Everette’s parents weren’t just happy. They were ecstatic. His mother didn’t start doing cartwheels, but I think she gave it serious consideration. Everette’s sister was rather nonchalant about the relationship and the pregnancy. She did give me a hug after we had Thanksgiving dinner—which put her at least ten hugs behind the ones I had gotten from Mrs. Weston since I met her earlier that day. After we had dinner with the Weston’s, we went back to my place. Everette picked at his food while I ate an entire second plate, along with two servings of dessert—there was one advantage to being pregnant at least—I had one hell of an appetite.
“I know you’re not going to ask your mother for a third piece of pie…” Everette raised an eyebrow when he caught me staring at my empty plate.
“I might…” I looked over at him and smiled. “You can’t complain about it—I’m eating for two.”
“I wasn’t going to complain about the pie—I was going to complain if you asked her to get it instead of me.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
“Well in that case, I will have another piece of pie…” I nodded and grinned.
“I’ll be right back,” he chuckled under his breath and picked up my plate.
I really didn’t know what the future was going to hold for the three of us, but I truly believed we would face those challenges together. Our baby was going to have a wonderful father, and a mother that would hopefully have her major figured out before they were born. Raising a baby and going to college was going to be tough, but I had a good support system around me. Mrs. Weston didn’t just agree to watch the baby while I was in school—she even volunteered to watch it if we wanted to have a date night, or take a vacation—anything, really. She had the worst case of grand-baby fever I had ever seen. I knew my mother would help out too—and my father was going to eventually decide he was going to retire. I didn’t know if they would actually tour the country in an RV like he always talked about, but it was definitely possible.
“Here you go.” Everette put the pie down in front of me.
“Thank you.” I smiled and picked up my fork. “I could get used to this…”
“You should—I plan to wait on you hand and foot now that you’re carrying my child.” He gave me a gentle nudge. “But you’re still going to call me Daddy…”
“Now it won’t be weird if I do it in public.” I pushed my fork into my pie and winked.
“I love you so much, Holly.” He squeezed my hand. “But I’ll love you more if you give me a bite of that pumpkin pie.”
“Oh? Are you going to get started on your dad-bod immediately?” I held up the fork and teased him before I gave him the bite.
“I might as well.” He shrugged. “You’re already mine—I don’t have to worry about keeping these washboard abs to lure in the ladies anymore.”
“Maybe just one bite of pie…” I looked down and giggled—then lowered my voice in case my parents were actually eavesdropping. “These baby hormones are going to live and breathe by those washboard abs if they make me as horny as the websites say they will.”
“Sounds like I might be making a lot of trips to Arizona before the end of the semester…” He gave me a nudge.
“I like the sound of that. Good thing you have a new job that lets you do it.” I nudged him back. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“It’ll be worth my while as long you’re there.” He smiled. “But you better be on your best behavior—I’d hate to have to spank a pregnant woman.”
“You wouldn’t dare…” I tried to put a serious look on my face but just started laughing.
I fed Everette a few more pieces of pie before I was done, and then we went in the living room to talk with my parents. I gave them the highlights when I got back from Everette’s place the night before, but we had a more in-depth conversation. My father seemed to let go of the tension that had been ingrained on his face since he found out about us. I didn’t think anyone could look at the two of us and not realize that we were in love—it was sudden, explosive, and it was absolutely perfect. I couldn’t wait to see what the future held for the two of us, and the baby that was growing inside me.
You’re going to love your father, just like I do…
Epilogue
Holly
Two weeks later
“Wait, hold on.” Amelia stared at the screen with her jaw hanging open. “You’re pregnant!? How!?”
“Do you remember my next door neighbor—Everette?” I raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“No! You…” She seemed to be trying to wrap her head around it.
“Yeah.” I nodded quickly. “I took your advice—I baked him some cookies.”
“It sounds like you gave him a lot more than cookies!” She started laughing. “So, you’re a couple—like, you’re together, and you’re already pregnant!?”
“We are. We promised each other we wouldn’t say anything until we got our first sonogram. I’m about to post it on Facebook, but I wanted to call you first.” I nodded again, but then I noticed what appeared to be steam coming from the door behind her. “Uh, Amelia—is someone taking a shower at your place??