Page 52 of Plus-Size Pregnant Mate

I placed my other hand on top of hers, hoping it would help, but I doubted it would.

They had tried to reach out. Her mother had called her at least three times a day. Her phone was blown up with messages, and her father asked her to just talk to them. She never responded.

The door opened, and her parents stepped inside. I was a little shocked to see her parents looked off, worried almost.

I felt Ashley squeeze my hand, telling me she was prepared.

Her mother sat down, swallowing as she did. I could feel Ashley’s fingers tighten and her jaw clenched in anger. Her father stopped at the edge of the table, and he stood nervous for a moment before he placed his hands down on the table. "Ashley…"

Ashley looked at her father, holding a blank expression, but I could see she wanted to hug him. I could see she was waiting for them to apologize. "Dad…"

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head before he slid into a chair next to Addy.

"I'm glad you two decided to meet me here," Ashley said, giving them both a soft smile.

"It wasn't like you gave us a choice," Addy said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Since you decided to stop speaking to us and let the entire town treat us like garbage."

"Thin ice," I growled at Addy. While I understood she was hurting, Ashley was still the one that was wronged. “You will be respectful during this meeting, or we will leave."

Ashley placed her hand on my leg, and I looked back at her. She gave me a soft smile, reminding me she could handle this. She expressed she had to. Otherwise, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to move past things.

"I have this," she said softly through my head. "But thank you."

Her eyes snapped to her mother, and she placed her hands on the table. "I am pregnant," she said.

Her mother's eyes widened, and her mother's mouth dropped open. Her father looked less stunned, but I knew that was because I already told him. I was a little surprised he hadn't told Addy, but maybe he thought I was lying when I said it earlier.

"You can't be," her mother said, shaking her head. "How?"

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "Do I need to explain how women get pregnant, Mom?"

Her mother shook her head. "No, I mean how…as in how could you do this? We can’t handle something like this right now. This is bad timing for us.

"For you?" Ashley's voice came out clipped. "How could you sell me to Logan? How could you not tell me that you guys weren't in a good financial spot and kept secrets from me? How could you threaten Owen into dumping me and then tell me for years that I was better off? How could you not tell me you were sick again?"

Her mother's lips quivered"Sweetie, we only wanted what was best for you. We really thought that Logan would be good…"

“Maybe that’s true," Ashley said, leaning back. " But, I'm making my own decisions from now on. And while I hate the idea of not being around when you're sick, I need space. I can’t keep putting you all before my own needs."

Harley leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. "Ashley, you don’t have to move out. We can figure something out..”

Ashley shook her head and her father sighed, ”where do you plan to stay?"

Ashley looked at her father, her expression softening. "I'm going to be staying with Owen. As it's his baby, we are going to be together."

.Her mother looked at her. "Ashley, raising a child is expensive, and you aren't prepared for that. You don't know how much you have to give up." Her mother looked at me. "He isn't prepared for that."

I stayed quiet as Ashley raised an eyebrow at her mother. "No, we aren't, but we will be just fine."

Her mother shook her head. "You need to rethink this."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not rethinking anything. I let you destroy my relationship once, and we are not going down the same path again."

She looked at her father, who looked down at the table looking defeated. He thumbed his fingers together. “Ashley, we know we’ve made mistakes…but you can’t just throw us aside.”

“I’m not,” she said softer. “but I need time…I need space…I need to heal from all of this. Moving forward, I am going to be distancing myself. I need to focus on my life and what I want.”Ashley got up, and I followed her. Her mother's eyes widened, but I could see the pain in her father's eyes.

Ashley tossed a couple of dollars down for our drinks and took my hand. "I'll contact you guys when I'm ready." Ashley pulled us towards the door.

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