The Things You Give

Part 17

Kitty sat there, staring at her daughter with an unreadable expression. Was she angry? Disappointed? Murderous? Y/n couldn't bear to make eye contact with her, so she kept her gaze down.

"So," Kitty said, clearing her throat. "Pregnant, huh?"

Y/n nodded, flitting her eyes to Kitty who was calmly messing with her ring.

"How far along are you?"

"Bout a month."

"And does Steven know?"

"Yes, he—wait, what?" This time Y/n snapped her gaze to Kitty who was staring at her down with a stoic expression.

"I said does Steven know?" Kitty repeated and placed her fist underneath her chin. "Does he know that he is the father?"

All Y/n could do was stare at her mother in disbelief as her brain suddenly stopped working. The gears in her head froze as she felt her hands go numb. "What—how—uh, when did you—why would you—wait, what? Steven's not the father."

"Oh, no need to get all fussy and lie to me," Kitty said and chuckled and got up to start a pot of tea. "I've known for weeks."

"You what?" Y/n asked in complete disbelief. "How did you find out?!"

"Oh, please, I'm not stupid. You kids are terrible at keeping secrets." She grabbed two mugs and placed two teabags in them, then reached up to get the honey. "It's obvious that you two have gotten much closer in the recent months and besides—I've seen you two lay a smooch on each other in a time or two."

"Oh, God," Y/n mumbled, covering her hot and flushed face. "Well, if you knew, why didn't you say anything?!"

"Because I wanted you to come to me yourself," Kitty answered as if it was obvious and poured the hot water into the mugs. "You're eighteen now. You make that decision to date whoever you want."

Kitty set the mugs down on the table in front of them.

"If that's true then why were you telling me that I shouldn't and can't date him?"

"Because of your father," she responded and took a sip of her tea. "You know how he is."

"Oh, God, does he know?"

"Oh, heavens no," Kitty responded and waved her hand. "If he does, he's in denial."

"He's going to kill us," Y/n groaned and covered her eyes with her hand that wasn't holding the mug.

"Well, we need to find a way to ease into it," Kitty said. "The last thing we want is to give him another heart attack. Because let's be honest, this one will kill him."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"Well, we could liquor him up," she responded. "That way, he'll be mad, but not enough to kill him."

"Wow, Mom. It sounds like you've done this before."

"Eh, maybe once or twice," Kitty said, waving her hand and took a sip of her tea.

They sat in silence for a moment. "Are you mad?"

Kitty inhaled deeply and looked at Y/n. "A little. More so that you didn't tell me and lied to me. Multiple times."

Y/n looked down at her tea in shame. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Do you and Steven even have a plan?"

Y/n nodded, debating on telling her about the engagement. Like a band-aid. "Yes. He's going to go work with his dad in Milwaukee and I'm going to go back to school while looking for an apartment. And, uh," she took a deep breath, her voice wavering. Get ready to see some chairs fly. "We're....going to get...married."