It's Yours

Mom and Dad got back a week later. They were tanned and excited. Their new movie was going to be a hit they said. I could see in Mom’s eyes that she hadn’t missed the extra weight. They both hugged me tighter than ever.

“Oh honey! I can’t believe that happened to you! We would have come straight home but the doctor assured us it was no big deal.” Mom told me, trying to feel where the pounds were coming from.

“I’m so sorry, Em. I would ask who it was, but I know you won’t tell me.” Dad didn’t notice the way Mom did.

I cleared my throat a bit as they let me go.

“I need to talk to you guys. Tonight.” I whispered.

“We’ll unpack first. Then we’ll talk.” They told me. Then they moved on to Becky.

I headed upstairs to get ready. I started packing my stuff just in case. You could never tell with my dad. I wanted to be certain that I was ready.

They unpacked fairly quickly for them. I suppose that they were curious to see what quiet little Emma wanted to tell them. They were already sitting on the loveseat when I entered.

“What is that you needed to tell us hon?” Mom asked.

“Well…umm…”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Dad’s voice was stern.

“It started about three months ago. When you guys were in Fiji. Jake was over. We were just fooling around.”

Mom and Dad’s faces were getting progressively redder. I tried to hurry it up and skip the parts they didn’t really want to hear.

“And then Jake asked me to have sex with him. He had been asking me for a while so I just decided to get it over with really quickly and then maybe he would stop bothering me about it.”

“Where are you going with this Emma Rae?” Mom asked. I knew she meant business. She didn’t call me Emma Rae unless she was serious.

“I’m pregnant.” I murmured.

“What?” Mom’s voice was a fierce growl. I flinched away from it internally.

“I’m pregnant.”

“WHAT?”

“I’M PREGNANT!” I screamed.

Then there was an explosion. Mom fainted and Dad started yelling.

“IF YOU ARE LYING EMMA RAE I SWEAR TO GOD YOU WILL NEVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!”

“I’m not lying! I wouldn’t lie about something like this! The pregnancy tests and the doctor confirmed it!”

“Prove it.” He hissed.

I yanked up my shirt. Dad shrank away from my stomach. The bump stuck out a couple of inches. Dad’s eyes met mine. I could see the trust and betrayal flicker across them. I was his baby girl and I had not listened to what he had told me. I had disgraced our family and the church. I could see that he valued his position more than me. I knew his decision before he even spoke.

“Get out of my house.”

I didn’t even argue. I ran upstairs and grabbed my bags. I briefly glanced Becky’s wide eyes as I stumbled back into the living room. Dad didn’t even glance at me. He was trying to wake Mom up.

“Get. Out.”

His voice ripped through me.

“Where will I go, Daddy?”

“Does it look like I care?”

It didn’t. It didn’t look like he cared one bit. The tears swam in my eyes as I headed towards the garage.

“I love you Daddy. Goodbye.” I whispered as I opened the door into the garage.