Hannah had never been a huge steak eater but usually loved a grilled one. She shook her head. “No, I’m good. I can’t really stomach it right now.”
Elizabeth put her fork down and gazed at her daughter closely. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it? I knew when you were in the hospital that something was wrong. I didn’t believe for a second you had the damn flu. Be honest with me, Han. What’s going on?”
This wasn’t exactly how she’d wanted to tell them, but it would have to do; her mom was upset, and she could see exactly where this was going to go. They were going to ask if her eating disorder was back, and then they’d try to “help her”.
“Yes, mom, something is going on, but it’s not what you think,” she was quick to assure.
“You honestly think I’d be sitting here calm and cool if something was wrong with her?” Garrett raised an eyebrow at all of them. “You all know how I feel about her.”
That seemed to mostly satisfy everyone who didn’t already know, but the rest of them waited, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Do you have something you need to tell us?” Kevin asked, looking at the two of them, concern on his face.
Garrett sighed and laughed slightly. He scooted as close to Hannah as he could, putting his arm around her neck and pulling her close. “You wanna tell ’em?”
She grinned up at him, her heart in her throat. Once they unleashed this on their family it would be out in the world. She nodded before turning her head to face the rest of them.
“I’m pregnant.”
They didn’t let her get any more words out. Screams were heard from the ladies, shouts of approval from the guys, and the soon-to-grandparents and aunt rushed forward to give them hugs and congratulations. Havock barked loudly at the amount of noise. Once everyone was settled again, Marie started with the questions.
“When are you due? How are you feeling? Is my son doing everything he needs to be doing to help you?”
Garrett laughed. “Seriously, Mom?”
Hannah’s mouth was watering as she looked at her uneaten chicken. “Can I please eat? If I don’t now, while I’m hungry, I won’t be able to.”
Marie turned her attention to Garrett. “Has she been sick?”
He looked at his own food, realizing he was going to have to field these questions. “Alright, we’re due in January.”
“She’s twelve weeks and we haven’t heard a peep?” Elizabeth’s fork hit her plate loudly.
“Mom, it was my decision,” Hannah spoke through her chewing. “I was really sick to begin with. When I was in the hospital, this is why.”
“And you couldn’t have told us? What if something had happened to you, had happened to the baby?”
“Then my husband and I would have handled it,” she spoke clearly, her voice firm. “We wanted to make sure that nothing would happen before we told anyone; I was very sick.”
Stacey folded her arms over her chest. “But I’m betting the band and Shell knew about this, huh?” She gave Brad the evil eye.
She opened her mouth to answer but was beaten to the punch by none other than Jared.
“You all should be fucking ashamed of yourselves. This isn’t about who knew and who didn’t know. This is about a young family who was scared to death as Hannah sat puking her guts out. She was in the hospital because she was dehydrated, dangerously dehydrated, and they were scared. Of course we knew—we live with them. There are lots of things the group of us know about each other than no one else will ever know. That happens when you’re in close quarters, but there’s also a certain degree of trust. They trusted us with their secret. All of us at this table know that as soon as they announce it to the world, they aren’t going to have a minute of peace. This is the one place they should have it, and the fact you all are trying to make them feel bad about a situation they decided on together is complete bullshit.” He paused to take a drink of his water. “They aren’t little kids anymore who have to clear anything with any of you. They’re a married couple about to have their own child, and what they choose to do about that is their business.”
Hannah smiled over at him, thankful that he’d had the guts to speak.
Robert put a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder, holding her back from saying anything else. “Let’s leave it at: congratulations, you two. I can’t wait to be a grandpa.”
Those were the words that settled everyone down. After a few minutes, the tension was gone, and Hannah sat back with a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she thought it would.
Chapter Twenty-One
* * *
End of July
Hannah looked out over the German crowd; ninety thousand strong, as Black Friday performed their set for the summer festival. She was so thankful she had taken this time off. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be here for this, and she knew she wouldn’t want to miss it. Garrett held the huge crowd in the palm of his hand. Every time he asked them to do something, they did it without hesitating. She had never seen this many people before in her life. These rock festivals were much larger than the country festivals that she attended.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
She glanced up at Shell, nodding. “It is. I can’t believe all these people have been out in this intense heat all day.”
From where she stood, Garrett was in the shadow of the setting sun, and his silhouette was beautiful against it. Pulling her phone out, she snapped a few pictures, uploading one of them to her Instagram account.
“My wife is here today,” he said to the crowd. “I’d like to invite her out here, if it’s okay with you?” There was a huge uproar from them, clapping and whistling.
They hadn’t talked about this. She knew he wanted to make the announcement today, but she hadn’t been aware he wanted her to go out and be with him.
“C’mon, babe.” He crooked his finger at her.
She was immediately glad she had taken the time to put her hair in a braid. The black shorts she wore weren’t too short, and the tank-top she wore was billowy enough that no one could make out the fact she had gained a few pounds. She pushed her sunglasses over her eyes and walked out onto the stage. It was breathtaking to see that many people in one spot, and it felt like it took forever until she reached where he stood. He held his hand out to her.
