Walking on Broken Glass - Christa Allan [102]
“Tell me about dinner last night. How’d it go?”
“Honestly, it made me acutely aware of how sober I was, and how dangerous it could’ve been if I’d been drinking,” I said.
“You’re kidding? Were Carl's parents that obnoxious? You’d think with your dad there … and they knew you hadn’t been home long. I’m surprised.” She shook her head. “I gave them more credit than that.”
I stepped up my pace, so I wouldn’t be talking to the back of Molly's head. I told her, “You’re going to pass out when you hear this, but I can’t hang this one on them. They were the innocents last night.”
She didn’t stop on that, but she slowed down enough to give me a friendly push, “Get out!” In Molly-speak that translated to, “You’ve GOT to be kidding.”
I spent almost the next mile relating the airport to dinner table timeline of the previous night, up to the Carl/Bob chorus. I stopped and tugged her off to the side of the trail.
“What's wrong?” She tucked her hair behind her ears and pressed her hands together.
“Nothing, nothing.” I pulled up the neck of my T-shirt and bent my head so I could wipe the sweat off the sides of my nose. “I need to tell you the good news, so you’ll understand why the other news is so bad.” I paused, braced myself for the aching happiness that would fall like a veil across her face. “I’m pregnant.”
She hesitated, then wrapped me in her arms. “That's so wonderful. Oh, my gosh. I’m so happy for you. That's great. That's great.” She let go and ran her fingers underneath her eyes. “I’m about to have raccoon eyes. These are happy tears. I promise.”
I believed her, but I saw the brief shadow in her eyes, and I hated I was so helpless. “I know, and I so love you for that. It didn’t make sense that we were surprised with a baby, while you and Devin are investing everything to have one. But I’m learning, sometimes the hard way, to trust God. This baby, this baby … is such a gift.”
“It is a gift. And God's going to take care of Devin and me. I know that. This is almost too much news at once. I don’t know what to ask about next. You have to finish the dinner story, then we’ll do the baby story.”
We started back down the trail, and I told her about Carl and Dad's double-barreled announcements. She had a five-second gasp, then laughter contractions.
“Molly, it's not funny. Once again, Carl lied to me about telling his parents.”
“I’m sorry. I’m cracking up thinking about Landon and Gloria just sitting there, with their wine glasses frozen between their mouths and the table. I wish you could’ve taken a picture. Priceless. Priceless.” She shook her head.
“Maybe I’ve lost my sense of humor, but the whole night is still a nightmare. We were going to tell them about the baby. That was supposed to be the surprise. Was Carl thinking he’d never have to tell his parents? I don’t get it. With my dad there, did he really think the subject wasn’t going to come up? He should know by now my dad's missing that little person who's supposed to sit on your shoulder and warn you not to say things.”
“Wait. What did Carl say?”
“No idea. I was asleep by the time his parents dropped him off. He must have slept in one of the bedrooms upstairs because he didn’t come to bed, and he wasn’t on the sofa when I left this morning.” I shrugged.
“It's a shame this all had to happen at what was supposed to be a celebration, but now everybody knows everything. It's going to get better.”
“I’m counting on it,” I said. “If it doesn’t, I’m moving in with you and Devin.”
Molly had a giggle about that one. The last laugh might be on her because I wasn’t kidding.
The sizzling steam of frying bacon met me at the back door to our house. If I hadn’t heard Dad's voice, I might have thought someone else had moved in.
“Come on in. Serving breakfast now,” Dad called from