One Night...

Chapter 7

In the car on the way home from Dr. Brown's, Andrew cleared his throat a little. "How are you feeling?" he asked Scarlett earnestly, and she grinned. "I feel good," she said, clutching the ultrasound picture that the doctor had given her as they left. She took a picture of it with her phone, and Andrew studied her a bit. "What are you doing?" he asked her, and she smiled at him. "I'm taking a picture of the ultrasound so I can text it to my dad and stepmom," she said, as if it were obvious. "I'll text it to you too so you can send it to your parents," she said, and then she paused, feeling a little dumb. "Oh, I mean, if you... Sorry, you don't have to... That's your business when you want to talk to them, Andrew." She glanced his way and then looked down a little. He looked at her with wide eyes, and she shook her head a little, feeling awkward.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. You haven't said anything to them yet, huh?" she said, voice quiet. She didn't know why it bothered her that he hadn't. She could barely work up the nerve to tell her father, and it was basically out of necessity that she had, since it was impossible to hide a pregnancy when you were the one carrying the kid. Andrew cleared his throat, chewing on his lip.

"No, don't apologize. I do need to say something," he told her slowly. "I don't know what I was waiting for," he said. "I mean, you did it, and that was really brave." He looked at her and then quickly back at the road. She sighed a little. "Are you worried how they'll react?" Scarlett asked, searching his brown eyes to connect with hers. He shook his head a little. "No, I'm not that close to my dad, but he'll be fine with it. My mom will probably be thrilled once she gets over the initial shock. She's the sweetest lady in the world, and I'm obviously biased but..." his voice trailed off a little, and Scarlett squinted her eyes, trying to figure him out. "You think she'll be supportive?" she asked, and he nodded. "Oh, 100%, I think she will be," he answered, and she shrugged. "Then what?" she asked, not wanting to push but sensing there was something else bothering the red-head.

"Well, I... um, I hesitated because I wasn't sure what you'd say," Andrew said tentatively, looking at Scarlett with soft brown eyes as they were stopped at a red light. "What do you mean, Andrew? Of course, I'd say that you should tell your parents the truth," she said, not understanding what he was getting at. "Scar, I didn't know up until recently how I'd figure into all this. And now, I know you're OK with me being, like, the dad... but I don't know, I still think of you as being the boss." She laughed a little at the notion, but he continued. "My mom is going to want to, like, be involved... and she's a romantic at heart. She's going to want to, like, be your friend. I know her, she'll want to treat you like her daughter, and I thought that might make you uncomfortable. I don't know if you want any extra stress. Like, you already have to deal with me and us and... whatever this all is..." he paused, and she started to understand. "I didn't know if you'd want to deal with my mom too, wanting to be the grandma and buy you baby stuff and call you to check on you and..." Scarlett stopped him, putting her hand lightly on his forearm.

"Andrew, this is your baby. And I appreciate everything you're saying. You might be the most considerate person I've ever encountered. Like, if God has a sense of humor about all this, he was at least kind enough to give me you. But, I can't control the show. Your mom sounds sweet, and whatever she brings to our dysfunctional family, I'm ready for it." She smiled at him a little, and he shook his head. "You're the most amazing person," he told her sweetly, and her eyes went wide. "What?" she asked, genuinely shocked by his praise.

"You're amazing Scarlett Woods, like you really just blow me away every day," he said, his voice quiet, and she grinned slightly. "Well, thanks, Dad," she teased, but her heart was beating wildly out of her chest at how sweet and kind Andrew was. She didn't want to gush, so she decided to level with him about his mom.

"Honestly, Andrew... my mom isn't around. You know, I love my stepmom. She's great, but... we're not that close, and she's not my mom. Your mom is going to be our kid's only grandma. If she's as sweet and kind as you say, then I say bring it on, because our kid deserves one of those awesome grandmas who will spoil them rotten and give them candy for dinner and all that." She smiled wryly, thinking about her own mother, and Andrew tilted his head a little at her as he studied her carefully. "Do you think your mom would have been that grandma?" he asked her, and he was a little surprised. Scarlett didn't talk about her mom very often, and he didn't want to upset her or make her feel sad. "I don't know," she said, her voice suddenly very small. "I don't really remember much about her," she told him sadly. "I was only five when she died. I don't have that many memories of her. I didn't really, know her... you know?" Her eyes filled with tears, but she shook them off, determined to prolong the happy feelings from the appointment.