He looked surprised, but hugged her back. It was getting easier, seeing them be intimate with each other. When I looked away, it wasn’t in disgust, but because I wanted to look up at Stacey. She was smiling down at me, eyes looking wet.

The future was still pretty uncertain, but for the first time in a while, I thought we were pretty okay with how things were, each of us slowly adjusting to the loss of Rod and moving on.

None of us would forget him, though. Stacey rubbed her belly, and I had the thought, not for the first time, that if it were a boy, she would name him after her brother.