"I know," she says glumly. "I'm going in for checkups every two weeks."
"That's good. So they've done NIPT? Nuchal Translucency? Morphology? What about checking for gestational diabetes? That's normally done around twenty-four to twenty-eight weeks, but they should definitely bring it forward in this case."
"Courtland, relax. Take a breath. Everything is fine."
I take a breath, but there's no way I can relax.
My forty-eight-year-old mom is pregnant!
"You don't look fine," I say and hope it doesn't come out mean. Now that I know why she looks like this, I'm worried.
"Morning sickness is a real bitch. Had it with you, and I'm having it again." I glance over at her fridge and frown. She clocks it and lifts a finger. "Do not lecture me."
"Fine." I tap my fingers along the table, trying to ground myself as my thoughts spin out.
This is beyond wild. And maybe this is the reason why she's been quiet. I thought it was because she didn't want to see me. Maybe she didn't want me to find out she was pregnant?
Then again, that means she would've had to have hidden from me for another four or five months… Yeah, that's something she would totally do.
"Wait." I glance at her. "Who's the father?"
She winces. "Gavin."
It takes me a minute to put the pieces together.
No.
She couldn't possibly mean…
"Gavin Lightyear?" I check.
Buzz's dad.
The guy she cheated with once before, destroying two families in the process. They never ended up together for reasons I'm not privy to. He remarried and now has kids with his new wife.
This cannot be happening.
Again.
"Yes."
"Oh my god. Mom!" I push to my feet, feeling dizzy.
I need air.
I need…to get the hell out of here.
"I'll—I'll call you," I mumble, then race to the door, my heart pounding in my throat.
How can they have done this again?
40
Buzz
“And what do you do if there’s smoke?" Ramzi asks the class, tapping my helmet with a playful smirk.
Fifteen second graders turn their attention to me.
