“Yeah.” Jude looked back and forth between his parents.
Mr. Ashland sighed. “Kids go to your rooms.”
Jacob sighed. “C’mon Dad.”
“Now. This is not up for discussion Jacob.”
Jacob got up from where he was sitting in front of the couch. Marissa and Joelle followed, talking quietly.
As soon as the door to both bedrooms had shut, Mr. Ashland said “Sit down kids.”
Mellenda’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. If things were going like this with Jude’s parents, she couldn’t imagine how her parents would take the news.
Jude squeezed her hand and then led her to the kitchen. He dropped her hand long enough to pull a chair out for her. Once she had sat down, he sat down and twined his fingers through hers again.
“Are you guys mad?”
Mrs. Ashland sighed. “You’re eighteen years old Jude. You’ve seen how your father and I have struggled most of your life.”
“I’m almost nineteen.”
Mr. Ashland laughed. “A year hardly makes a difference son. I believe your mother’s point is that babies are an expensive venture and not an easy one either. We will help with what we can, but you two have some decisions to make. They may not be easy decisions but you’re worrying about more than yourselves now.”
“We’re keeping the baby.”
“I believe that the mother of your child should have a say in that as well son. Is that what you want Mellenda?”
Mellenda cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“That’s a relief. I don’t believe that abortion is a viable option unless the circumstances are extreme. Jude certainly wouldn’t have the money to pay for one, and neither would we. I’m not sure what the circumstances with your parents are Mellenda, but it seems mighty cold hearted to me to pay to abort your grandchild.”
Mellenda’s face felt like it was on fire. “I don’t think they’d be very okay with that either.”
Jude squeezed her hand. “We’d like to raise the baby. We know that it’s not going to be easy, but we want to do it.”
“Well, we had hoped that if adoption was what you had in mind that you would think of us or Mellenda’s parents,” Mrs. Ashland said. “We were afraid that when you were messing around with so many different girls that one of them would end up in this situation. I’m very glad that the girl you’re having a child with is someone that you truly care for Jude. But babies are hard to care for. They may look cute and cuddly but they can drive you half out of your mind. Babies cry for no reason sometimes. Babies teethe, babies get diaper rash, babies get sick. It’s a lot for a person to take, no matter what age you are.”
“We’re gonna be fine Mom. I have three younger siblings remember?”
Mrs. Ashland laughed. “It is an entirely different thing than having a child of your own Jude. When the child belongs to someone else, you can hand them back to their parents when they’ve made you want to tear your hair out, or you just have to get through the minutes or hours or whatever until the parents return. When you’re taking care of your own child, there is no one to hand them off too. They are your responsibility. Now, I’m not saying that we won’t be there for you. If you need a night off, or a weekend off, or even a week off and it’s at the point when we’re able to take the baby, we will, no questions asked. We’re always a phone call away and I want you to remember that. What are you going to do about school? You had a scholarship didn’t you Mellenda?”
Mellenda’s face got hot again. “I lost it. Um, I cheated in my English class junior year and the headmaster found out about it. I would have taken the class again or went to summer school but Crestview won’t let you do that if you’re caught cheating.”
Mrs. Ashland shook her head. “That is ridiculous. I’m sorry honey. You seem like such a bright girl.”
Mellenda gave her a weak smile. “It is pretty dumb, but I shouldn’t have cheated in the first place.”
“We all make mistakes. Do you have plans for college? The community college in Brown is good. They should have family housing. And it’s much cheaper than the university. Jude, I don’t know if there’s still time for you to change your funding, but it’s an option.”
“I don’t know if I want to go to school anymore. I feel like I’ve been trying to live up to the ghost of my sister for the last five years and nothing I’ve done has ever been good enough. I have no idea what I want to do with my life.” Mellenda felt tears prick her eyes. Jude put his arm around her and she turned her head into his chest for a minute.
Mr. Ashland sighed. “Jude told us about the way your parents treat you. The loss of a child is a loss like no other and I can’t imagine what it must feel like, but that is no excuse to treat you the way they’ve been treating you. It breaks our hearts to think about it honey. You will always have a place in our family.”
Mellenda smiled, though it felt weak. “Thank you. You’ve always made me feel so welcome.”
“You are welcome. Always. It’s not unusual to be unsure about what you want to do with your life at eighteen. Some people twice your age don’t know what they really want to do with their lives. Hell, some people never really figure it out. We just don’t want to see you two struggle.”
“I know Dad,” Jude said. “But you’ve done such a great job of raising me and the kids. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. Yeah, it sucked sometimes when we were being dumb and thinking about the stuff that we didn’t have that some other kid did, but I wouldn’t trade you for any other parents in the world.”
“Thank you son. Have you told Mellenda’s parents?”
Mellenda shook her head. “I’m scared to tell them. My sister was pregnant when she died.”
“Oh honey, it will be okay,” Mrs. Ashland reached out and squeezed Mellenda’s hand. “Even if they’re not thrilled at first, I’m sure they’ll come around. It was a shock for us at first but I think we’ll very much enjoy being grandparents. Are you planning on getting married?”
