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sit down.”
    “Oh,
this is really not good. You want me to drink and sit.”
    Melanie
tried not to laugh. Michelle smacked her girlfriend lightly.
    “Shell?”
Jameson urged.
    “Aw,
shit,” Michelle threw up her hands. “Jonah’s girlfriend is pregnant,” she said
in one full breath.
    “Jonah
has a girlfriend?” Jameson asked.
    “Are
you sure you two aren’t related?” Melanie chimed with a chuckle. Jameson and
Michelle both shot the architect a glare. “What?” Melanie asked. “The first
thing you both ask is if Jonah has a girlfriend? Not really the hot issue
here,” she reminded them.
    Jameson
shook her head and turned back to Michelle. “Shell…When?”
    “When
did he get a girlfriend or when did he get her pregnant?” Michelle joked.
    “Cute,”
Jameson responded. “You know what I mean.”
    “I
don’t know all the details. He was so tired when he got here that he passed out
after telling us the basics,” she explained. “Do you think Mom is going to
freak?”
    Jameson
glanced down the hallway again. She had no idea what she had expected Jonah’s
news to be. This was definitely nowhere in her imagination. She doubted it had
entered Candace’s mind either. Jonah had never mentioned dating anyone. She sighed and rubbed her brow
in thought. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Your mom doesn’t freak out easily,”
she reminded Michelle.
    “Yeah.
I know. I can’t believe she’ll see this one coming,” Michelle offered.
    Jameson
sighed heavily. “No, I don’t think so,” she admitted.
    ***
    Candace
watched her son wiggle in his chair. It took her back to a time when Jonah was
much younger and she had caught him with matches and firecrackers in the
backyard. She smiled at the man before her and placed her hand on his knee to
still his movements. “Jonah,” she said.
    Jonah
shifted his gaze nervously to meet his mother .
His eyes began to fill with tears and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
    Candace’s
gaze narrowed in concern. “What are you sorry for?”
    “I
screwed up,” he choked slightly.
    “Jonah,
it can’t be that bad. What are you so afraid to tell me?” Candace asked gently.
    Jonah
took a deep breath. “I’ve been seeing someone for a while,” he began. Candace
smiled. “I didn’t want to say anything yet. I mean, it’s not like we were
getting married or something,” he continued. Candace waited. Jonah sighed
again. “I didn’t plan on it, Mom.”
    Candace
closed her eyes for a moment and then looked directly at her son. “Jonah?”
    “She’s
pregnant, Mom.” Candace took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m sorry. I know you
are disappointed in me.”
    Candace
nodded and then smiled. “Does she have a name?”
    “What?”
Jonah asked.
    “This
person you have been seeing. I assume she has a name.”
    “Oh…Laura,”
Jonah answered with a small grin.
    Candace
noted the expression on her son’s face. To her knowledge, he had never dated
anyone seriously. She could see a sparkle in his eye at the mention of his
girlfriend’s name. “And, how does Laura feel about this?” she asked him.
    Jonah
shifted again. “Scared. She wants to have it,” he said.
    Candace
nodded. “And you? How do you feel about that?”
    “I
don’t know,” he confessed. “I barely know how to be a boyfriend. How am I going
to be someone’s dad?” he asked his mother tearfully.
    “I
suppose the same way we all do everything—on the job training,” she chuckled.
    “You
don’t seem mad,” he said in disbelief.
    “Mad?
Jonah, you are a twenty-four-year-old man, not a sixteen-year-old boy,” she
pointed out. “I’m concerned. There’s a lot to consider,” she told him.
    “Your
campaign,” he said quietly. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
      “My campaign?” Candace laughed. “I’m not
worried about that in the least,” she assured him. “Being a parent, Jonah…That
is a lifetime commitment. It changes everything. Believe me.”
    “I
know,” he