Page 14 of Letters to Lily

I nodded my head in agreement as she continued. “When I found out I was pregnant, I went to see Harlan, and tell him the good news. After all, he claimed to be in love with me. That was the day I met your mother. Bless that woman. She really tried to make it work for everyone. She forbid us from seeing one another romantically again, of course. Something that I held to, because I never wanted to be the other woman. You boys even played together once in a while, but even though it’s Vegas, it’s a small town for locals. People talk, and your mom couldn’t handle it. Plus, I do believe there was yet another woman in Harlan’s life too. I don’t think that one got pregnant, but when your mom found out she gave him an ultimatum. He could stay married to her and move back to North Carolina, or he could keep his ass in Vegas and say goodbye to her money.”

“That sounds about right, based on what I’ve pieced together.” I sighed. “If she’d been smart, she would have just taken me and left his ass here.”

“Ah, yes, but the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it sometimes causes us just as much pain as it does the good stuff.” Her smile was pained, and while I didn’t think she was thinking of my dad anymore, Sandra definitely had her own battles with love that she was fighting. “How is your mom handling the latest let down?”

“Not well. I can’t really talk about it, but I’ll end up stuck here for another month or two as a result.” Sandra nodded knowingly again.

“If I can help at all, you let me know. I hate that I was one of the other women during her marriage. I do have the utmost respect for your mom though. It couldn’t have been easy to handle our situation the way she tried to back then. It took a lot of courage and fortitude. I owe her, even if things didn’t work out as we had hoped in the end.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate hearing that about herself right now.” Sandra and I sat chatting for the next couple hours, catching up on each other’s lives until she had to go. She traded cell numbers with me and told me to let her know when I got back to North Carolina so that she could set up a meeting for Brad and me.

I was looking around for the damn cameras by that point. How crazy was it, that I would be meeting my long-lost brother when I got back home? Even weirder still, we were the same damn age, and apparently attending the same school now. At least we would be when I got back since I had to apply for a deferral just this morning due to family hardship. The guys on my old football team in school used to call these two sophomores “twins from another mother” and now I had to chuckle, because that’s kind of what Brad and I were. In a very real sense. Crazy.

If I was being honest with myself, I was ready to go check into a room next to my mom. I was beginning to think maybe my stay in Vegas should be medicated and full of therapy too.

Chapter 7

May 7

I found the perfect house today. Honestly, it couldn’t have come sooner. The morning sickness was putting a damper on the search. The constant threat of vomiting and dizzy spells made it near impossible for me to leave my apartment before noon every day. Classes were enough of a struggle but adding house tours to the mix had been horrible. At least, it had been, right up until the last house.

“This is it, Mom!” The house we were standing in was a 1,500 square-foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, brick ranch that was only a half-mile from the main campus of the university. It was also only five miles from my mom’s house, and convenient to shopping, entertainment, and in a surprisingly good school district. Granted, I wouldn’t have to worry about schools for a few years, but it was nice to know that was already covered if necessary.

“Are you sure? It’s awful close to the University.”

“Considering I will continue on as a student there for the foreseeable future, that’s a good thing.”

“I know that’s what you’re planning, but lots of students live near here, and they aren’t going to have babies with them. What are you going to do when some jerk’s partying keeps you and the baby awake on a day when you could really use the sleep?”

“Um, threaten my neighbors with bodily harm?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Seriously, I’m a college student who happens to be having a baby. This is going to be the perfect blend for me. Far enough away, but still close enough that I can come home between classes to breast feed if I need to.”

“Is that what you plan on doing?” My mom asked me, her eyes going wide, because I hadn’t talked to her about a baby plan yet.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m thinking on my feet here, Mom. I just know it’s the perfect amount of space, it’s convenient, great schools,” at that my mom smirked.

“Always thinking so far ahead. I bet you wish you could have seen this turn of events…” her face blanched as she realized what she was saying out loud. “Oh, I’m sorry baby, that came out wrong.”

“It’s okay. I know what you meant. I obviously can’t plan for everything, but I think this house is pretty perfect.” I was trying to deflect from talk of Kade and push things back toward the house. I wasn’t really ready to talk about him with anyone right now.

“I think you’re right. Plus, you’re not too far away from me either. That’s always a bonus for a soon to be new grandma.” We both smiled as she pulled me in for a quick hug.

“Let’s negotiate this thing with the seller,” I told the realtor, who immediately started plugging away on her cell phone. My mom had already walked me through what to expect as far as the timeline for purchasing a house. Luckily, I wasn’t having to fiddle around with loans and whatnot. I would be paying cash for the house I was buying, thanks to the money my dad left for me when he died years ago. Not having to pay rent was going to be awesome, and I had a feeling Kristin was going to love it too. There was no way I was making her pay rent. We would split the utilities and other costs evenly until she decided it was time to move out. If she was smart, that would be right around the time I had the baby, so she wouldn’t be subjected to all the sleepless nights I was in for.

The other good news though, was that my due date meant I would get a small respite in between having the baby and going back to school for the next semester. I was hoping we could get on some sort of schedule that would help with the transition, but my mom laughed at me when I told her that particular plan. I assumed that meant my plans were going to continue to go awry for quite some time.

“I put an offer on a house today,” I told Kristin when she walked through the door that evening.

“Really? Where is it? When can I see it?” She was jumping up and down excitedly.

“Well, I have to be there next week for the home inspection, so if you can get out of class you can go with me.”

“I wouldn’t miss it! I can’t believe we’re going to be moving. I guess we better start getting packed, huh?” She turned then and looked at me. “Wait, this apartment is furnished. Shit, I didn’t even think about the fact that neither of us really has anything beyond our dishes. We’re going to need furniture.”

“Yeah, we are, but I’ll have most of it covered, and you won’t be paying rent anymore, so you’ll be able to get whatever you need for your space in the new house, on the first too.”

“No, ma’am. I will be paying my share. What about your mortgage?”

“I decided not to go that route. My mom signed over the whole trust to me. It’s not a huge amount, but it was enough to pay for the house outright and see me through school, and maybe a little beyond that too.”

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