Mellenda looked at Jude. Jude looked away from her and looked at his mother. “Can I talk to you alone for a minute Mom?”
“Of course.” She smiled at Mellenda and then left the table with her son.
Mr. Ashland gave her a smile. “It really is good to see you again Mellenda. I’ve never seen my son as down as he was when he was without you. With his behavior with girls the last few years, we were afraid that he had done something to screw your relationship up royally. He cares so much about you. You normally don’t see the change in a man that we’ve seen in Jude until they’re much older, but you have turned our son into a real man in so many ways.”
Mellenda wasn’t sure what to say. “Um. . .”
Mr. Ashland laughed. “It’s okay honey. You don’t have to say anything.”
Jude returned to the table and gave them both a bright smile. “You ready Mellenda?”
Mr. Ashland raised an eyebrow. “You’re leaving?”
“Mom said I could.”
“Did she?” Mr. Ashland looked at his wife.
“I did. Our son believes that he needs some alone time with his girlfriend.”
“Ah. I see. Have a good night you two. Congratulations. We look forward to seeing a lot more of you around here again Mellenda. And we promise not to embarrass you too much at your graduation.”
Mellenda laughed. “Thank you.”
Jude took her hand and she got up from the table. They went outside and got into the car. Jude started the car and backed out of the driveway.
“I don’t think I can afford for us to stay at the place we stayed at on prom night, but hopefully we can find some place that’s not too big of a dump.”
“Wherever we stay will be fine Jude. I’m so happy to be spending the night with you.”
Jude winked at her as he stopped at the stoplight. “I think I can make you even happier.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah.”
Mellenda laughed. They pu
lled up to a motel a few minutes later. It looked rundown on the outside, but ‘Vacancy’ was lit up on the sign. Mellenda followed Jude into the office. They handed their licenses over and Jude paid for the room. When the key was in Jude’s hand and they were on the way to a room on the first floor, Mellenda heart set to pounding again. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, but it almost felt like they were making love for the first time.
Jude unlocked the door and flipped the light on. He made a face. “I’m sorry baby. I guess maybe we should have kept looking.”
Mellenda looked at the room, trying not to look at it with a critical eye, but it was hard. The carpet was worn and the bed looked lumpy. It smelled stale. She opened the window and breathed in the spring air.
“It’s okay Jude. I could stay anywhere with you and be happy.”
Jude grinned. “That’s my girl. Let’s get naked.”
Mellenda smiled. “And that’s my man. The pervert.”
He kissed her. “You’re so beautiful that I can’t help but think dirty thoughts.”
There were no more words after that. They made love three times that night. Mellenda didn’t think she’d ever been happier in her life. Until Jude’s alarm went off early the next morning. She sat up and groaned.
“Why does my boyfriend have to have a job that drags him out of bed so damned early in the morning?”
Jude laughed. “I’m sorry baby. You can go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“I want to come with you.”
“You sure? It’s pretty boring.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“Oh honey, I think you’re gonna make me cry.”
Mellenda smiled. “I love you, you big dork.”
“I love you too. I’m off at the restaurant today. I thought we could go check out that apartment after checkout. Brendan said the apartment next to him and Shayla is open but I’m not sure if you want to live that close to them.”
Mellenda laughed. “I think I can forgive him for grabbing my ass as long as he promises not to do it again.”
“I told him that if he even looked at your ass, I’d let you kick his ass and then I’d kick his ass, so I don’t think he’ll think about it.”
“Good.” Mellenda moved to kiss him, and then the nausea hit. She got up off of the bed and rushed to the bathroom to throw up.
Jude followed her and brushed her hair back from her neck. “Morning sickness. I’d take it for you if I could, you know I would.”
She flushed the toilet and then gave him a weak smile. “Yeah right.”
“Well, maybe not but it is really gonna suck watching you go through all that pain when you’re in labor.”
“Don’t remind me.” Mellenda washed her hands and splashed some water on her face. “What did you talk to your mom about last night?”
Jude grinned. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
“Jude, you can’t be mean to the woman that’s pregnant with your child. It’s against the laws of being a good boyfriend.”
“I want it to be a surprise.”
Mellenda pouted. “Meanie.”
Jude laughed. “I’ll make it up to you after we get back from delivering papers.”
Mellenda pretended to ponder. “Well, okay.”
They dressed and then went out to his car. He drove to pick the papers up. Mellenda was exhausted but she was so happy to be with him that she thought she could take delivering papers with him every morning. It went quickly since he had been doing it for so long, and they were soon back at the motel. They made love again and then took a long, leisurely shower together.
They checked out and then drove to the apartment building. It looked really rundown. Mellenda started having second thoughts, especially when she saw a dirty little kid running around naked in the parking lot. But she felt a little better when he was retrieved almost immediately by his embarrassed mother.
They were shown a two bedroom apartment by a manager that chain smoked and talked constantly into a wireless headset. The inside of the apartment looked better than the outside. It was small, but clean. The stove and the refrigerator were both in good shape. Jude said they needed to talk about it. The manager shrugged and told them the office was open until five.
