pregnant when I was seventeen?”
“Exactly. Your relationship is already bad—what harm can this do?”
“Maybe you’re right.” She seemed to be contemplating the idea as they walked inside and got on the elevator.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Leave?” She shook her head. “God, no. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to do it without you here.”
“You’re much braver than you think,” he whispered, kissing the side of her face. “But I’ll be right there, as long as you want me.”
“Always,” she said, squeezing his hand.
They walked into her father’s room and he was sitting up eating his dinner. He smiled and called out a greeting when they came in, though her mother seemed to tense, sitting quietly in the chair next to his bed.
“It’s good to see you, Charlotte. Hi, Mike.”
“Why can’t you guys call him by his name?” Charli asked, trying to rein in her temper. “His name is Miikka. Not Mike, not Michael. Miikka.”
“It’s okay,” Miikka whispered to her, seemingly surprised by her outburst.
“Well, Mike is the American version of it,” her mother protested. “You’re so grouchy, Charlotte.”
“You can call me Mike,” Miikka said, holding tightly to Charli’s hand. “And someday I hope you call me your son.”
“Are you actually going to marry her?” Denita asked him. “I don’t know why you’d choose Charlotte, being a professional athlete and all. Seems to me you have a lot more choices out there than a girl who—”
“Mom!” Charli snatched her hand out of Miikka’s and threw it up in frustration. “If you have something to say, by all means, let’s get it out in the open now. I have a wonderful man and a great life in Anchorage, so if you don’t want me here, I’ll be happy to go home. Today. The sooner the better.”
“Charlotte, no. Please.” Her father seemed upset by the idea of her leaving, but Charli had had enough.
“Then tell me the problem.” Charli was still talking to her mother, arms folded across her chest.
“You know what my problem with you is.”
“I made a mistake,” Charli said slowly. “I was seventeen and stupid. But I’m the one who had to live with the consequences of my actions. I’m the one who had to carry a baby in my belly for nine months and then watch strangers take him from me. I’m the one who’s had to live with the guilt for more than seven years. I’m the one who lost my friends, my family, and my home. I’m sorry if you were temporarily embarrassed, but I didn’t commit a crime. I didn’t kill someone or sleep with someone’s husband. I got pregnant, and in case you’ve had your head buried so deep in your Bible you forgot, people have sex. Accidents happen. And that’s what it was—a fucking accident.”
“You watch your mouth, young lady!” Denita shot up out of her chair.
“Or what? You’re going to ground me? Give me a break.”
The two women glared at each other and Charlie was grateful Miikka was standing close enough to her to offer support by proximity and osmosis. He hadn’t said anything, but he placed a gentle hand on her back so she’d know he was there.
“Denita, it’s time to move past this,” Norman said after a moment.
“She humiliated us. The whole town was talking about her and that hooligan, Roy.”
“It was the congregation at the church,” Norman corrected her gently. “A few hundred people, Denita. And they love gossip. They forgot all about it within a few months and people still ask me how she is, if she’s doing okay, if she’s coming home. You’re the only one who’s still embarrassed.”
“Whose side are you on?” she demanded.
“The side that gets my family back together. The side that allows for forgiveness.”
“The Bible is pretty straightforward,” Denita said. “Hebrews says, ‘Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.’ This isn’t debatable.”
Norman shook his head. “The Bible also says if a man lies with a man, he should be put to death—and neither of us believe that. We both know the Bible can’t be taken literally most of the time. And if Mike, er, Miikka doesn’t care that Charlotte isn’t a virgin, why are we still hung up on it?”
Denita didn’t answer and Charli sighed in frustration. While part of her wanted a relationship with her parents, another part of her was just tired. It had been an emotional week and this was unnecessary drama