Page 55 of Sometimes You Fall

Scottie

“So, how was school?” I push my spaghetti around on my plate, my appetite dissipating the longer I avoid telling my son what I need to. I have no idea how Chase is going to react to the fact that I’m having another child, let alone that the father of his future sibling is Grady.

“It was fine.” Chase takes a bite of his garlic bread, keeping his eyes on his plate.

“It’s been a few weeks now since we moved. Any classes that you like the most?”

When he finishes chewing, he replies, “I actually really like my math teacher. I mean, math sucks, but she’s funny and explains things really well.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah.” Another bout of silence stretches between us as I take one last bite of my pasta and push it to the side. Chase notices that I haven’t eaten much and furrows his brow. “You okay, Mom?”

Sighing, I lean back in my chair and clasp my hands together. “Well, yes and no, honey. I—I need to tell you something.”

He sets his fork down and wipes his mouth with his napkin. “Okay…”

“I…”Just say it, Scottie. Rip off the Band-Aid. You’re not going to be able to hide it much longer anyway. “I’m pregnant.”

Chase’s mouth falls open slightly, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stares at me from his seat across the table.

My heart is hammering against my rib cage and my stomach threatens to expel the small amount of dinner I just ate, but then my son practically yells, “When the hell did you have sex?”

“Chase Matthew!” I scold, shocked by his outburst. I definitely wasn’t expectingthatto be his response.

He visibly shudders and then stands from the table, putting distance between us. “You’re…you’re not…” He groans. “You’re my mom!”

Standing from my seat, I cross my arms over my chest. “Yes, I am. But I’m also a woman, and…”

He holds his hands up in the air. “Please, for the love of God, don’t say anything else.” He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths.

“Jesus, I never imagined this being your reaction!”

My son and I had the sex talk about three years ago because I wanted him to hear things from me, not his friends or something online. I was honest with him, letting him know sex isn’t just for procreation, but for pleasure too.

And now I feel like that conversation is coming back to bite me in the ass.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he finally says on a sigh. “But…”

“Look, I know it’s hard for you right now to look pasthowthis happened, but the fact of the matter is, you’re going to have a little brother or sister in September, Chase.”

That information sinks in quickly, and he rushes back over to me, pulling me in for a hug. My son is two inches taller than me, and I know he’s not done growing. It feels so odd feeling dwarfed by him in this moment, but I’m grateful that he’s able to comfort me because I’ve been in knots keeping this from him, and this baby isn’t just changing my life. It’s going to change his too.

“I always wanted a sibling,” he mutters as he squeezes me.

“Sorry it’s happening so late,” I counter sarcastically, which makes him laugh. But then I remember that I have one more detail he needs to know. I separate myself from him and then look up into his eyes. “There’s something else, though, Chase.”

“What is it?”

“The father…” I start, inhaling deeply before his eyes bug out as if he didn’t think about that piece of information. “It’s Grady.”

Chase’s face falls and then his spine straightens. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, which made your break-in at his garage all the more complicated.”

Chase takes a step back from me. “Does he know?”

“Uh-huh.” I watch the wheels spin in my son’s head as he walks from side to side, wearing a line in the carpet. “I didn’t find out until that day that you broke in to his garage, but I told him the day after.”

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