"I missed you," I said softly, as I ran a hand down the side of her head that could still grow hair. That hair matched my color too. I couldn't help but think that we'd be near twins if her scars were gone.
She snuggled into my side. "I missed you too."
A plump, happy looking woman took the seat opposite us and beamed at her daughters. I beamed right back at her, missing her just as much as I'd missed my sister. Phone calls were great and all, but it wasn't the same as being in the same room with someone, and I was used to seeing these two at least weekly, if not more. I reached out and grabbed her hand, thinking that her graying hair had gone a little grayer in my absence.
"We missed you, honey. How was the ranch?" Her eyes lit up at the romantic notion she probably had of life on a working ranch. I thought about the time I'd scraped off dead skin from between a cow's toes, but decided to not burst her idyllic picture.
"It was great Mom, and Teren's dad is doing so much better."
She leaned back and grinned at me, pride clear on her face as she thought about her daughter stoically helping out an ill man and his young wife. I felt a little guilty that my mom had to be told the cover story, but she didn't know the truth and couldn't know it. Unlike my sister, she wouldn't handle the fact of me with a vampire very well. She was a mom, and she'd always be a mom, and I didn't want her hair going even grayer over constantly worrying over my safety. And even though, I could now agree that her fears were justified ones, letting her in on the secret would only hurt her. In this case, the lie was better, so I slapped a grin on my face and committed myself to telling it.
We talked about the aspects I could talk about, while our usual waitress, Debby, came up and joined our conversation. Everyone laughed and enjoyed my stories. A general "aah" went over the crowd as I reminisced about Teren helping a cow deliver her calf. Tears may have sprung up as I thought back to that night a couple weeks ago. Not over him birthing cattle, although that had been awfully sweet...gross, but sweet. No, my tears were over the tiny growing babies in my belly, and the thought of Teren helping to birth them. At least he'd have experience.
As Debby left with our food orders - and I'd shockingly ordered something other than my standard Panini, which had caused a moment of stunned silence to go around our group, the conversation drifted back to Teren. As my mom asked what had held him up at work, I gave her a vague response of "a deadline". Since he worked for a magazine, that excuse came in awful handy, even though I don't think Teren had ever been under the gun for a deadline in his life. He was...fast.
We all dug into our food when it arrived moments later. My stomach rumbled at the heaping plate of pasta before me and then it churned for just a second. I inhaled slowly through my nose, staring at a circular stain in the table to distract myself. I could not throw up here; that would certainly raise some questions. And as Ashley was seated on the edge of the bench and her scarred body wouldn't be able to scoot out of the way quick enough, if I was going to vomit, I was going to do it right here at the table. I closed my eyes at that thought and begged my body to return to normal.
"Are you alright, Emma?" My mother asked from across the table.
I made myself open my eyes and look at her confidently. I was sure I was paler, but I hoped my smile was distracting enough that she wouldn't notice. "Of course, Mom." I also made myself pick up my fork and dig into the food, even though my stomach was warning me not to. Praying I wasn't making a tactical error, I swallowed a huge mouthful.
Mom nodded and went back to her omelet, continuing on with a story about her friend's daughter running off with a married man. I listened to her story, concentrating on the sounds of the words, and eventually my stomach stopped protesting. Then, as if something had switched inside me, my stomach became ravenous and I inhaled my food noisily. Mom and Ash both cocked an eyebrow at me and blushing slightly, I murmured, "I missed lunch."
Moments later our plates were taken away and we relaxed with cups of coffee. Well, two cups of coffee. Having given up coffee treats when I'd been trying to get pregnant, I was now more partial to hot chocolate. Sipping our beverages and chatting about Ashley's school load, we were distracted by a squeal down the aisle. We all turned to look and my mouth fell open as my heart shifted into overdrive.
Teren had just shown up and Debby was thrilled to see him. Personally, I think she was always a little too thrilled to see him, especially considering that she was married, but what had me full on alarmed was the fact that she had thrown her arms around him like she hadn't seen him in ten years. All I could think was - 'she's touching him...she'll know.'
Feeling panicked and on edge, I started to stand at the table. My stomach rose right into my throat when after squealing how great it was to see him, she proclaimed, "Boy, but you're cold."
I unconsciously tried to squeak past my sister in an attempt to free him from Debby's grasp. In my nerve-heightened state, I didn't even realize I was squishing her, I was only aware of something getting in-between him and me.
"Emma, ow." I heard Ashley's voice say that, but my gaze was locked on Teren.
My mother's firm voice broke through my panic. "Oh, Emma, sit down. You know Debby's a flirt, but Teren wouldn't do anything with her...see."
I glanced down at Mom staring over her shoulder at Teren and Debby. My gaze drifted back up to Teren and our overeager waitress, and I could see what Mom meant. Teren had successfully separated himself from her and was laughing slightly as he gave her a playful warning gesture with his finger. Feeling a little stupid at my overreaction, I slowly sat back down into my seat as he slipped around the boisterous woman.
