way, they could all sit around the dinner table and trash me to their hearts’ content. But it was for the best this way. I could get it all done at once and then leave before the bashing conversation got started.
I nodded and took a deep breath. Outside of this house, I exuded strength, intelligence, and confidence. An alpha female warrior. This house reduced me to the insignificant little girl from my childhood. Bedelia understood and gave me a sympathetic look and took my hand in her old gnarled one.
“Don’t let them get to you, moje dítě. You found yourself a long time ago.”
Yes, I did. I could do this. My shoulders lifted up and pulled back. The bright floral print pencil dress I chose this morning made a statement of its own. I will not be cowed.
My heels clicked on the polished wood floors as I walked through the cavernous main floor rooms to get to the back of the house. I saw the trio of people through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Dread focused in my stomach as I approached them. They sat around a glass-topped table under a covered pergola. My mother wore a wide-brimmed garden hat and large sunglasses, probably trying to cover up a hangover. My father still wore his golfing shorts and shirt. I did my best not to look at my brother.
“Mother. Father,” I greeted them. Mom and Dad were not in their vocabulary nor mine. “Mags.”
The heat of his glare bounced off my cheek at the hated nickname, however, he remained silent, reminding me I was beneath his regard. My palms grew moist, and I swiped them against my dress.
“My word, Melanie, I wasn’t expecting your company today. What brings you out here, darling?” My mother’s sweet southern accent sounded like those of the big plantation southern belles she emulated.
I noticed no one invited me to sit, so I stood and tried not to shift from foot to foot. The morning sickness had already come and gone for the day. I hoped.
“Yes, dear, pleasant surprise.” My father picked up his fine china mug and sipped at the dark custom-blended coffee. He ordered several types of beans to be carefully measured and ground. I knew this because I heard him once instruct how he wanted his morning cup of joe prepared and how if his coffee didn’t meet his exacting standards, the cook would look for a new job. He didn’t ask if I wanted one.
Magnus still didn’t say a word as he picked up a similar cup.
My mouth dried up, and I bit my tongue to get some juices flowing. Fuck, Mellie, just say you’re pregnant. Two words. I’m pregnant. That’s all!
“I need... I have to...” I dry swallowed and kept going. Just pull it off quick like a Band-Aid, Mel. “Guess what you’re gonna get for Christmas?” I paused for a moment and took a huge breath. “A grandson or granddaughter.”
At first, the three faces looked at me in confusion, trying to figure out the joke. My mother was the first to comprehend, and the look of horror on her face was just as bad as a slap across mine. “A grandchild? Oh my stars! You’re having a baby? Out of wedlock? Oh!” She put down her cup of tea and started fanning herself with a white linen napkin.
“Take it easy, Deloris. It’s not the end of the world.” My father’s reaction, or lack of it, surprised me. I’d imagined him to be the first one to throw stones.
“Congratulations, little sister. You fucked up again.”
Not shocked by my brother’s attitude.
Mother continued to fan and pant. “Oh, what are we to do? I can’t show my face in public. A fallen daughter. Oh, my nerves!”
Yeah, mine too. Overreacting much? “Plenty of women have children and raise them as single parents, Mother.” I couldn’t quite keep the sarcasm out of my voice as she kept up her drama. My mother had had a brief stint as an actress in the local theater scene. She’d had a few parts, but no lead roles when she met and married my father. From then on, she treated her life as one big play. Her dramatics were common enough that I didn’t pay much attention to them anymore.
The chair made a creaking noise as Magnus leaned back and lifted his own cup. “Still a fuckup, but I guess we can’t expect anything else from her. I bet she doesn’t know who the father is.”
I hated the way he spoke