Read Baby & Bump (The This & That Series) for Free Online

Alone?”
                  Darren looked up from his phone. “That means the same thing, Ma.”
                  “Hush.” She scolded him. “Now, Lexie, you’re not seriously considering this, are you?”
                  I gaped at her. “I just found out about it. I’m not seriously considering anything right now. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?” An image of the little flashing heart I’d seen on my ultrasound earlier, and my chest expanded. “I’m thirty. It’s probably time I put down some roots somewhere.”
                  My mother waved my words away like a fly. “Oh, shush. You’re not even married.”
                  My cheeks heated. “Last time I checked, they give home loans to single women, too.”
                  “I know, but you wouldn’t want to be a homeowner without a man around.” She gestured all around her. “It’s a horrible headache to have something need repair with no husband around to fix it.”
                  “Oh, come on. You just call Pastor Irm to fix it,” Darren said, not bothering to look up.
                  “I do not.” Embarrassment pinked my mother’s round cheeks.
    My mother tried very unsuccessfully to hide that she was in love with the pastor, and had been for a long time. Yet she was on every committee the church offered that required her to work directly with the pastor, and ate dinner with him at least twice a week.
    My brothers and I referred to it as evidence. She referred to it as stewardship. We all silently agreed not to discuss it.
                  “Well, we could help Lexie if something went wrong,” Corbin said.
                  “That’s right.” Andrea smiled at me across the table. “What’s the point in having two carpenters in the family if you don’t use them?”
                  “But you didn’t get your first house until you’d married my Corbin.” My mother blinked a few times. “Would you really have wanted to do it alone?”
                  Andrea shrugged. “If that’s the way my life had turned out, then yes.”
                  My mom snorted. “It’s ludicrous. Come on, Lexie. Find yourself a good man. Someone much more mature than that Nate , and settle down. You’ll get a house and a gaggle of kids to care for.”
                  I ignored the way she’d said my ex husband’s name like it was dripping in acid and burning her tongue, and smiled patiently at her. “Did you just use the term ‘gaggle’?”
                  “Yes, I did.” She took another bite. “Now, let’s talk about you. What have you been up to lately, dear?”
                  All eyes rolled over to me, and I felt the sonogram pictures in my jeans pocket start to burn a hole. I was on the verge of dropping a double whammy on my family, and it was contributing to my nausea. My mother’s reaction, which I was predicting would be exceptionally theatrical, would be nothing compared to the disappointment on Corbin’s and Andrea’s faces.
                  “Well, like I said when I got here.” I swallowed, and avoided my mother’s probing eyes. “I went to the doctor today.”
                  “What for?” my mother demanded.
                  “That’s all you have to tell us?” Darren rolled his eyes. “Seriously. Get out more.”
                  “Can it,” I hissed. “So anyway, there’s something I need to tell you all.”
                  Corbin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the tabletop. “Are you okay?”
                  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Jerusalem, she’s got cancer!” My mother pressed a hand to her ample bosom and choked on immediate tears. “I knew it. I knew it . When your dad had the aneurysm, I knew that it would strike one of you