Mom and Ashley stood to greet him and I tensed again; more people were about to touch him. With a dazzling smile and apologies for being late, he gave my mom an oh-so-brief hug before engulfing Ashley in a long bear hug. Mom accepted her brief hug and smiled widely at his show of affection for Ashley. Teren had a natural kinship with the disfigured woman and their connection was a deep one. Ash also knew that he had died, so he could touch her for as long as he wanted...within reason, of course.
I relaxed as everybody broke apart and started to sit back down. So much for my silent promise to not worry so much about him. Oh well, tomorrow is always another shot. Ash shifted to sit with Mom and Teren sat by my side, leaning close to kiss my cheek and whisper his agreement to my silent goal. "Stop stressing...it's not good for the babies."
I bit my lip and giggled, reflexively putting a hand on my stomach. He laughed with me and grabbed my free hand, interlacing our fingers. I heard Mom sigh and I looked across the table at her. "You two are so..." she sighed again and lightly shook her head. "True love....it's so nice to see. It reminds me of my own."
I swallowed after she said that and looked down. She meant her and my dad. Even though he had been gone for years, over ten of them, she still considered herself married to him. She even still wore the wedding ring. I'd already given up on trying to convince her that Dad would be fine if she moved on. She just wasn't interested.
Teren squeezed my hand while Mom asked him if he was hungry. I looked up at him as he shook his head and met eyes with my mom. "No, thank you. I slurped down a quick meal earlier." He grinned crookedly after he said that and flashed a quick glance at Ashley. She giggled a little into her hand. Mom shrugged and let it go, not understanding what he really meant by that.
I shook my head and discreetly rolled my eyes. We settled into small talk, with Mom asking him even more questions about the ranch, and I started to get a little antsy. I didn't want to make small talk about ranch life, now that he was here. I wanted to tell them. I wanted to finally let everyone know we were engaged and getting married within a month.
Teren, maybe super sensing my growing irritability, shifted the conversation for me. Placing our laced hands on the table and looking at me adoringly, he calmly said, "Since we're all together again, Emma and I have some news."
I glanced at my mom and sister, who both looked equally confused and intrigued, and cleared my throat. Teren didn't expand on his sentence, only tenderly stroked the back of my hand with his thumb and continued to gaze at me lovingly, letting me break the news to my family. Mom and Ash shifted their gazes to me accordingly. "Well," I looked at each one, savoring the moment and feeling tears well up as I did. "Teren and I are getting married," I whispered.
My mom practically erupted in her joy. Her hands reached out for me and she engulfed me in as much of a hug as she could across the table. My sister clenched Teren's arm and told us both congratulations. My mother's theatrics got the attention of Debby and she sauntered back to see what the fuss was about. With tears dripping down her cheeks, Mom told her that I was getting married. The way she put it, Teren was almost inconsequential - it was her daughter's wedding - and I couldn't help but grin at Mom's happiness.
Debby smiled, a little halfheartedly if you asked me, and congratulated us. Offering a round of wine on the house, I politely, but firmly told her no. Joking around, she muttered, "What? You pregnant, honey."
I bit my lip and felt my cheeks go bright red. I started shaking my head no, trying to laugh off the question, but I hadn't been expecting someone to ask that just now and I was a little thrown. Teren squeezed my hand and looked at me curiously, maybe wondering if I wanted this bit shared or not. I looked back at him, not sure what I wanted either.
Finally, Mom broke the building tension. "Oh my god, you are!" I looked back at her, denial ready on my lips, but tears had started streaming down my cheeks and a huge smile had broken out on my face. I heard Ashley gasp beside her and Teren started to lightly chuckle. I hadn't even really had a chance to refute the accusation yet.
Sputtering on any sort of coherent refusal, I ended up sighing and saying, "That's not why we're getting married." My mom brought her hands to her face and Ashley's mouth dropped wide open. Both of their eyes dropped to where my stomach was hidden under the table and I started chuckling. Debby congratulated us again and went off in search of some sparkling cider to celebrate.
Mom and Ash were still dazed when she left. I cocked an eyebrow at their odd, silent reactions. "Mom? You...okay?" I asked slowly. I always thought Mom would be a little shocked, but okay with it. Her silence was starting to unnerve me.
Finally she dropped her hands and stood up. "Get over here, I need to hug you."
Ashley came out of her startlement and stood up, crying now as well. Teren got out of the women's way, a small smile on his face as he stepped back from the table, and my sister attacked me when I stood up. "I can't believe you made it in time," she whispered in my ear. I nodded into her shoulder, disbelieving it as well. A sob escaped me when she rubbed my back and said, "I'm so happy for you, Emma."
I could only tearfully nod again as she pulled away, and then Mom was engulfing me. I had to take a step back at the ferociousness of it. She started sobbing lightly and I laughed as I held her. "Mom, really, it's okay."
She pulled back and cupped my cheeks. "I know, dear. I'm just so happy for you, the both of you." Her eyes flicked over to Teren and then back to mine. A huge grin broke across her face. "I can't believe I'm going to be a grandma!"