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And he can’t keep a secret for shit.
“The baby?” my mom says at the same time my dad says, “What baby?”
I look wildly over at Lincoln.
We’ve literally been sitting here for less than a full minute. Plates aren’t full yet. Forks aren’t scraping against plates.
He clears his throat, and he glances at me, sees my wild gaze, and takes control of the situation. “Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, your daughter and I have some exciting news to share.”
“Let me guess, you’re having a baby?” my dad says gruffly.
“Well, we’re also getting married,” Lincoln says offhand, as if it’s not quite so important as the other news even though they’re both incredibly happy bits of information.
Now if my parents can just see it that way, we’ll be all set.
My mom gasps. The vein in my dad’s forehead throbs.
The room is silent for a few interminable beats, and then my mom stands. She rushes over to me and pulls me into a hug. “Congratulations, my darling girl. I’m so happy for you.” She kisses my cheek, and I can tell she’s mouthing something to my father over my shoulder.
“Thanks, Mom. I’m so happy, and if you and Dad could just get on board with this, then that’ll really be everything I ever dreamed of.” Tears start to spill down my cheeks.
“Of course, Jolene. Of course we will support whatever makes you happy.” She pulls out of the hug, and we both glance over at my father.
He finally sighs, relenting, and he stands. “I told him if you were happy, I wouldn’t put a stop to it,” he says, jerking a thumb toward him. “And you do truly look happy, JoJo.” He walks over and gives me a hug.
“I am, Daddy. So happy.”
We all sit back down, and the dishing of the food resumes. They ask every last detail about the baby, of which there are few I can confirm so far, and Jonah talks about his bond with Lincoln so far. Lincoln shares a little about the defensive strategies my father might like to hear about, and the Nash family really never comes up.
My dad isn’t exactly warm, but he’s here, and that’s a start that’s good enough for now.
My parents sit with Jonah in the family room while we clean up, and Lincoln leans in close to me as I hand him a dish to dry. “What was all that Daddy business before?”
I laugh. “Sorry, Daddy. You want me to call you that?”
“I mean…I will be a daddy soon, but in the other context, fuck yeah you should call me that.”
I giggle, and when we finish up the dishes, we head toward the family room.
“How’s your mom doing, Lincoln?” my mom asks him softly.
He clears his throat. “She left my father. She’s back in New York with her goats.”
“Her goats?” my mom repeats. “She finally got her goat farm?”
Lincoln chuckles. “Yeah. Grayson and I bought it for her a few years ago. My dad tried to sell it, and I think that was sort of her final straw with him.”
“I’m so sorry,” she murmurs.
“Don’t be,” he says, leaning in toward her so Jonah doesn’t hear this part of the conversation. “She’s better off without him. And frankly, so am I.”
She reaches over and squeezes his arm, and I see a little bit of a bond building between the two of them already. And with time, I’m confident my mom can get my dad on board, too.
“Have you told her the news yet?” she asks.
He shakes his head. “I should probably do that tonight, though, given that the podcast goes live tomorrow and we’re going to announce our engagement.”
“Let’s call her now,” I suggest. I have the feeling my mom is asking about her because she wants to talk to her, too, and so maybe it’s up to us to play friendship matchmaker—or friendship healer, anyway.
