Chapter 32

Cassie

The sun peeked in through my long, thick drapes, sending light throughout my room. I groaned, turned over, and snuggled in deeper, taking in a deep breath of Scott’s cologne. I opened my eyes, remembering he had been there, that I had fallen asleep in his big strong arms. But where he fell asleep, he no longer lay. I turned over and sat up slightly, looking around the room. His shirt was still slung over the chair, and as I went to get up, the door creaked open and in he walked carrying a tray with tea on it.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling as he walked over and set the tray on the nightstand. “Don’t get up just yet. Let the nausea subside some. I brought you some tea and a couple pieces of toast. It’s ginger tea. I read that ginger is good for morning sickness, and one way to combat the full-on effects is to nibble on something before you get out of bed. The toast will soak up some of those acids in your stomach and give it something to digest. As far as the ginger, I don’t know why it calms the stomach, but everything I read said it’s the best all-natural cure for morning sickness. We can pick up some fresh ginger or pickled ginger, and you can eat it when you are feeling ill.”

“How do you know all that?” I asked, taking a piece of toast.

“Well, I have two pregnancy books at home, and the rest I read on forums online,” he said. “I wouldn’t suggest you read the forums. They will scare the shit out of you.”

I smiled. “Noted.”

I couldn’t believe he knew all of that, or that he had been doing research to understand my pregnancy better. I couldn’t imagine him sitting in his house reading pregnancy books and digesting the information. I hadn’t done anything like that yet. Hell, I hadn’t even read the pamphlets they sent me home with from the doctor’s office. He sat down next to me on the bed and brushed my hair out of my eyes, smiling at me.

“The summer is nearly over,” he said. “When do you leave to go back to school?”

“I’m not. Not right now anyway,” I said. “I told my dad I wanted to take a year off from school. I didn’t tell him I was pregnant though. I thought one shock at a time would be better. I told him I needed to figure out my life, what I wanted to do with it, and then decide whether I was on the right path for college. I don’t want to be in construction.”

“How did he take it?”

“Relatively well actually. As far as the pregnancy, I wanted to be solid in where I stood, where we stood, before I told him. I’ve thought about it a lot, and the fact is, I don’t want to be a single mother. I want to raise this baby with you, as a family. I know I could do it alone if I really had to, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping we would work out. My biggest fear is how my father will react when he finds out. I want it to come from me, or us even, not from someone like Carl or the other people who like to stick their noses in other people’s business. This has to be handled gently. I mean, you know my father. Things like this are his worst nightmare. I’m scared he won’t approve of you, or us, or even us as a family.”

“I need you to stop worrying about things like that,” he said, kissing my forehead. “Even if the worst happens and he doesn’t approve of us, we will make it work. I hate to say it, and I mean no disrespect in the matter, but I don’t care what your father thinks. I care about what you think and what we think as a couple, because we are the ones who have to live this life.”

“I know.” I sighed. “I just wish it could go smoothly and not be a battle between us. He is my father, and with my mother always gone, he is the only other person besides you and Whitney who has always had my back.”

“I understand that, but you have to live for yourself at some point,” he said. “I know my worth. It’s something I didn’t give myself credit for last time around. We will be able to make a life for ourselves, and a good one, without his help. Even if the store thing never came to fruition, I would work construction every day if it meant you and that baby had everything you needed. I am no stranger to responsibility or taking care of the ones I love, no matter what.”

“I know you’re not.” I rubbed my hand over his cheek. “You are a saint for taking care of your mother for so many years. I don’t want you to always have that kind of burden.”

“It’s not a burden when you are doing it out of your own free will.”

“I’m just sad. That’s all,” I said, putting down my tea. “I love my dad despite all his shortcomings. You are right, though. I need to start doing what is best for me, for us, and for the baby. I can’t live under my father’s thumb for the rest of my life, and he is going to have to face the fact that I am not his little girl anymore. I am a grown woman with aspirations and dreams, and they don’t always fit with his.”

“I know this has to be hard on you,” he said softly. “I know your father is pretty much all you have as far as parents, especially with your mother having been away for so long. But this is important. It would be much better to tell him sooner instead of later. The sooner he knows about it, the more time he has to process everything. I want him to be a part of your life and this baby’s life, but if he makes it impossible, then that is on him. Once you tell him the truth, the ball is in his court, just like it was with me.”

I knew he was right, no matter how bad it pained me to realize it. I needed to tell my father, and I needed to do so before I got so far along that hiding the pregnancy would be impossible. He would need time. I already knew that. This wasn’t the kind of news he would see coming. This would blindside him, but I figured it was probably better that way. He would be caught off guard and not have the time to come up with a plan to ruin this for us. My father sounded like a terrible man, but I knew deep down he had my best interest at heart. He just couldn’t seem to remember what being in love was like.

“My father is coming back from his trip today,” I said. “I say we do it tonight. We can talk to him about us, then about the baby, and finally about the future and what that all means. I’ve known my father my whole life, and he has always made his choices by figuring out the best possible outcome for the people he loves. I am the most important person to him, and he won’t want to lose me. Will you do that for me? Will you come and sit down with him?”

“You know your father better than anyone, and if you think that is the best way to handle this, then of course I will come with you,” he said. “We are a team now, a family in the making, and you don’t ever have to handle any of these things on your own again. You jump, I jump. Okay?”

“Thank you.” I said. “That means a lot, knowing I don’t have to face all of this by myself. I’m so glad you came over last night, that you decided enough was enough. I want you to know that my top priorities are this baby and you and transitioning us through all of this in the best way possible.”

“I know that,” he said. “I’ve always known that, even when I was trying to convince myself of the opposite.”

“I’m worried about ruining your life again,” I said. “You have done so much to get to where you are. You got a new job, you found a partner for your business, and you finally got us back together. My father is an angry man, and I don’t want to see him do what he did a couple weeks ago.”

“He won’t,” he said. “He won’t because he can no longer keep us apart, and not only because of the baby, but because we have a bond that can’t be broken now.”

“You’re right,” I said with a sigh. “I just don’t want to lose him in the process. It has to be done though. Every second we wait is another second he could be accepting it, moving forward, and being the man I hope my father truly is. You and I will never be at peace and ready to tackle a family if we keep hiding from him. We shouldn’t have to hide our love for each other or the love for our child.”

“For now,” Scott said, taking the toast and setting it down on the tray, “let’s enjoy the rest of the morning just being together.”

I smiled and curled up next to him, pulling the blankets over me and resting my head on his chest. It felt so good to be with him, to feel him close to me. I had missed him more than I could have known I would, and he was finally back in my life. I was going to tell my father that night, and I was going to stand my ground. Not only did I need Scott in my life, but our child would need him too. This was non-negotiable in every way imaginable.

We spent the morning cuddling in my bed, trying desperately to keep our minds off what was going to happen that night. Then we threw on our clothes and headed to Scott’s house, figuring it was probably best that we weren’t there when my father arrived. I had to be careful about how we handled this, and being there curled up in bed together was not the answer. Besides, getting out of my father’s house and relaxing with Scott was exactly what I needed to keep the anxiety at bay. I knew it was unhealthy for me to go through this kind of stress, but it had to be done. There was no way I couldn’t be a part of it. I wasn’t going to let Scott face the wolf on his own. He would get torn apart.