Page 44 of Seasoned
“Pregnant. Please don’t tell Dad.” He looked up at her with pleading eyes.
Adelaide pressed a hand to her forehead. “Oh, my goodness, Danny. Of course I have to tell your father. This isn’t exactly something I can keep from him.”
“But he’ll get upset and yell at me.”
“That’s not a reason for me to keep the news from him. He’ll find out eventually. The sooner the better.” She didn’t think it was possible, but his shoulders slumped even more, but his sadness was not enough to quell her anger and disappointment. “What were you thinking?”
He shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t.”
“No, you weren’t.” Adelaide crossed her arms and paced past him to the window overlooking the back patio. She pivoted and faced him. “You are a nineteen-year-old college sophomore who is having a baby with a girl who just graduated high school. What about your future? What about hers? How are you going to support this child? Did you think about any of this while you were being careless?”
“Mom!”
Startled out of her tirade, she saw tears in his eyes.
“Not now. Please.” Daniel swallowed hard.
She was a hypocrite, reaming him out when she and Hector had only been a year older than him and unmarried when they got pregnant with Junior and Karen. Right now he did not need her anger. He needed support. The type of support she and Hector hadn’t received when they were having their babies.
Remembering how hard that period had been, Adelaide opened her arms and Daniel rushed over. She enclosed him in her embrace. “We’ll figure it out,” she whispered.
She couldn’t hear him crying, but felt the tears where he’d pressed his face against her neck.
“But you have to tell your father.”
Daniel lifted his head and swiped at his tear-streaked face. “Would you talk to him for me, please? He’s gonna kill me.”
Nothing so dramatic would happen, but she understood why he was worried. Hector had not been pleased with Daniel the past few years. Neither had she, but her ex-husband was much more vocal. During Daniel’s last year in high school, his grades had fallen off, and he’d started getting into all sorts of trouble.
“Danny, you need to tell him yourself.”
“He’s going to be so disappointed.”
“Of course, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell him.”
“I can’t.” He shook his head vigorously.
“Honey—”
“Please, Mom, could you tell him for me? Please?”
His red-rimmed eyes made him look very young and softened her heart. She cupped his face. “Fine. Yes, I’ll tell him.”
He let out a sigh. “Thanks, Mom.”
He gave her a tight, grateful hug, but minutes later Adelaide was all alone in the kitchen, contemplating the conversation with her ex-husband. She’d only talked to Hector once in the past six months, and the conversation had been brief. This should be interesting.
She picked the School of Culinary Arts brochure and thumbed the pages. No rush. She’d have time to work on this later. Right now, her son needed his mother. Her kids were her life. She hadn’t failed them in all these years, and she was not about to start now.
She opened one of the drawers and tossed the brochure inside.
2
Hector parked his gray Jeep Cherokee in the driveway next to his son’s Nissan.
Stepping out of the vehicle, he loosened his tie, which suddenly felt restrictive. It was the end of the work day and he still wore a suit and tie after a day spent in meetings. He had rushed out of the last one so he wouldn’t be late.
The very quiet Bayview subdivision contained mostly one-story homes with three-car garages, and nothing had changed in the six months he’d been gone. All the houses were still well-maintained by their owners who had neatly trimmed lawns and bushes. Except for their house, which stood out like a sore thumb with its too-long grass. He’d have to find out what was going on. Technically, the house was no longer his business, but maybe Adelaide needed help.
