Page 32 of Keeping Our Secrets

“I won’t do that mom,” I replied.

“Think this through. You’re younger than I was when I got pregnant with you and it was tough for me to do it all alone. You’re not married and you don’t have any means to support yourself.”

“I’ll figure something out.” What she didn’t know was that my dad had told me I could work for him part time until I decided whether or not I wanted to go to school. He didn’t know about the pregnancy yet.

“Mairi, there is no way you can do this on your own. You’re only eighteen, you’ve got the rest of your life ahead of you.”

“Mom, I don’t think you understand,” I replied.

“I understand enough to know that you’re going to ruin your life.”

“I’m not ruining anything. If you’d paid attention to anything going on around you besides your new husband, then you would know is the first time I’ve felt truly happy since Michael’s death.”

My mom visibly recoiled as if I had slapped her.

“That’s not fair,” she reprimanded me.

“I wasn’t trying to be fair; I was being honest.”

“Promise me you will think about it,” she repeated like a broken record.

Why couldn’t she understand that?

“Mom, I’m never going to change my mind. These babies are a part of me,” I walked away, marched up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door.

I could hear muffled voices, but I didn’t care. No matter what she said, I had already decided. I would keep my baby and nothing could make me change it. She should have taken a moment to understand how I felt. Tears welled up in my eyes as I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

I must have drifted off because when I heard a knock on my door I looked at the clock and a couple hours had passed.

“Come in,” I called and rolled onto my side facing the door.

Liam poked his head through the door. “Hey, sleepyhead. Supper is ready.”

“I’m not hungry,” I sniffed. I didn’t want to face my mom and her constant nagging about me giving up my baby for adoption.

“You should eat,” he replied softly.

I sat up, slowly swinging my legs off the side of the bed. “I just don’t feel like dealing with them right now.”

“So, why don’t we go somewhere?” he suggested with a smile.

“Really?” I perked up. It had been a while since I had gone anywhere fun.

“Yeah. I’ll take you out to eat and then we’ll go to my friend’s house.”

“Okay,” I grinned. “I just need to get into something other than sweats.”

“Cool. Come knock on my door and we’ll escape together.”

He left, shutting the door. What the hell did I need to wear? I was so excited to get out of the house that I didn’t even bother to ask him which friends.

What if they were the ones that came to Paris?

If it was them, at least I would know someone. Fifteen minutes and several outfits later I found the most flattering thing. I’d gained ten pounds so far, but what really got me was that my hips were wider, so I knew I already needed new pants. I settled on a wraparound black skirt that allowed me to adjust the size of the waist. I put on a purple halter top that flared at the bottom to hide my stomach and found some flats.

I walked into the hallway and glanced at myself in the mirror. I’d say one thing for pregnancy, my breasts were bigger. I inhaled deeply and knocked on Liam’s door. It swung open, and I resisted jumping him right there. He took a step back and his eyes widened. He scanned my body, paying close attention where my outfit hugged my curves. His eyes sparkled as they met mine. I didn’t know how he could be even more attractive than when we first met. He wore dark denim jeans and a black shirt that was tight over his chest and biceps. When I finished perusing his body, I met his eyes.

“You’re a knockout,” he whispered in my ear.

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