“So everybody, this is my gorgeous wife, Harmony.” He toyed with the braid that rested over her shoulder.
Not sure what to do, she waved out to the crowd.
“Say hi.” He held the mic up to her mouth.
“Hi.” She giggled, nerves getting the better of her.
The crowd was so loud she was afraid they would knock her down with their response.
“They love you almost as much as I do.” He stood behind her and grabbed her around the waist.
He dropped the mic to his side and moved his mouth to her ear. “Do you wanna tell them?”
“We can if you want. Everyone who needs to know already does.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose, and the crowd went wild. “The reason I brought her out here is because we wanted to share something with all of you.”
Hannah held on tightly to his hand that spanned her stomach. If he hadn’t been holding her up, she was afraid she would have slid down in the face of all these people. The crowd continued to yell as he waited; they grew louder and louder until he put the mic back up to his mouth.
“Okay, okay. You wanna know, I’ll tell you. Sometime in the new year, there will be a little Reaper or Harmony running around. She’s pregnant.” He didn’t want to give them exact information, but he wanted the fans to know. She was going to really start showing soon, and he didn’t want there to be speculation—he wasn’t sure she could handle that.
The roar of the crowd was so loud and the enthusiasm so much that they both physically took a step back. At some point a “kiss her” chant started, and Garrett smiled at her, pulling her to him. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, we don’t have to worry about keeping secr
ets anymore.”
“We sure don’t.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, squealing when he bent to pick her up and put her legs around his waist.
This time the picture that went around the world was the one of them lip-locked in front of ninety-thousand fans in hundred-degree weather. It would be the most popular picture of the two of them for months.
* * *
“Sorry I put you on the spot out there.” Garrett grinned up at her as they sat backstage. Having taken his shirt off, he was running a towel over his chest and neck, mopping up the sweat on his body. He grabbed a bottle of water and demolished it in a few gulps.
“It’s okay.” She grabbed another bottle of water and held it out to him.
He gratefully took that one from her and drank it just as quickly as he’d drunk the first one.
“I’m relieved, actually.” She shrugged. “I’m starting to get a bump, and it’s only going to be more visible the further I go. I wasn’t looking forward to the speculation that maybe I had gained weight again.”
Garrett also knew that was coming, and it pissed him off that she could be put in that situation. He hoped they could handle it; he hoped she could handle it. Even though she’d gained little weight so far—six total pounds at her last doctor’s appointment—she was small, and it was noticeable. “You’re always gonna be beautiful to me.” But lately, she was very bashful around her husband.
He ran a towel over his head one more time and then stood up, putting his shirt back on. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go find the rest of the guys and Shell. It’s hot.” She wiped the sweat off her own forehead. “I wish we had time to sightsee.”
“I do too.” He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close for a moment. “But we have to be on our way to France.”
One of the things she loved and hated about these European festivals was that they got to be overseas, but each was booked almost back to back, and she never got to enjoy the sights and sounds. “How long is the drive?” He was an old pro at this. Black Friday had been overseas a lot, her not so much.
“We’re looking at about eight hours, and then we have a few hours layover at the venue. We’re scheduled to go on late, around one or two in the morning. Not sure how that’s going to go.” He laughed.
The way these guys worked never ceased to amaze her. There were a lot of fans who talked a lot of crap, but after being on this tour with them, especially the last few weeks, she was in awe of their work ethic. It seemed Garrett hardly ever got tired, no matter if he was doing ten shows in ten days or not. He always gave 150%. She put her hand in his, letting him lead her out of the backstage area.
“Y’all ready?” he asked Chris and Brad, who stood at one of the vending tables, eating a snack.
“Yeah, it’s fucking hot.” Chris groaned, using a towel he had around his neck to mop up the sweat that still poured from his body.
She couldn’t even imagine the type of energy he expended behind the drum set on a day like today. “Where’s Jared and Shell?” she asked, looking around for her friend.
“They already went to the bus. Jared called first on the cold shower and wanted to make sure he got it before anyone else did.” Brad took a long drink from his water bottle before adding. “Fucker.”
She giggled. “I’m ready whenever y’all are.”
They stood around eating a little more before Rick walked by and gathered them all up, getting ready to walk with them to the bus. “I want to warn you all, the news of the pregnancy has hit, and international media is out there. Hannah, you stay close to the guys.”
She didn’t understand what he was saying. He seemed worried, but there were always media and they handled it. They took off towards the doors that would lead them outside and to the bus. Brad opened the door, ready to walk out, when she got a glimpse of what Rick was talking about. Here there were no barriers, just a huge crush of photographers and people.
Rick talked over the loud, excited voices as the crowd saw Garrett and Hannah. “They’re trying to get some security, but there’s no telling how long that will take.”