They sat in the car. Jude looked at Mellenda. “What do you think babe? It’s not quite as cheap as I’d hoped it would be since it’s a two bedroom but I think I can still afford it. You won’t even have to get a job. I got a shitload of money for graduation.”
“I’d feel bad with you working two jobs and me not even having one. I’m sure there’s something I could do.”
“You can work if you want. I just want you to know that you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m not saying that it’s always gonna be that way, but for now it is.”
Mellenda squeezed his hand. “I’m scared.”
“Baby, it’s okay to be scared. We’re gonna be okay. I know it. No matter what we decide to do about school, or about where we’re gonna live.”
“I love you Jude.”
“I love you Mellenda. You don’t have to decide about the apartment right now. There’s another apartment building over by Tony’s house. It’s not quite as cheap I don’t think, but we should still be able to afford it.”
“I don’t know if I want to live over by Tony. And we still have to buy furniture and all kinds of stuff for the baby.”
“Tony and Tory are leaving town pretty soon I think. They let his mom out of the loony bin. Sorry, the mental hospital.”
“Oh. I guess we should probably take this apartment. It’s not that bad and I want to wake up beside you every day like right now.”
Jude grinned. “I still can’t believe that the most beautiful woman in the world loves me.”
“I am not the most beautiful woman in the world Jude.”
“You are. But even if you weren’t you’d still be the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”
He kissed her. They were making out several minutes later when someone banged on Jude’s window. Jude gave Mellenda a grin and then rolled the window down.
“No sex in my parking lot,” the manager said. “I don’t need to know that you’re getting some when I ain’t. You takin’ the place?”
“Yeah. I have to go get the money out of my bank account. We’ll be back in a bit.”
The manager sighed and lit another cigarette. “I’ll be here.”
Jude drove to the bank and made his withdrawal. Mellenda felt like she was in a dream. She could hardly believe that at this time the day before she hadn’t been sure that she was pregnant. Now she and Jude were moving in together. She felt very emotional by the time they had made it back to the apartment building.
Jude looked at her. “Baby are you okay? We don’t have to live here. Just please tell me you hate it before I pay for the place.”
Mellenda laughed, though it felt forced. “It’s not that. I just feel so. . . I don’t know how to describe it. But I’m not sad. It all feels so strange.”
“I know babe. I’m scared too, but we can get through anything together.” He gave her a quick kiss.
“Thank you. There is no one in the world that I’d rather be with than you Jude.”
Jude grinned. “Ditto baby. Let’s go. We still have a lot to do today.”
They left the car and went into the office, filling out a simple application form. The electricity was paid through the apartments so they didn’t need to worry about the utilities. Mellenda still felt like she was dreaming when Jude handed her the key to their apartment and she unlocked the door.
They decided on the furniture they needed. There was a thrift store downtown that had used furniture. Jude’s parents had promised to meet them after his dad was off of work. They had insisted on paying for groceries. Jude’s mom was meeting them earlier in the day since she was off of work. Jude still wouldn’t tell Mellenda what he had insisted on speaking with his mom about privately.
; They were able to find a bed, a dresser and a kitchen table and chairs. A couple from the trailer park was giving them a worn but still usable couch. Jude’s mom had already lined up a crib for them. Everything was moving so fast that Mellenda felt like she was in the middle of a whirlwind.
Brendan helped them move their furniture into the apartment. Jude had sold his truck to Shayla, so they packed everything into the back. Shayla and Brendan both apologized profusely to Mellenda. Mellenda accepted their apologies and actually found herself liking both of them.
Jude left her with Shayla shopping for pots and pans and other household goods while he disappeared with his mom. It seemed to Mellenda like he was going through his graduation money really quickly, but he assured her that their money situation was fine. He had talked Seneca into giving him Molli and Ricky’s address and had paid her back the money that he had borrowed from her while they had been dating too.
By evening, Mellenda felt exhausted. But their apartment was furnished. Jude’s parents took them shopping for groceries, and then they all had pizza at the apartment, Brendan and Shayla included. Brendan and Shayla were moving into their apartment the next week.
When everyone was gone, Mellenda admitted to herself that she needed to call her parents. It wasn’t that late and she knew her parents were very likely still awake, so she curled up with Jude on their bed and dialed her parents’ home number.
Her mom answered on the second ring. “Mellenda, is everything okay?”
Mellenda took a deep breath and then let it out. “Yes Mom. There’s something I need to tell you though. Is Daddy home?”
“He’s in the other room honey. Let me get him.”
Mrs. Brooks returned to the phone a few minutes later. “You’ve got us both on speaker now Mellenda. What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?” It came from her father.
“I’m pregnant Daddy.”
“I hope this is a joke Mellenda Jean, though it’s hardly funny.”
Mellenda felt tears sting her eyes. Jude’s arms tightened around her. “It’s not a joke. We already moved in together. You can meet Jude when you come down for my graduation.”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 186
