Page 112 of A Kingpin's Weakness
Ma: Who’s sick??
Me: Stormi. She’s pregnant. She can’t keep anything down.
Ma: I’m coming home. Send the jet. Don’t argue.
She didn’t even wait for me to ask. I hated cutting her trip short, but I needed her. We needed her. I walked back into the bathroom, sat on the edge of the tub, and watched Stormi breathe her head tilted back, her eyes closed, her body finallystill. In that moment, I didn’t care what happened before. All I knew was from here on out, I was showing up different. Showing up better. Because whether she believed it or not, she wasn’t going through this alone.
“Good morning,” I said softly as I watched her stir beneath the sheets.
She blinked a few times, then looked over at me, her voice still thick with sleep.
“Good morning! What time is it?”
“9:45.”
“Why you up so early?”
“I didn’t know what time your appointment was.”
“It’s not till 1.”
I nodded. I’d been laying next to her for almost two hours, watching her sleep. Not in a creepy way, just in awe. She looked softer in the mornings. Less guarded. Like she hadn’t had the chance to build her walls up yet.
“You wanna try and eat something?” I asked gently.
She shook her head fast, too fast. Like the idea of food alone made her sick. My stomach dropped. I hated seeing her like this. I wanted to help, fix something, do something but I also didn’t want to push.
I let a beat pass. Then said it.
“Moms on the way back home.”
Stormi’s eyes cut to mine. “I thought she was staying with her sister for two weeks?”
I didn’t respond right away.
“Seth…” she said, voice laced with warning. “I know you didn’t say something to make her come home.”
“Technically,” I started, trying not to smile, “all I asked for was the recipe to that soup she makes. She got nosy, I told her what was going on, and she made her own decision.”
“Seth…” She let out a sigh and rubbed her face. “No, stop her. She was looking forward to that trip.”
“Not more than she’s looking forward to another grandchild.”
That shut her up. She looked down at the sheets, fingers fidgeting, her whole energy shifting. And I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Is she gonna have another grandchild?” I asked, voice quieter now. Real, Vulnerable.
Stormi didn’t look at me right away. She stared at the bed like the answer might be written there. My heart beat hard against my chest, and I felt like I was holding my breath waiting for the answer I already knew I needed.
“I’m going to have the baby,” she finally said.
Just like that. No build up. No hesitation.
And I couldn’t help it. I reached for her, pulling her into me, kissing her face, her lips, her forehead anywhere I could reach. I held her like she was the only thing that mattered, because in that moment she was.
She laughed, just a little, and it was the first time I’d heard it in days. That sound alone did something to me. Lit something up inside me I hadn’t realized had gone dark. I kissed her again, this time slower. Meaningful.
“This is why I’m pregnant now,” she said, half laughing, half serious, eyes flicking away like she was scared of what she’d see in mine.
