Chapter Twenty-Two
Dina’s sister wasn’t the kind of person who wanted to bathe in the suds of human kindness and neither was her mother. As Dina sat in the hospital room seeing her mother hooked up to more machines than Dina cared to think about, she wondered where they went wrong. Thankfully, her mother wasn’t up to answer her question. She’d been lightly sedated, and the doctors were slowly pulling her off the meds.
A vase of yellow roses attempted to brighten up the dreary hospital room and a plate of uneaten scrambled eggs sat next to them. Her father had tried to eat the once powdered eggs, but declared them garbage and went out to find fast food.
The irony wasn’t lost on Dina.
“I’m surprised you came,” Jen sat down next to her and opened a package of candied nuts from the vending machine.
Dina turned in the squeaky chair and frowned at her as the words settled around her. “Why wouldn’t I come?”
Her sister shrugged and poured some nuts into her palm.
“No, you can’t say something like that and not give a reason.” Dina let out a deep breath and hoped the sound of the heart monitor covered the tremor. Now wasn’t the time to start arguing with her sister.
“Well, it’s not like you and mom are all that…close.” Jen tossed a few of the nuts in her mouth and sat back in the chair, turning her attention back to their mother.
“Not because of anything I did,” Dina whispered, worried her mother would hear them.
“True.” Jen nodded in agreement.
“True?” Dina repeated in shock.
Jen sucked on her bottom lip and stared at their mother and continued, “But now’s not the time to discuss it.”
Dina’s hand ran over her belly and she suddenly felt calm. It was like having this little constant companion made everything in her once complicated world simple and right.
There had been so many times over the years where Dina felt like she was all by herself in the world. Her brother and sister loved being in their parents’ good graces and she couldn’t blame them. Who would want to be the black sheep of the family, even if she didn’t understand why?
Jen turned her attention back to Dina and offered her some nuts, but all Dina could do was think about what Jen said. Why did she suddenly admit that Dina didn’t deserve to be the outcast that she’d always been?
Okay, maybe she didn’t exactly admit that, but she acknowledged that Dina hadn’t done anything to deserve her parents’ treatment over the years and that was a first.
“In other news, where is Josh again?” Dina asked.
“In New Orleans on a work trip. He should be back tomorrow.” Jen stood up and tossed the empty pouch in the garbage can.
Dina was surprised her brother hadn’t dropped everything to be by his mother’s side, but she was sure he’d rush into the hospital room tomorrow dazzling his parents with some fish story, and for some reason, his stories always worked on them.
Jen walked over to her mother and leaned down, placing a kiss on her cheek. “It was so scary, Dina. I thought we were going to lose her.”
“I can’t even imagine finding mom like that.” Dina’s chest tightened at the thought. Even with how her mother had treated her over the years, she was still her mother, and the thought of her leaving this world was frightening.
“She seemed fine the night before when we were all at dinner.” Jen let out a deep sigh. “But I guess things can change in an instant.” Jen’s gaze fell to Dina’s stomach before her eyes met her sister’s. “So what have you been up to?”
Jen returned to the chair and sat down with a near thud as if walking over to their mother was the most exhausting event of the day.
“Besides opening a retail store and expanding my online business? Not much.” Dina laughed, and her sister rolled her eyes.
“You like the town?”
“I do. It’s a special place. I hope you come visit soon.”
Jen nodded but didn’t acknowledge Dina’s invitation as her eyes skimmed Dina’s stomach again. “Are you dating?”
“Only casually.” Dina sucked in a nervous breath. “And only one guy.”
“For how long?”
“Just about since I moved in.”
Jen laughed. “You never let any grass grow under your feet.”
“What do you mean?” Dina crossed her legs and realized the move pushed into her stomach slightly.
“You like to be attached. That’s all.”
Dina chuckled. “I guess there is no denying that, but this time, I’m not attached. He’s a notorious bachelor and it’s only casual.” Saying the words nearly lodged a lump in Dina’s throat. “We’re just friends with benefits.”
“And how’s that going to work?” Jen’s brow lifted as her eyes went directly to Dina’s stomach.
“Work with what?”
“I can tell.” She bit her lip and Dina’s cheeks flushed. “And I’m sure mom will be able to when she wakes up.”
Dina cleared her throat and glanced at her mother, Lois. She swore she saw a quiver of her lips. She hated to say it, but her mother was probably fully awake but pretending to be out so she could eavesdrop just a little longer.
“So how far along are you?” Jen whispered as if that would keep the conversation private.
Of all the people Dina knew she needed to be telling, her family wasn’t actually that high on the list. She’d feel awful if she told her estranged family she was expecting before the father of her child.
