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“With all due respect, sir,” Gabriel now cuts in, “it can be. It is and it’s happening.”
“Oh my God,” my mother whispers.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not.” My father slaps the table with his fist. “You don’t even know each other.”
“We got to know each other when I was there.” I blink away the tears. I knew they would be surprised, but I thought I would have to talk my mother off the ledge and not my father.
“Oh, you got to know each other when you were there?” my father mocks me.
“Viktor,” my mother hisses, and he whips his head toward her.
“She’s known him what, ten minutes, and she’s pregnant.” My father shakes his head as I look down and wipe the tears away. I feel Gabriel move from beside me when he pushes away from the table.
“Okay, so this isn’t happening.” He grabs his jacket. “I’m not going to let her sit here and go through this.” I look up at him. “It’s not happening, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”
“Is that so?” My father gets up from his chair. “How could you be so careless as not to protect her?”
“Viktor.” My mother pushes away from the table and puts a hand on his arm. “They are two consulting adults.”
“She was just engaged,” my father tells Gabriel.
“I’m aware of that, sir,” Gabriel says calmly. “That was then, this is now.”
“This is preposterous,” my father snaps. “You’ve been home six weeks, and in all that time, you haven’t mentioned him once. He’s never come up in conversation. We’ve never even heard of him.”
“Can we all sit down and discuss this like adults?” My mother sits back down, pulling my father’s arm until he’s sitting down. I reach up and put my hand in Gabriel’s, who sits back down.
“As long as we can do it respectfully,” Gabriel states, “then I have no problem with that. But if I feel that Zara isn’t being respected, I have no problem taking her out of here. Even if it’s from her parents.” He picks my hand up and kisses it. “I know this comes as a shock to you since you don’t know anything about me.” He looks at my parents, and my father is about to say something, but Gabriel raises his hand to stop him. “What you need to know is that I’m going to be there every step of the way.”
“You say that now,” my father retorts, “and then what?”
“Well, we haven’t really figured it out.” I come to Gabriel’s defense. “We found out yesterday. We are here telling you two, and then I’m going back with him so he can tell his son and then his parents.”
“You already have a child?” my father says, shaking his head. “Great, just racking them up.”
It’s then I snap and slap the table with my hand. “That’s enough.” I raise my voice. “I expected this from Mom”—I point at my mother—“but not from you. I am not going to sit here and be scolded by my father for this?—”
“Mistake,” my father spits out quickly.
“Viktor Petrov,” my mother hisses out, “are you not hearing what your daughter is saying?”
“You’re wrong, Dad, it’s not a mistake.” I put my hand on my stomach. “It’s a surprise. It’s not something that either of us was thinking would happen. But it’s happening, and I’m not going to stand here and let you ruin this moment for us. I’m not going to stand here while you say things that you will regret later.” I grab my jacket. “I am having a baby, and I am doing it with one of the best men I’ve ever met. A man who treats me like a princess. A man who has patience and is kind, and who is a great dad.” I swallow down the lump in my throat. “If you can’t be there to support us, then so be it.” I look at my mother. “I won’t force either of you onto our child.”
“Zara,” my mother says, getting up from her chair, “of course we are going to support you and be there for you.” She comes over to my side as Gabriel holds my hand, his thumb rubbing my hand. “It’s just a little bit of a shock for us is all. We didn’t even know about him.”
“You haven’t mentioned him once,” my father points out, “not once since you’ve been back.”
“That’s because I was trying to figure it out,” I tell him and look at Gabriel. “And we still haven’t figured anything out, but we will.”
“You bet we will, Sweetheart,” Gabriel assures me, and I lean down, putting my hand on his face.
“You bet we will, Cowboy.” I smile at him through the tears, my thumb rubbing his cheek. “I’m sorry my father was mean to you.”
“When you have a daughter, you’ll know where I’m coming from.” My father leans back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. Gabriel nods at him. “I’m sorry for what I said. It was uncalled for, and I know better.”
“That’s the man I married.” My mother goes back to sit by his side. “Now, maybe we could start over?”
“I would like that very much, ma’am,” Gabriel says to her, and I sit down. “I would like you both to get to know me.” He puts his arm around my chair but pulls it even closer to him. “We can get to know each other”—he looks at my father—“so you will see for yourself the kind of man I am, the kind of man my parents raised.” He leans and kisses me. “The kind of man who will do anything to ensure your daughter and my children are cared for.” He is talking to them but looking into my eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispers, and I know that no matter what happens, if he’s by my side, it’ll be okay.
