Never Let Me Go (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #3)

Chapter Nineteen: Down the Rabbit Hole

                                  “What did you just say?” my mom’s voice was low, her words quick, and I hastily dropped my shirt. Every single person at the table and in the restaurant was staring at me, and the judgement pressing against my back was starting to make my skin crawl.

“I-I’m pregnant.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me, Chris,” Mike snarled, pale face turning an angry, mottled red as he jumped to his feet beside our mom.

“You’re pregnant? You must be joking. Tell me this is a joke, Christina Laymen. Because there is absolutely no way I did such a crappy job of raising you that you were stupid enough to get pregnant at seventeen!”

                            If there was any doubt before about all eyes in the restaurant being on us, it was gone now. My mom was on her feet, the color in her cheeks rapidly escalating from a flushed pink to a scarily-bright shade of red. Michael was by her side, ice-blue eyes narrowed and furious as they glared murderously at Derek, who stood at the other end of the table, rooted to the spot in astonishment at my announcement. Gracie and Erica were several steps behind me, shopping bags abandoned by their feet as they watched the drama unfold with horrified expressions of deep concern. Similar looks were mirrored on the faces of Aiden, Peter, Marcus, and Katie. Jim and his children, on the other hand, just looked mildly interested but mostly kind of bored.

“It’s Derek’s, Mom! We’re engaged. It’s not like I went and got drunkenly inseminated by some burnt out stranger!”

“Christina. This is your future you’re throwing away right now, do you understand me? Forget about your lifelong mission to defy me at all costs; think about yourself. Think about NYU! How could you possibly be so stupid and irresponsible?” My mom’s dark blue eyes were sparkling with tears as she looked at me with so much regret and disappointment, I actually second-guessed my own happiness for a second. No. No, this is a good thing. This baby is a good thing. I’m not gonna let my mom take this away from me.

“We’ll make it work! Why can’t you just be happy for me, Mom?”

“Because you’re throwing away your life! Why couldn’t you just be normal and successful, like your siblings? Loni is at a great college and happily married at an appropriate age. Michael has a bright future at Wesleyan, which is one of the best liberal arts schools on the East Coast. And Kyle is testing out of his grade level, on track to early graduation! Why couldn’t you follow their example? Why did you have to go and get involved with a twenty-one year-old mechanic who never even went to college?”

“Well you don’t have to go and throw their success in my face! And don’t you dare suggest that Derek isn’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me, because he is! He’sgood enough for me, Mom - he’s too good for me!” I screamed, letting my emotions get the most of me as tears finally made their way down my ruddy cheeks. 

“Why can’t you see, I’m saying this because you deserve better! And I thought I raised you to know better than this,,” my mom exclaimed, throwing her arms down to her sides in defeat as she broke down, her porcelain forehead swallowed up by the wrinkles that sprung up as she covered her face with her hands, collapsing into her seat again. Her auburn hair fanned around her shaking shoulders, and a strangled cry of distress slid past my lips as I watched Michael wrap an arm around our mom and try to soothe her. 

                             “Way to go, Chris,” Loni spat, marching around the table and right up in my face. With my blood pumping too fast from the betrayal and agony of my mom’s rejection and disappointment in me, I let all of my old hatred for Loni jump to the surface. Her siding with the vampires who tried to hurt me, who pushed me to shoot myself to save Derek. Her marrying one of the damn bastards and then having the nerve to criticize me about my relationship with Derek. Her always showing me up, being one step ahead of me, one notch better than me.