But You Still Have All of Me
seven.
When we got to my parents’, I sat in the passenger’s seat frozen with fear.
“Aiden, I think you telling them might involve you getting out of my car and going inside.” Gerard joked looking at me.
“Mhmm,” I took a gulp of air. “I’ll do that in just a second.”
“And you know I’m behind you 100 percent, but I think this is probably something I shouldn’t be around for. If I were in the room, they might assume something else happened instead of the actual situation.”
My eyes went wide as it clicked in what he was saying. I stifled a laugh. “It could certainly be amusing, but you’re right.”
“Call me when you’re done if you need a ride home, or just need to talk. It’ll be fine though, your mom will be thrilled.” He smiled warmly at me.
I took a deep breath. “Thanks for everything Gerard. I promise I’ll call you later, let you know how it all went.” I squeezed his hand gently. “I’ll talk to you soon.” With that, I got out of the car and made my way up to the house. I knocked lightly on the door before entering.
“Mom, dad?” I called out.
“We’re in here honey!” I heard my mother call out from the kitchen.
A moment later I was standing in the kitchen, my parents both with big smiles on their faces.
“It’s so nice to see you Aiden.” My mother cooed while moving to hug me. “We were getting worried, we hadn’t heard from you in a few weeks..” She looked into my eyes, almost as if that could indicate to her whether or not I was okay.
“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t mean to worry you.” I gave her a weak smile.
“Come here pumpkin.” My dad called me over to him. “We’re just glad you’re here. How have you been?” He asked this while taking me into a warm embrace.
I figured I should get to the point as fast as possible before I chickened out of telling them.
“I’ve been alright, I just got over a bug of some sort and I’ve been struggling with the loss of Frank. I have good days, and then bad days.” I sat down at the dinner table, motioning for them to join me. “I’m sorry I avoided you.” I looked them in the face and felt the pang of guilt for ignoring them for the last few weeks. “I’ve been dealing with a lot.”
“We know it’s been really hard on you losing Frank dear, we just wanted you to know that we were here for you. We didn’t want you to feel like you were all alone. We loved him too Aiden, you know that.” My father spoke solemnly.
With tears in my eyes, I continued. “I know daddy. I came here not just to apologize for these last few weeks, but because I have something I need to tell the both of you.” I paused. “I just came from the doctor’s office. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been ill. At first it was a bug, he gave me some medication and it seemed to help.” At this, my mother put her hand to her mouth and looked terrified. I shook my head in response. “See, then I was only getting sick in the morning.” I paused waiting for the realization to spread across my mother’s face. “So last week, I went back to Dr. Tilson’s and had him run a test. Today, he confirmed the results. I’m just under three months pregnant.” I rushed through the end of it, just wanting it to be over. I laughed awkwardly, my nerves clearly taking over. “The good news is, I’m not dying.”
My mother burst into tears, apparently either disappointed with my news or not appreciating my awkward sense of humor.
“Aiden, I think you telling them might involve you getting out of my car and going inside.” Gerard joked looking at me.
“Mhmm,” I took a gulp of air. “I’ll do that in just a second.”
“And you know I’m behind you 100 percent, but I think this is probably something I shouldn’t be around for. If I were in the room, they might assume something else happened instead of the actual situation.”
My eyes went wide as it clicked in what he was saying. I stifled a laugh. “It could certainly be amusing, but you’re right.”
“Call me when you’re done if you need a ride home, or just need to talk. It’ll be fine though, your mom will be thrilled.” He smiled warmly at me.
I took a deep breath. “Thanks for everything Gerard. I promise I’ll call you later, let you know how it all went.” I squeezed his hand gently. “I’ll talk to you soon.” With that, I got out of the car and made my way up to the house. I knocked lightly on the door before entering.
“Mom, dad?” I called out.
“We’re in here honey!” I heard my mother call out from the kitchen.
A moment later I was standing in the kitchen, my parents both with big smiles on their faces.
“It’s so nice to see you Aiden.” My mother cooed while moving to hug me. “We were getting worried, we hadn’t heard from you in a few weeks..” She looked into my eyes, almost as if that could indicate to her whether or not I was okay.
“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t mean to worry you.” I gave her a weak smile.
“Come here pumpkin.” My dad called me over to him. “We’re just glad you’re here. How have you been?” He asked this while taking me into a warm embrace.
I figured I should get to the point as fast as possible before I chickened out of telling them.
“I’ve been alright, I just got over a bug of some sort and I’ve been struggling with the loss of Frank. I have good days, and then bad days.” I sat down at the dinner table, motioning for them to join me. “I’m sorry I avoided you.” I looked them in the face and felt the pang of guilt for ignoring them for the last few weeks. “I’ve been dealing with a lot.”
“We know it’s been really hard on you losing Frank dear, we just wanted you to know that we were here for you. We didn’t want you to feel like you were all alone. We loved him too Aiden, you know that.” My father spoke solemnly.
With tears in my eyes, I continued. “I know daddy. I came here not just to apologize for these last few weeks, but because I have something I need to tell the both of you.” I paused. “I just came from the doctor’s office. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been ill. At first it was a bug, he gave me some medication and it seemed to help.” At this, my mother put her hand to her mouth and looked terrified. I shook my head in response. “See, then I was only getting sick in the morning.” I paused waiting for the realization to spread across my mother’s face. “So last week, I went back to Dr. Tilson’s and had him run a test. Today, he confirmed the results. I’m just under three months pregnant.” I rushed through the end of it, just wanting it to be over. I laughed awkwardly, my nerves clearly taking over. “The good news is, I’m not dying.”
My mother burst into tears, apparently either disappointed with my news or not appreciating my awkward sense of humor.