“I just had a really big breakfast,” Dina muttered, standing up to get a glass of water.
“Really? You’re not going to tell me?” Jen’s voice trembled slightly, but Dina spotted the familiar smirk plastered on her sister’s face. The trembling had nothing to do with sincerity and everything to do with wanting to be the first to know.
Ugh.
Things were slowly coming back to her as to why she left town and started her life somewhere else, but in her mother’s hospital room wasn’t where she should be contemplating her family’s dysfunction. None of it mattered anyway.
“You know, it wouldn’t surprise me,” their mother’s voice echoed through the room, shocking them both.
Dina spun around to see her mother’s eyes wide open, the oxygen tube shoved up her forehead like a misbehaving headband, and her sheets thrown off her legs, exposing the catheter tubing.
“What wouldn’t surprise you?” Dina asked, walking over to the hospital bed, praying she could change the subject.
“That you got pregnant.” Her mother cynically grinned and eyed Dina suspiciously. “If you can’t trap ‘em at the altar, I guess this is the next best thing.”
“Mom,” Jen hissed, but Dina knew she secretly loved the jab in Dina’s direction.
That was how it always had been. Why would it change now?
Sucking in a deep breath, Dina let the insult roll off her as she found an inch to sit down or at the end of the bed.
“How are you feeling?” Dina asked, reaching for her mother’s hand.
“What kind of question is that?” Her mother rolled her eyes. “I almost died. How do you think I’m feeling?”
Dina held in a sigh, knowing there wasn’t any right question she could ask her mother.
Yes. Her mother had experienced a stroke, but the doctor was pleased with the lack of damage this stroke had caused. From what the neurologist and cardiologist could surmise, she had very little lasting damage. Her speech and memory weren’t affected, and her tongue was as sharp as ever. Her mother dodged a bullet, a very deadly bullet.
Maybe secretly Dina thought the health scare would make her mother kinder. Yet here she was experiencing her mother’s first words to her and they were anything but kind.
And Dina was okay with that because she expected nothing less.
“So are you knocked up?” her mother asked, adjusting the bed with the push of a button.
Dina’s gaze whipped to her sister who was eagerly awaiting her reply and all Dina could do was bring her attention back to her mother and…
Lie.
“No. I’m sorry to prove your theory wrong, but I’m not pregnant.” Dina brought her hand back to her lap.
“That’s a shame.” Her mother feigned a cough. “It would be the first real accomplishment I could be proud of.”
Dina’s eyes narrowed on her mother’s, but she refused to let the words scorch her as deeply as her mother intended. She knew it was a trick. If Dina had confessed that she was pregnant, she would have been belittled, and if she denied it, well then this was her mother’s reaction. It was just another way to sling an insult and Dina would never understand what the discrepancy between all three children was about.
“Where’s Josh?” Dina’s mother asked, turning her attention to Jen.
“He’s on a work trip, but he’ll be here tomorrow.”
“I might not even be at the hospital tomorrow,” she grumbled.
“You’ll be here for several days,” Jen said, scowling.
“Not if I can help it.” Dina’s mother yanked on the sheets, nearly tipping Dina off the bed and onto the floor when her father came back into the hospital room with a bag full of fast food.
“Breakfast is served.” He smiled, holding up the greasy paper bag, and Dina’s stomach sloshed around, but she refused to give in.
Dina stood up and glanced at her mother before bringing her gaze back to her father’s.
“Are you sure mom should really be eating a sausage or bacon breakfast sandwich with what she just went through?” Dina asked as he placed the bag on her mother’s tray.
“I’ll live my life how I damn well please,” her mother barked and sat up taller in the bed.
“It’s not that you can’t, but—” Dina bit her lip as her mother stared at her with the dirtiest look she’d ever experienced.
Over a breakfast sandwich.
Dina sat back down next to Jen and watched her father dig out a sandwich and hash browns while the smell of the foods sat heavy in the air.
“Want one, honey?” her dad asked Jen, who shook her head.
“What about you?” Her father’s gaze locked on Dina’s before gliding down to her stomach where he noticed her subconsciously gripping her tummy.
“I’m good. Thank you, though.”
Dina’s father scooted a metal chair close to his wife and Dina felt the air in the room shift to an even more uncomfortable state.
“We think Dina’s pregnant, but she won’t admit it.” Her mother took a bite of her hash browns and Dina held in a sigh.
“Nothing would surprise me.” Dina’s father stared at her and waited for a response.
“I think it would be great to be an aunt.” Jen grinned and slapped Dina’s back.
There was a part of Dina that just wanted to tell her family she was expecting, but it was a joyous thing, and she didn’t want anything to tarnish the gift she felt she was given.
