Page 36 of A Brilliant Spring

“Ah, good morning sleepyhead! Look who’s finally up!” my mom chimes, rounding the island to pull me into an embrace. Elissa swivels on her stool to look over and offers me a sweet smile. “Come, sit. Let’s load up a plate of food for you and that growing grandbaby of mine,” my Mom gushes as she presses a light kiss into my hairline. She guides me to a stool beside Elissa and I take my seat. Elissa and I mumble “Good morning” to each other as my mom piles heaps of food onto a plate for me and slides it across the island.

“So,” my dad breaks the silence. “I am assuming Rhys is the father. Why isn’t he here with you?”

Shit. My dad just gets right to the point, doesn’t he?

“Er, well…you see, Rhys and I aren’t together anymore.” My mom’s expression drops and she generally looks sad for me. My dad, on the other hand, looks outraged.

“You mean to tell me that meathead broke up with you when he found out?”

“Well, no. Not exactly. See, we weren’t together when I got pregnant,” I say. Confusion washes over my parents’ faces.

“Who’s the father?” my dad grumbles haughtily. His face morphs from confusion, to anger, to disappointment. I can only imagine what’s running through his head when I tell him his unmarried child is having a baby and I haven’t been quite clear with the details.

“What she means,” Elissa interrupts. “Is that her and Rhys broke up before she got pregnant, but they hooked up one night and that’s when it happened.”

“Gee, thanks, E,” I mumble under my breath. She nudges me with her elbow and ignores my comment.

“Rhys is the father. They’re just not together.”

A hush fills the room and the scraping of my fork on my plate as I push my food around is the only noise. My mom’s face is drained of colour, her eyes are soft around the corners, and she looks like she’s about to cry. And my dad? Well, he looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. His face is red, strained, and all his features, like his lips and eyes, are tight, sharp lines.

“I suppose you don’t need to be together to raise a child,” my mom says cautiously. Elissa chuckles sardonically.

“If only,” she says. My dad’s eyes dart to her, his jaw clicking.

“What the hell does that mean, Elissa?”

Elissa’s shoulders sag. She draws a breath and explains.

“It means he’s being a douche about the whole thing. Didn’t think it was his at first. Riley had to get a paternity test to prove it was his, and when it was proven, he’s been MIA and seems to be shirking his responsibilities.”

My dad grows beet red first, like someone is grabbing hold of his throat and squeezing, then he slowly turns purple. I shoot Elissa a death glare, kicking her under the island, but instead of getting her, I kick the stool and yelp. My dad’s eyes bore into me as he tries to keep control over his emotions.

“It’s not what it seems, Dad. Honestly. I think he’s just coming to terms with it. I kind of sprung everything on him.”

“And that makes it okay for him to act like this?!” my dad bellows. “It was just sprung on you too! Why do you have to be the only mature one about a baby coming into this world? I’m very disappointed in him. I genuinely liked him, too.” My dad humphs and mutters something unintelligible under his breath, and I can only imagine it’s something not very nice. My mom rests her hand on my dad’s forearm and whispers something in his ear, and Elissa and I share a glance. Whatever she says has my dad calming down and his complexion returns to normal.

We finish the rest of breakfast in hushed silence, keeping what brief conversation there is to neutral territory. My mom makes idle chatter about a local nursery she wants to go to out in Essex, to grab some plants for the solarium until the weather is nice enough to plant them. She asks if we want to spend the day with her, shopping at a few of the clothing stores downtown on King Street. They’re nothing like the fancy, ritzy stores we shop at in downtown Toronto or online, like Coach, Tiffany’s, or Louis Vuitton, but they carry higher-end items. When Mom comes to Toronto for the weekend, we spend all day shopping at the Eaton Centre and the outlet malls in the area. Elissa and I agree to accompany my mom and go shopping for the day, but I have a feeling we’re going to be stopping by the kid’s store downtown and spend most of our time there. My mom has that glint in her eye that only grandmothers get when they think about their grandkids.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Elissa

We end up back at Riley’s parents’ house with a car full of shopping bags. Her mom only dragged us into the kid and baby stores, buying up everything she could. This baby is going to want for nothing for the next five years.

“Mom, you really went overboard. I don’t even know how Elissa and I are going to be able to bring this all back. She’s only got a tiny two-seater Corvette.” Brianne waves her tiny hand in the air, dismissing her daughter.

“Don’t worry. Your dad and I will come up to help you settle everything in a few weeks. I’m assuming you’ll be finding a new place to live for when the baby is born?”

Riley shifts uncomfortably and doesn’t dare to look at her mom. “Er…I’m not sure yet,” she mumbles. Brianne pauses in the driveway a few paces behind us, her hands heavy with bags. And as her salt-and-pepper hair ruffles in the wind, I catch a whiff of Chanel No. 5. What is it with rich, white, middle-aged women and Chanel No. 5? My hand laces around the crook of Riley’s elbow and I pull her to a stop with my free hand. She turns and her eyes spring open with confusion. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“What do you mean, you’re not sure? Where’s my grandbaby going to live? You can’t possibly be thinking of staying with Elissa; you can’t do that to her and inconvenience her with a newborn,” Brianne huffs. Riley groans, and I jump in to save her.

“Actually, I offered for Riley and the little kiwi to stay with me. I really don’t mind. Besides, I know she’s going to need all the help she can get.” Her mother looks unfazed but perturbed. She clicks her tongue.

“How sweet of you, Elissa. And yes, she is going to need all the help she can get, and if that’s the case, she can move home, where her family will help her. Especially if Rhys isn’t going to be in the picture.” Riley’s eyes nearly pop out of her head at her mom’s words. Her face blooms into a deep shade of red.

---