Page 8 of Not Another Yesterday
“Hi!” I say brightly as Penny waddles over to the armchair. She lowers herself with effort and exhales like she just ran a marathon.
“How are you feeling?”
“Huge,” she says with a quick laugh.
“You’re perfect,” Frank murmurs, rubbing her belly before taking the loveseat.
Penny kicks up her feet on the ottoman with a grateful sigh. “We had a doctor’s appointment this morning. The boys are looking great.”
“They both measure really big,” Frank tells us. “He says he wants to try to get her to thirty-nine weeks, but he might induce her earlier. We’ll see.”
Steve gives a one-shouldered shrug. “Well, I guess it’s not a total surprise that they’re big, right? I mean, you and Athair are both tall and so are Ran and I.”
Frank nods. “Yeah. Looks like those Soult genes are strong in the males. Although Ran was a scrawny little dude when he was born,” he says with a laugh. “You, on the other hand, were a big boy. Over nine pounds.”
Penny makes a horrified face. “No, don’t say that, Frankie! I can’t squeeze two nine-pound boys out of… well…”
“Maybe they’ll both be scrawny like Ran,” Frank says.
“Nice try,” she says. “But the doctor said they already measure two weeks ahead of schedule.”
“Oh, right,” Frank says with a quick laugh. “Baby, you’ll be fine. It’s going to be fine.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to give birth to them,” Penny says through gritted teeth.
“Don’t forget, there’s medication,” I offer.
Penny laughs. “And I’ll be asking forallof it.” She gives me a knowing look. “You and Ran are going to have big babies too, one day. You’re both tall. And apparently the Soult guys have dominant big-boy genes.” She rubs her belly as if in warning.
Frank chuckles. “But please, take your time with that!”
Of course I blush. “Oh, I don’t think Ran and I are in any rush at all.”
Ronan and I haven’t ever talked about kids. In fact, we haven’t really talked about our future. It’s not that I don’t envision us together forever, or that I don’t sometimes fantasize about him asking me to marry him, our wedding, and growing a family. I just haven’t brought it up to him yet. I don’t want to pressure him; he’s still very much in the process of healing. After all, it’s been only a little over a year since the abuse stopped, and really only a few months since he’s had a chance to create a new, peaceful normal for himself. And we’re only eighteen, for crying out loud. There’s no need to hurry things.
“I sincerely hope so,” Frank says. “Not that I don’t love my boys, but to say it was easy becoming a dad at sixteen would be a lie. I mean, in retrospect it’s pretty cool that I had them while I was so young because I can relate to them so much more. But I made a lot of mistakes that I’m not sure I would have made if I had been older, had actually known what I was getting myself into when I had unprotected sex with a girl I had met only hours before, you know?”
Steve laughs and glances my way. “Dad, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Cat’s very red face suggests she’s maybe alittleuncomfortable with this conversation.”
“Sorry,” Frank says with a throaty chuckle. “So, buddy, how are things with your new girlfriend?” he adds, clearly catching Steve off guard.
“Not you too, Dad!”
“Your brother is absolutely convinced that—”
“I’m seeing someone. Yeah, yeah. Cat already filled me in on Ran’s theories,” Steve says with a huff and a shake of his head.
“Before you interrogate your son further, could you help me up, please?” Penny says, struggling to get out of her chair. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Frank quickly gets up, then helps Penny to her feet before she makes her way upstairs.
“I talked to Morai yesterday,” Steve tells his dad. “I guess she and Athair are thinking about taking a trip to New York this summer?”
“That’s what they’re telling me,” Frank says with a nod. “She was complaining that we don’t make enough trips to Montana.” He laughs. “So, I told her she should come and visit us instead.”
“Uh-huh. She told me she doesn’t want to have to wait another year after your wedding before she gets to see all of us again.”
“So, they’ll be here this summer?” I ask excitedly.
