Chapter 21: Now What?

Chapter 21: Now What?

“I’m home!” Morgan yelled the next morning as she walked into the silent apartment with Hope quietly sucking a bottle of milk in her arms.

Faith rolled over in her bed and looked at the clock, 11:52 AM read the florescent green quartz numbers. Turning over again, she saw Darren was still asleep and decided to leave him alone. That night had taken a lot out of both of them, but she had almost completely recovered. She stood up, wrapping the spare blanket around her bare body, and walked into the kitchen where Morgan was setting down a bag of groceries.

“Oh! Shit! Faith! What happened to you?” Morgan asked as she turned around to see her disheveled friend standing at the door with a bright smile on her face.

“Darren,” Faith dreamily replied.

Morgan’s eyes widened as she looked down at her friend and saw the ring. “He did it? He did it! Oh, my God! He actually did it!” she screeched. She grabbed Faith’s hand and stared at the ring as her eyes widened even more.

“Okay,” Faith hesitated. “What’s up with you?”

With tears forming in her eyes, Morgan choked, “I’m just so happy for you, that’s all.”

“Then what the hell did you mean when you said, ‘He did it! He did it!’” Faith asked.

It was Morgan’s turn to hesitate. “Um… Nothing,” she answered.

Faith stared at her skeptically. “Don’t lie to me, Mor. I can tell you’re lying. I know you knew something about this.”

“Okay! Okay! He told me yesterday that he was proposing to you in the evening. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think he had the balls to do it.”

“He told you?”

“No, actually, I forced it out of him.”

“So you knew? And you didn’t tell me? Morgan!”

“Faith! He wanted this to be a surprise, and besides, we weren’t on all that good speaking terms yesterday. Why was that?” Morgan changed the subject.

“Well, I was pissed at you for making Darren tell me that he loved me,” Faith said.

“Why does that sound so stupid to me?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the truth.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll accept that, but I’m not about to ask what you mean. I just wanna enjoy the sweetness of the moment and admire that three karat diamond on your finger, you lucky girl, you!”

Faith stuck her hand out and let Morgan stare at the ring in envy. It felt good for once to be the center of attention. Faith was definitely at a high point in her life and thought nothing could bring her down up until Morgan opened her big mouth.

“So, when are you gonna tell your parents?” she asked, her gaze still on the diamond.

Faith’s eyes almost completely glazed over when she heard that question. She blankly stared at the floor, her face becoming expressionless as she tried to picture telling her parents what had happened.

“Faith?” Morgan asked when she didn’t hear a reply. “Faith!” She waved her hand in front of her friend’s face.

Faith looked up at her blankly. “My parents are going to disown me,” she merely whispered.

“Oh, honey! They can’t do that! You’re dying and they have a grandchild. How can they disown you?” Morgan tried to reason as she wrapped her arms around her.

“I don’t know, but they will!” Faith began to cry as tears streamed down her face.

“Just tell them the truth. It’s all you have to do, nothing else. Just let them hear you out.”

“But the second they find out I have a daughter out of wedlock, they’re gonna start ripping into me. They won’t even try to listen to me when I tell them that I’m dying.”

“Then tell them you’re dying first so at least they’ll be a little softer on you.”

“But if I tell them I’m dying, they’ll want me to drop everything and come home so they can take care of me, which is the last thing I want to do. I know they won’t let me say anything after that because they’ll be too busy planning out the rest of my life and making me take the kemo so I can live a little longer. Any way you look at it, they’ll only hear half of the whole story.”

“Then just put tape over their mouths. That’ll shut them up long enough to hear you out.”

“Maybe I should just bring Darren with me. At least that way once they start ripping into me, he can be there to defend me and protect me.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea either.”

“Then what, Morgan? What other bright ideas do you have? Give them to me right now if you have them because I sure as hell am out of my own.”

“Look, Faith. I don’t know what to tell you. I’ll just shut up now and let you handle this the way you think is right. I really don’t wanna fight with you right now.”

“Thank you,” Faith said as she stomped out of the kitchen and back into her bedroom where she climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep again. She could feel Darren squirm beside her and turn over so that his arm was wrapped around her.

“Morning, love,” he whispered into her ear as he awoke.

“Hi,” she retorted, still angry about her little confrontation with Morgan.

“What’s wrong?” Darren asked, hearing the hostility in her voice.

“Nothing,” Faith grunted, her back still turned towards him.

“You’re angry. What happened?”

“Morgan asked me when I was going to tell my parents about you, the baby, and the cancer, and we sorta got into a fight about it.”

“You haven’t told your parents anything?”

“Hell no, they’d disown me in a second once they found out.”

“So, are you even going to tell them?”

“Yeah, one of these days, but I don’t know when. They at least have to know that I’m dying. That’ll give them some time to prepare and come to terms with everything.”

Darren removed his arm from Faith’s waist and craned it towards the nightstand to pick up the cordless phone beside the bed. He handed it to her and said, “Here, give your parents a call and tell them that you want to have dinner with them some time this week so you can discuss something important with them. You don’t have to tell them what just yet, leave that for dinner.”

“No!” Faith protested as she pushed his hand away.

“Come on, I’ll do the same thing with my parents.”

“You haven’t told them either?”

“Not exactly. I told them that I’ve met the girl of my dreams, but that’s about it. I didn’t tell them I wanted to marry you.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll call my mom and arrange a dinner for this weekend. That’ll give me ample time to prepare,” Faith replied as she took the phone from Darren and dialed her home number. She waited impatiently for her mother to answer, and when it seemed as if no one was home, Faith started to press the end button. Darren grabbed her hand and kept the phone on her ear until someone finally picked up.

“Hello?” her mother answered softly.

“Mom? It’s me, Faith,” she replied.

“Faith! Why haven’t you called? You don’t have time to pick up the phone and call your dear mother anymore? What have I taught you? Nothing?” Mrs. Somers was already starting the fight.

“Mom, shut up and listen to me. I wanna come over for dinner one of these nights so we can all talk about something. Okay?” Faith interrupted. “Sunday at seven.”

“Fine, but you’d better not be late,” her mother sharply replied. “Goodbye.”

“Bye,” Faith quickly hung up and handed the phone to Darren. “Your turn.”

He grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his parents. “Hey, Mom! How are you?… That’s good. How’s everybody else?… Oh, really? Is she okay?… Oh, good… No, I’m just taking a break. I’ll be back on the road at the end of the year. And of course I’m coming home to visit. That reminds me, I want to come out there later on this month so you can meet someone… Yes, she’s my girlfriend… Faith… Yeah, I know. I’ll call you with the flight number and times when I get them… Okay… I’ll see you in a few weeks. Bye.” Darren put the phone back on the nightstand and turned to Faith.

“Why do I always get stuck with the crappy parents?” she asked. “You mom sounds like the coolest person in the world. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You’re gonna love her, and I know she’s gonna love you,” Darren replied.

“When are you making the reservations?”

“I’ll make them tomorrow. Today, I just wanna spend the day with you, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t.”

Darren leaned in and gave Faith a soft kiss on the lips. Neither of them knew what was going to happen that weekend, but Faith was already starting to worry.

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