A few minutes later, they were all sitting in the living room, glasses of tea her mom had fetched in their hands. The silence stretched out and Parker felt herself getting more uncomfortable as she fought with how and where to start.
“Do you have luggage you need me to bring in,” her dad said, startin
g to put his glass down so he could rise.
“No, no. Don’t worry about it,” Parker said, omitting that all of her luggage was at Tyler’s farm. “Mom, Dad… I need to tell you something.”
Her mom instantly jumped up. “I knew it! You’re sick. Why else would you show up here without a phone call first? Don’t worry honey, whatever it is, we’ll get you well again,” she said, pacing in front of her chair. “Tell us straight. How bad is it?”
“Mom!” Parker said loudly, interrupting her. “I’m not sick! I swear. Not sick, not dying. I’m perfectly healthy. Calm down.”
Her mom sank back down in her chair with a puzzled frown. “Then what else would bring you all the way out here, that you couldn’t tell us on the phone?”
“Are you gay, Parker? It’s okay, you can tell us. I’ve always suspected you were. There won’t be judgements here,” her dad asked.
“Now that’s a horrible thing to say, Robert,” her mom scolded. “Not about the judgements. Of course we wouldn’t judge. We’d love Parker no matter what. But you suspected? How did you suspect something like that and not tell me?”
Parker sighed and rubbed her forehead as her parents went back and forth. Her dad had always thought she was gay? How had he come to that conclusion? She’d never had boyfriends, true, but she’d hardly ever brought friends that were girls over, either.
She exhaled heavily and looked up at her parents. She had to get this out before they came up with more craziness.
“Mom. Dad.” Taking a deep breath, she blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
Silence reigned over the room. Her mom was frozen and her dad had a deeply surprised look on his face.
Her dad was the first to break the silence. “So you’re not gay, then?” He asked, a wealth of shock in his voice. “Although I suppose you don’t have to be straight to have a baby. You and your partner could have found a sperm donor.”
Parker shook her head in exasperation. Her dad sure was holding on to his belief that she was a lesbian. “No, Dad, I’m not gay. Totally straight.”
“Hmph,” her dad grunted. “Guess I’ll have to readjust years worth of thinking, then.”
Her mom finally seemed to come out of the daze she’d been in. “Oh, get over it, Rob. Parker… you’re going to have a baby? Where’s the father? He didn’t want to come to Wyoming with you? He shouldn’t have let you drive so far on your own. How far along are you?”
Parker twisted her fingers together. “I’m four, almost five, months along. The father… he doesn’t live in California. He lives here in Eagle Creek.”
“Eagle Creek? Four months ago? So it happened the weekend of Tiffany’s wedding. I didn’t see you with anyone at the wedding. Who is it?” Her mother said rapid fire.
“He didn’t come to the wedding. It happened the night of the bachelorette party. I ran into an old friend at Pete’s,” Parker explained, stretching the truth. They didn’t need to know Ty hadn’t remembered her from school. “You guys probably know who he is. Tyler MacKeltar.”
“Tyler MacKeltar? The one who owns that farm, Blue Moon? Strange name for a farm,” her mom muttered. “He was a… nice boy.”
“It’s Red Moon, honey,” her dad said. “Nice boy isn’t exactly how I remember him. Hoodlum is more like it. I haven’t heard much about him lately, but I’m sure that hasn’t changed. He’s got all those tattoos, and I’m sure he’s on steroids or something. Have you seen how big he is?”
Parker laughed. “Dad, he’s not on steroids. He owns a farm, remember? He does a lot of manual labor. Besides, I have a tattoo, and I’m not a hoodlum.”
“A very tasteful rose on your ankle, dear. Not a bunch of skulls. Although I don’t see anything wrong with his. They’re sexy,” her mom replied.
“Janelle!” Her dad exclaimed as Parker looked at her mom in surprise.
“What? It’s true. Tyler is a very good looking young man. Well done, Parker.”
Parker burst out laughing, some of her tension easing even as her dad glowered at his wife.
“I don’t want you guys to get the wrong impression. There’s not a wedding imminent or anything. I just told Ty I was pregnant this week when I got here, and we’re taking it slow, getting to know each other better before the baby is born. We’re not jumping into anything just because I’m pregnant.”
“I think that’s wise,” her dad grumbled as her mom swatted him on the arm. “What? It is. I’m not too sure of him, no matter how ‘sexy’ you think he is, Janelle.”
“Would you feel like that if it was Gordon? Don’t judge a book by its cover, Robert.”