Submission

Chapter 52

 Molly scrolled through photos of her honeymoon in Fiji for the past ten minutes. They were sitting in their usual spot at the back of Roasters. Jesse was leaning back with his arm on the back of Lorelei's chair. Lorelei was chewing on the straw to her iced coffee while she looked at Molly's photos.

"I'm glad you had fun," Lorelei said. "It looks so amazing."

"It was a lot of fun," Molly said.

"Your wedding was beautiful."

"It sure was interesting."

Jesse cleared his throat. He leaned forward and took his arm off of Lorelei's shoulders.

"I want to apologize about my behaviour at the wedding," he said.

"It's okay," Molly said. "Bryan kind of deserved it."

"Babe," Anthony said. "That's my friend."

Molly rolled her eyes.

"He was a drunken mess at the wedding," she said. "If I saw him forcing himself on Lorelei I would have punched him in the face myself."

Lorelei giggled. Jesse put his hand on her leg and ran his hand to the inside of her thigh. His rough hand was on the bare skin underneath her sundress.

"There will be no more Bryan drama anymore," Lorelei said.

She had blocked his number last night. He had sent her a few texts attempting to apologize, but she did not respond to any of them. She did not want to engage with him and because she no longer had the wedding she did not need to try and be civil. She wanted to make him a distant memory.

"Good," Molly said. "Because we have some exciting news."

Lorelei raised a brow.

"What news?" she asked.

Molly smiled and put her hand flat against her belly. She did not need to say anything for Lorelei to know what the news was. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide.

"You're pregnant?" Lorelei asked. "How far along?"

"My first appointment is tomorrow," Molly said. "But we think about three months."

"How come you didn't tell me earlier?"

"I didn't realize I had missed my period because of the stress of the wedding."

"I wish there wasn't a table between us. I want to hug you."

Molly's eyes went glassy with tears as she rubbed her stomach.

"I already know that I want you to be the godmother," she said.

Lorelei clasped her hands in front of her chest. Jesse rubbed her thigh under the table.

"I am so honoured, Molly," Lorelei said.

"Who else would I choose?" she joked. "You're basically my sister."

Molly and Lorelei talked about the baby for an hour. They discussed multiple names, and Anthony and Jesse would interject to tell them how terrible some of the names sound.

When they stood, Lorelei wrapped her arms tight around Molly. She promised to text Lorelei after the ultrasound tomorrow.

Jesse grabbed Lorelei's hand and they walked out of Roasters together. They parted from Anthony and Molly and headed down the sidewalk. Jesse kept a tight hold on Lorelei's hand as they headed toward his apartment.

Jesse's phone rang and he let go of Lorelei's hand to pull it out of his pocket. He furrowed his brows when he looked at the screen.

"Who is it?" Lorelei asked.

Jesse did not answer Lorelei and held the phone to his ear. His lips were pressed into a tight line.

"What's going on?" Jesse asked.

Lorelei could hear a female voice on the other end of the call, but could not decipher what the person was saying.

"You only ever call me when something is wrong," Jesse said.

Lorelei raised a brow.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Jesse stopped walking. Lorelei turned to face him.

"Mom, you need to stop crying," he said.

Mom?

Jesse had never mentioned his mother before, but Jody has said little things about her. She was someone Lorelei was afraid to mention around him.

"How much longer do you have?" he asked.

Jesse pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"I will be there as soon as I can," he said. "Goodbye."

Jesse sighed as he put the phone back into his pocket. He ran his fingers through his hair before looking at Lorelei.

"I have to go to Vancouver," he said. "I have to help my Mom out."

Jesse swore loudly, gaining the attention of people on the street. Lorelei reached out and put her hand on Jesse's arm.

"I don't want to go," he said. "I can't believe I have to go."

"I'll go with you," Lorelei said.

Jesse furrowed his brows.

"You'd actually go with me?" he asked. "We have to leave in a few days."

"I want to go," Lorelei said. She wanted to support him. "I can get it off of work. I have vacation time I haven't used yet."

Jesse wrapped his arms around Lorelei and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you so much," he said. "I hope this doesn't blow up in my face."

The End.