Page 34 of The B!tch List

“Okay.” I swallowed back the fear and excitement that had been bubbling up. “Did they say how long they’d be delayed.”

“They hope to be back in by Wednesday and then it’ll be seventy-two hours from then. Which means by Sunday at the latest you should know if you’re a dad or not.”

“Okay,” I blinked slowly. “And then I might have to break the news to my mom and dad.”

“You haven’t told your folks yet?”

I grimaced. “I chickened out. I have told Nancy though.”

“Not the same Shaw. Youneedto tell your mom and dad. Anyways, I got the feeling that you and Nancy don’t exactly get along.”

I looked down at my empty desk and smirked. We did and we didn’t, but that wasn’t a story for my boss.

“We get along fine some of the time. She’s easy to talk to.” And fuck.

“That may well be true but that still doesn’t alter the fact that you need to tell your folks about the baby.”

I glanced around the office.

“It’s okay.” Tate laughed, squeezed my shoulder and started to walk away. “There’s no one around to hear your news. Go home and tell your momma she might be a grandma.”

He was right, I needed to tell Mom and Dad.

When I pulled up to the house Dad’s car was in the drive and I smiled. Since he’d moved back home after him and Mom had their blip a couple of years back, Dad made sure that he got home at a decent hour. Before then he’d worked way into the evening. I glanced at the clock on my dash—six-thirty, he really had turned over a new leaf. Taking a deep breath, I decided it was time that I spilled the beans.

“Mom, Dad, I’m home.”

It wasn’t typical for me to announce that I was home, but more than Dad’s working hours had changed over the last year, my parents had suddenly turned into horny teenagers, along with my brother. It wasn’t unusual to find them in a compromising position when they weren’t expecting anyone to come home.

Mom came rushing out of the living room waving her arms and shushing me. It appeared that she was minding Rett, and he was sleeping.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake him.”

Mom stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. “Oh, you haven’t wokenhim.”

She looked about ready to bust one of those blow-up boobs of hers.

“Who pissed on your grits?” I asked, taking off my jacket and hanging it up.

“What the hell have you been doing?” she hissed.

“What?” I veered back. I was pretty sure that she might be about to breath fire in my general direction.

Dad then appeared, gently closing the living room door behind him. “You have some explaining to do.”

“What the hell is going on?” I no longer cared whether I woke Rett. He was their problem. “Why are you two so damn angry with me. I loaded the dishwasher this morning, I brought down my dirty laundry hamper and I got rid of the ring I left around the bathtub, so what the hell am I supposed to have done?” My heart began to thud almost out of my chest. If Carter had told them about the booze incident, I would nail his balls to one of the Delaney ranch’s fence posts with a rusty nail. I was a lawyer though and I could argue my way out of this. “You better have some proof of whatever you’re accusing me of.”

“Proof! Proof, is that what you want?” Dad asked.

“Yes sir.” I stood up straight and put on my best lawyer face.

Dad moved to the door, opened it and then waved for me to go inside the living room. “Go on.”

I rolled my eyes and dragging my feet, to give me time to come up with a good argument, walked into the living room. When I got inside the first thing, and only thing that I saw a kid fast asleep on Mom and Dad’s couch. That kid was not Rett though. That kid was petite, had a pink pacifier between cupid bow lips and was wearing pink dress and white tights with pink rosebuds on them. That kid was definitely not rambunctious and loud Rett.

“What the hell?”

“Yes,” Mom said moving next to me. “And don’t shout we just got her to sleep.”

---