Stolen Moments // Billie Eilish G!P

Chapter nineteen

Billie fidgeted with the phone, rolling it around in her hands nervously. While she and Gio spoke daily, it was usually later in the evening before either she or he made the call. But Oliver had returned from his business trip and was only scheduled to be home for two days before he headed to texas to meet with his campaign manager and staff. She rolled her eyes at that thought, still not sure why—or when—he'd become obsessed with politics.

Regardless, she wanted to talk to him tonight. It had been three days since she and Skye had spoken, and she finally had her thoughts organized enough to attempt a conversation with him. He would be floored, no doubt. His disbelief would morph into anger quickly, she knew. Not anger that their marriage was coming to an end; their marriage had been over for years. No, anger that it would make him appear weak, or worse, damaged. Her happiness wouldn't matter to him; his only concern would be how it affected him and his career.

She looked at her phone and without further thought pushed Gio's number. She needed to tell him first...tell him that she was leaving his father. He answered quickly, sounding out of breath.

"Hi, Mom," he greeted.

"Hi, honey. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No. I'm on my way to the library."

"Oh? You mean you actually have to study now?" she teased.

"Hardly. I'm tutoring."

She shook her head and smiled. "How can you be tutoring? You just started."

"You know how it is," he said vaguely.

"Not challenging?" she guessed. She heard him take a deep breath before he spoke.

"I need to talk to you about something," he said, surprising her.

"Of course. What's up?"

There was only a slight hesitation. "I hate it here," he said quietly. "You were right. I let them push me into this. I have no desire to be the next great surgeon," he said.

"And you know this already? You haven't been there very long," she said.

"Yes, I know it already."

She paused, choosing her words carefully. "Honey, is it your age?" she asked. "I mean, do you feel...uncomfortable?"

He laughed. "I'm used to being the youngest one in my classes by now, Mom. Besides, there's a girl here, she's sixteen, so I'm not the only freak."

"Gio!"

"Sorry."

She tried to wipe the smile from her face. "So what do you want to do?"

"Well, I've always been interested in astrophysics. More specifically, astronautical engineering," he said.

"In English that means what?"

He laughed. "I want to build a spaceship."

"I see."

"I mean, with my math skills, I really should look into something like quantum mechanics or relativity. I think I'd like to start with astrophysics. But ultimately, I'd like to be more space-focused," he said, his enthusiasm obvious in his voice, something she never heard when he was deciding on which medical school to attend.

"Honey, why didn't you tell us this? Why did you—?"

"Because that's what everyone wanted."

"Gio, I told you, you have to do what makes you happy."

"I know. But I didn't want to disappoint Dad. And them," he added, referring to his grandparents.

She sighed. "Okay. So what do you want to do? You want to come home?"