Excuse Me, Miss Mills?

Twenty-One

The day of graduation dawned and I was practically over the moon about it. Emma was graduating that day and once she had done so I wouldn't have to worry so much about whether or not we'd get caught at the school. We hadn't fooled around there, but she had a habit of stopping by my office and talking for a long time whenever she had a free period. We always kept the door open so no one could accuse us of anything, but I would be happy to put the stress of it all behind us.

I had slipped into a nice dark red dress and some matching heels that morning and I noticed I was turning a few heads in the crowd at the ceremony. It was being held out on the football field and the stands were jam-packed with parents, siblings, relatives, friends—hell, basically the whole town was there. It was such a small, close-knit community.

I didn't mind that people were looking at me that day—my figure would be disrupted soon enough in the coming months and I wanted to look my best for as long as possible.

Being pregnant wasn't quite as bad as I'd thought it would be. I had a few queasy days and only two more mornings where I'd woken up to be sick, but I felt rather lucky on that front. I'd read most women started getting morning sickness around six weeks and some could be much sicker than I had been—of course had I started getting morning sickness symptoms earlier I might have known earlier, but I wasn't going to grudge my body for not making me vomit frequently.

I made my way to the faculty seating area and spotted Kathryn already relaxing in a chair. I went to her side right away and sat down next to her.

"Exciting day," she said with a smile. "Once these kids are off then it's just a few days to pack up our stuff and we're home free for the summer."

"I'll be happy to get some time off, that's for sure," I said.

"Yeah, you in particular have to relax and get yourself sorted," she said with a grin.

I'd told her that I was expecting and that I had not only begun dating the woman I'd slept with but that the woman was willing to stand by me while I had the twins. Though she still disapproved of how I'd started my new relationship, Kathryn was more than happy for me.

"How are my godchildren anyways?" she asked. "Keeping you up? Finally getting you sick?"

"They're very well behaved and not doing anything much," I replied. "I was a little queasy this morning but I've only been sick a handful of times since finding out."

"I know a lot of women who would be ready to strangle you if they heard that," Kathryn said. "Aurora in particular—she was practically bedridden when she had her son."

"I remember," I said. "But these babies haven't been upsetting my body too much. I almost wish they had. I wouldn't have been so surprised and upset if they had announced their presence a little sooner."

"Maybe you're right and they're just well behaved babies," she said. "They'll pop right out of you with impeccable manners."

"I can only hope," I said with a laugh.

"You're pregnant?"

I glanced up and saw Archie Hopper in the row of chairs in front of Kathryn and I.

"I am," I said. "I just found out last week."

His brow furrowed for a split second, so quickly I almost missed it, but his face broke into a smile.

"Congratulations, Regina," he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but—"

"You couldn't help it?" I interrupted.

"To be fair, we're not exactly being quiet and it is a public place," Kathryn said.

"I suppose," I said. I looked back at Archie. "It was a surprise."