Hannah plastered a smile on her face. “We’ll be fine,” she told him, even though she didn’t believe those words at all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
* * *
As soon as they stepped out, she felt the crush. Garrett grabbed her waist and pulled her close; Chris walked in front of her and Brad behind her. Questions were thrown from all sides, and she did her best to keep her head down, trying to not let them know how much they affected her.
“Reaper was this baby a mistake? Are you happy about it?” One of the more annoying reporters shoved a tape recorder in his face.
She had to give it to the reporter, even with the look of death Garrett threw his way, he didn’t back down.
“Of course it was planned. We’ve been married for over a year; we’re just like any other couple who hoped to expand their family. We tried and succeeded. What the fuck kind of question is that?”
“Harmony, how are you going to handle gaining weight? Weren’t you in the hospital a few months ago? Many reports said that you were there because of your eating disorder.”
She hated this, absolutely hated it. “I was sick,” she said, not looking up. She could see her feet, and she focused on them as she tried to make her way through the crush.
“Because of the baby?” the same reporter asked.
“Yes.” She didn’t want offer anything, because the more she spoke, the harder they pushed in on them.
“Is something wrong with the baby?” he pressed.
Her breathing was starting to come more rapidly, and she felt a possible panic attack from the crush of bodies.
“No.” She shook her head. “Could you please move back?” He was all up in her personal space, and she didn’t like it one bit.
He either didn’t hear her or pretended not to. “You didn’t answer me. Is something wrong with the baby?”
Hannah opened her mouth but stopped as she felt Garrett come around her and stand between the two of them. She watched as her husband gripped the reporter’s shirt in his fist.
“I believe my wife asked you to move, to allow her some room to breathe, and if you won’t do that voluntarily, I’ll be more than glad to knock you on your ass so she can do that. And to answer your fucking question, our child is perfectly healthy. She had very bad morning sickness and had to be hospitalized because she got dehydrated.”
The crowd as a whole had stopped pushing when Garrett grabbed the guy by the shirt. They looked on in amazement, and Hannah watched, waiting for someone to say something else.
“Are we done here?” Garrett yelled to the group at large. “We’re having a baby; that baby is due sometime early next year. It wasn’t an accident, we very much want this child. As far as the hospital stay, she was sick and I was forced to make the decision to leave her in the hospital so I could go perform a concert. Does anyone else have any more fucking questions?”
There was an eerie silence over the crowd, and Hannah finally took a look around. The reporters were at least three deep around them. She understood that this was their livelihood, but she could not understand what possessed them to be so rude.
“I do,” someone said from the back.
As Hannah caught a glimpse of the person, her heart sank. This guy was an international reporter, but he spent quite a bit of time covering country artists in Nashville. He had broken the story of her eating disorder. She did not want to speak to this guy every again.
“Are you gonna love her even when she’s back in rehab trying to lose all the weight she’s gonna gain?”
It was a good thing Brad was behind Garrett. As soon as the words came out of the guy’s mouth, Garrett lunged for him. Brad put his arms around Garrett’s neck from behind and held him back.
“You’re a piece of shit. You know that, right?” Garrett fought to get away from the hold Brad had on him.
“Just
asking a question. It wouldn’t be the first time an eating disorder put her in rehab.” He shrugged.
She was so mad she shook. This reporter was a grade-A jerk.
“Can you not speak for yourself anymore, Harmony? It used to be, before you married him, you at least had a voice. Is he discouraging that?”
There was not one part of her that wanted to give him anything he could run with. There was not one part of her that wanted to answer his stupid question, but she knew if she didn’t, it would only follow them. Someone else would ask it, it would turn into a huge thing, and they would never get any peace.
“No, I can speak,” she said clearly,—proud of herself for how clear it sounded. She managed to keep the emotion out of her voice. “I just choose not to answer stupid questions. I’m pregnant; of course I’m going to gain weight. It’s not like that’s some big secret. Every woman who has a baby gains weight. When I have the baby, after the doctor clears me, I’ll go back on the same workout plan I was on before. I’ll lose weight the healthy way, just like I learned to when—as you so kindly pointed out—I went to rehab.”
There was a momentary lull while people snapped photos of them, and the group worked hard to get through the crush, breathing a sigh of relief when extra security finally arrived. When Hannah got to the bus, she turned around and faced the crowd. “I hope we’ve given you enough that you’ll leave us alone and let us enjoy this pregnancy as a pair of new parents should be able to enjoy it.”
Garrett watched her, wondering why she’d turned around to give them anything else. It wasn’t like her, she didn’t normally bait the paparazzi.
“You wanna give us anything else?” the jerk-face asked, clearly upset with her being able to keep her cool.
There were a million things Hannah wanted to give him, but instead, she smiled a huge smile directly at him. “Nope.” She shook her head. “Just wanted to say bless your heart for thinkin’ of us and doin’ such a great job of gettin’ our names out there.” She laid it on thick before turning around and boarding the bus.
Full Circle (Rockin' Country Book 3) Page 11
