Page 112 of Falling in Love with Two

Maybe they painted? Hell, I don’t know. I spent most of my time trying to get the hell away from this place.

I tried calling to let her know I was coming, but I guess she changed her number. Oh well. At least this way, she can’t give me some bullshit excuse to avoid seeing me. I’m hoping this visit will end in a positive manner, but I don’t know how it’s going to start. It should all be smoothed over when I tell her she’s going to be a grandma, though. She used to always talk about having a house full of grandbabies.

My eyes dart to the front door where a small sign reads: The Hensens.

How fucking cute.

I can’t help but roll my eyes as I step out of the car. The walk to the porch seems to take an eternity.

One final deep breath before I ring the doorbell. I hear a yappy dog barking on the other side followed by the familiar voice of my mom telling the dog to hush.

She opens the door with a chihuahua in hand and looks me up and down like I’m a stranger. I’m not sure she recognizes me until she says, “Leah?”

I give her a small smile. “Hi, Mom.”

The sentiment isn’t returned. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you.”

She just stares until I ask, “Can I come in?”

It takes an incredible amount of time for her to answer, but finally, she steps out of the way and lets me walk inside.

When she tries putting the dog down, it goes for my ankles, so she picks it right back up.

“Do you want something to drink?” She asks.

“Uh, no thank you,” I say.

“Give me a second to go put Sunny in her crate.”

She walks away, and I take a minute to look around. When I was younger, my mom had very eclectic tastes. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it. There was stuff everywhere.

Now, everything around here is bathed in white and shades of gray, and nothing is out of place. This is all Larry—not my mom. Then again, I haven’t seen her in over a decade. I guess I don’t know what she’s like anymore.

She comes back and stands across the counter from me.

I decided to try to break the tension. “Cute dog.”

“Leah, let’s skip all of this. Why are you here? Do you need money?”

“What? No, I—”

“Because both of your sisters are in gymnastics, and we’re starting to think about college for them, so we don’t have any extra cash.”

I stop her. “Mom, I don’t need money.” I take off my jacket, exposing my pregnant belly.

Her eyes fall on it. “Is this your first?”

The question catches me off guard. “Uh, yes.”

She purses her lips together. “Hm. Figured you would’ve gotten knocked up a few times by now.”

Ouch.

“Nope. This is baby number one.”

She looks at my hands. “I don’t see a ring.”

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