Page 20 of Not Because You Loved Me

I stepped out into the freezing air, leaving her coffee on the island, and pulled the front door shut behind me.

CHAPTER 12

Trent

I drove to my parents' house like a man possessed, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.

My mind was a chaotic storm, torn violently in two. Half of me was frantic with worry over my mother, and the other half was vibrating with anger that she had gone behind my back and blown up whatever tiny sliver of hope I had left with Kat.

I pulled into the familiar driveway of my childhood home, frozen gravel crunching under my tires. Gideon pulled in beside me, his truck door slamming a second after mine.

"Trent, hold up," Gideon called out, jogging to catch up as I marched up the front steps. "I don’t know what is going on, but you have a kind of this crazed look going on and we don't know why dad called or what's wrong.."

"She went to Kat's house, Gid," I snarled over my shoulder, yanked the front door open, and strode inside. "And then she almost passed out on her floor!"

The house was suffocatingly quiet. I pushed through the entryway into the living room.

My mom was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a plush blanket, a cold compress resting in her lap. Her eyes were red, puffy, and flooded with tears. My dad was sitting right beside her, holding her trembling hand in both of his, looking older and more worn-out than I’d ever seen him.

"Trent. Gideon," Dad said softly, his voice strained as he looked up.

"Mom, what the hell were you thinking?" I demanded, the words bursting out of me before I could stop them, which seemed to be a common theme for me these days. "Why would you go to Kat's house? Why would you put her through that?"

"Trent, sit down," Dad commanded, a stern edge sharpening his tone.

"No, I'm not sitting down!" I shot back, pacing the rug like a caged animal. "Kat is holding a relocation contract to Europe in her hands right now! She is packing her life up because she thinks my whole family is insane, and you…"

"Trent, quiet," Dad said, louder this time. He turned to my mother, his expression softening. "Cynthia... you need to tell them. Now."

Mom let out a ragged, sob-wracked breath, clutching Dad’s hand like a lifeline. "I'm so sorry," she wept, looking between Gideon and me. "I'm so, so sorry..."

"Mom, what is going on?" Gideon asked, stepping forward, his easygoing demeanour instantly vanishing into concern. "Are you sick?"

"No," Mom choked out, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm... I'm pregnant."

I stopped pacing. My brain completely stalled, refusing to process the words. "You're... what?"

"Pregnant," Dad repeated quietly.

Gideon blinked, his jaw dropping open. "Wait. Hold on. Dad... didn't you get the snip right after us? You guys had twin toddlers, you were twenty-two, broke, and struggling, you said you shut the factory down!"

"I did," Dad said, a tired, faint grin touching his lips. "Apparently, nature reversed it. It happens. Rarely, but it happens."

Despite the tension, Gideon let out a stunned laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Jesus, Dad. Fifty percent sperm count, twenty-three years later, and you still shoot sniper bullets. Respect."

"Gideon, not now," Dad warned, though there was zero heat in it.

"I don't understand," I said, my voice low as my mind raced, trying to put the pieces together. "Mom, you're forty-three. If you're pregnant... Why were you crying? Why did you pass out at Kat's?"

Dad’s grip on Mom’s hand tightened. "Because it's a high-risk pregnancy, Trent. Between her blood pressure dropping erratically, her age, and some initial bloodwork, the doctor wants her on strict bed rest starting immediately. We have a specialist appointment at the clinic tomorrow."

A lump settled in my stomach. I looked at my mother, seeing how small and exhausted she looked. I loved her fiercely. The thought of anything happening to her sent a spike of fear through me. But then... a clear memory pierced through the panic.

I remembered Mom coming over to Kat's place to drop off baked goods while Kat was at work. I remembered Mom complaining about feeling dizzy, making a joke about getting older.

Then it jumped to the trash can in Kat's bathroom, her guest bathroom…

The air left my lungs in one brutal exhale.