Maybe her pregnancy wasn’t conventional, but she didn’t care. For some reason, she was blessed with this child, and she wanted to cherish every second of it.
And that was when it hit her.
All this time, she’d thought she didn’t want to tell Sam to protect him and give him a little more bachelor time, but the truth was that she’d been worried about telling Sam for the sole reason that she didn’t want him to ruin the experience for her. She had no idea how he’d react. Would he be angry, shocked, confused?
Regardless, what she was experiencing was sacred, and she didn’t want anyone to taint the unexpected happiness that colored her life now.
“I hope you have the decency to tell your family if something like that were to come up.” Her father stood up and threw out the wrappers from their breakfast. “It’s our grandchild too.”
Dina shifted in the chair, wondering just how pregnant did she look? She thought she looked like she’d just eaten one too many tacos the night before, but now her entire family was throwing skeptical looks in her direction and she wasn’t prepared for it.
She came here to support her mother, not discuss family planning.
“So who are you dating?” Her father wandered over to the small stainless sink and washed his hands. “I’m sure you’ve suckered some poor guy into seeing you.”
Fury filled Dina’s veins as her gaze dropped to the floor. Her goal was to make sure she left her mother’s blood pressure as calm as when she’d arrived and all the comments popping into her head would do anything but that.
“I’m not seeing anyone seriously.” Dina hated that she was even having to discuss her nonexistent romantic life with her family. They’d never cared for anyone she’d dated except for Dom, but they always sided with her boyfriends.
“We heard from Dom,” her father began.
“He seemed hurt by your lack of interest,” my mom added.
“Lack of interest?” Dina laughed. “He left me at the altar. More than once.” Dina shook her head. ‘Of course there’s a lack of interest. He just wants to get back together because he needs a job and I happen to live next to a really popular ski resort.”
“No, it’s because he loves you.” Dina’s father stared her down, and she felt the nausea creep back up.
“He has a funny way of expressing it.” Dina pressed her lips together as she tried to calm her blood pressure. She could feel the beats per minute rising, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
She needed to stay calm for her baby. That she was sure of.
“You can’t blame him,” her mother’s tone made a shiver run up her spine and before she knew what was happening, she’d stood from the squeaky chair and glared at her parents.
“I don’t know what your problem is with me, but I don’t deserve to be treated the way you treat me.” She folded her arms across her chest, feeling the blood pounding between her ears. “For years, you’ve treated me like I’m an outcast, and I’m tired of it.”
“Don’t cause stress for your mom. She’s been through enough.” Her father put his hand on his wife’s shoulder and stroked her strands of hair.
Dina didn’t say another word. Instead, she quietly picked up her bag, gave her sister a kiss, and hugged both of her parents before leaving the hospital room.
On the way out, she heard her mother whisper, “She’s always been the problem child.”
And the stab to heart was only somewhat muted by the flutter of her little baby in her belly.
By the time Dina had reached her hotel room, her eyes were swollen with tears, and her nose was as stuffed as a Build-A-Bear. She wanted to believe she was over her family’s constant digs, but the truth was it still hurt.
No matter how much she wished she was over it, she wasn’t, or she wouldn’t be sitting in her hotel room staring at an empty pool and desperately hoping she had someone she could talk to.
Of course, she knew she could call Autumn who would be immediately on her side, but she already knew what she’d say.
Divorce them.
And don’t bother sending flowers on special occasions.
But Dina knew it wasn’t that simple. There was some silly part of her that wanted her parents’ approval, at least on some level.
Whether it was acknowledgment of her work accomplishments or what in particular, Dina didn’t exactly know, but she craved recognition on some deep, dark level.
No, she wanted an outsider’s point of view. Her hand ran across her belly as she thought about Sam. She didn’t want to drag him into an awkward family drama, but she did trust his opinion.
He had met Dom.
And felt the same way about him that she did. That had to count for something.
Dina wandered into the bathroom and blotted away the dampness from her eyes as she stared at herself. She lifted up her shirt and noticed the curve of her belly, and she’d only just begun this journey.
Whether she fully realized it or not, she felt fully connected to Sam in a way she’d never experienced before, and she wasn’t sure it had anything to do with being pregnant. But it didn’t matter one way or another. There was no doubt they’d be connected for the rest of their lives, yet she certainly didn’t want the pregnancy to put Sam in a position he had no intention of being in. She wasn’t doing this to wrangle him as her family had implied.
She let out an annoyed grunt and walked over to her cellphone, stared at it for a few seconds, and dialed Sam’s number.
He picked up instantly and without a second thought, she told him everything that had happened today and for the first time in a long time, she was listened to without judgment, and she knew she’d tell him the second she got home.