Apologies

I walked to the living room to find Amy standing there looking as if she were ready to burst with excitement. On the sofa sat Rocky and Amir. In the recliner was an older woman I didn't know and standing next to Amy at the end of the couch was Darren. "What's the big surprise?" I asked.

The woman in the chair shot me a cold look that sent shivers up my spine. "Is this the woman you mentioned?" she directed towards Amy.

"Yes! This is Erin. And you already know everyone else. Amir and his brother Rocky. My brother, Darren." Her words sounded as awkward as I felt. "Erin, this is Mrs. Abigail Gershand. Angelica's grandmother."

Grandmother? This woman is the governor's mother?? "Hello," I managed through a dry throat. I could feel my cheeks flush under her gaze.

"Relax, girl. You're not in trouble here." The woman said flatly. She must've recognized the anxiety on my face. "If anything, I owe you both an apology for what I've allowed my son to do to you." Her eyes softened a bit as she looked between Darren and me. "And to you as well." She directed to Rocky and Amir. "I should have believed you."

"I don't underst..."

"I told her the story. All of it." Amy interjected. "Back when I found out it was true."

"Yes," she added. "And I didn't believe her. My granddaughter backed up the story and still, I believed my son's side of things. That is, until last night when I was faced with irrefutable proof."

"What happened last night? What proof?" I asked. I glanced at Amir who was beaming.

"She had our son last night." He said with an infectious smile. "He was early, but he's healthy. and beautiful."

"Yes," the woman added. "And the child looks just like his father. His real father." She stood up, straightening her suit. "I want to thank you for taking care of Angie, Darren. She says you have been nothing short of a perfect gentleman with her and this time I will choose to believer her. I promise I will talk with my son and get this situation corrected as soon as possible." She excused herself from the room. With her hand on the door handle, she turned back to us and said, "I suppose we should postpone the baby shower for a bit. At least until Angie is back from the hospital."

Baby shower? I almost forgot about that. Speaking of baby showers... I guess it's safe to tell Darren about our own bun in the oven. I looked up at him and saw the smile of relief on his face. His deep blue eyes were so full of love and joy. He reached over and softly tucked my hair behind my ear. God, I love him. "Speaking of babies," he grinned.

My eyes widened. I was about to open my mouth when a wave of nausea washed over me. I clamped my hand over my mouth and ran to the bathroom. I swear I heard giggles from the other room.

I heard the bathroom door open and the room was filled with Darren's scent. I was sitting on the floor waiting for the second wave to hit me. He knelt beside me, his soft eyes searching mine. I was embarrassed, but too nauseous to care. I was about to apologize when round two hit. He grabbed my hair to hold out of the way. "I hear this is the sucky part of pregnancy." He stated as a matter of fact. I could argue, but he was right. He handed me a cold washcloth when I was done and if he hadn't already proved to be all knowing, he handed me the ginger mints Mom had given me. "Don't worry, I didn't dig through your purse. Amy did."

"How did you know?" I asked once the nausea ebbed. "Who told you?"

"It's the real reason you came down, isn't it?"

"I actually wasn't going to, but Amy can be rather persuasive."

"But you were planning on telling me, right?"

"It seems I don't have to."

"So, you're not denying being pregnant?"

I shook my head. "I still wanna know who told you."

"No one told me."

"Then how did you know?"

"I was kind of expecting it." He smirked. "Pardon the pun." I rolled my eyes. "We weren't exactly being careful."

"True." I admitted.

"Then when Amy cornered me after you left, she asked if I wanted a son or a daughter. I've thought of little else since."

"Well?" I questioned. "What do you want?"

"You. I want you. Forever and always. Everything, every-one else would just be gravy. I would cherish every son or daughter we have." He smiled, then kissed the top of my head. "Marry me?"

"You're already married." I reminded him.

"For now."

"You think Grandma is going to get it annulled?" I asked sarcastically.

"I suppose it's possible, but even if she doesn't Angie and I have already decided that we would divorce after she turns eighteen. That way, her dad won't be able to do anything about it." I must've had a disbelieving look on my face because he decided to go into detail. "Look, First Amy confronted her dad about the 'rumors' that our marriage was being forced and then he found out about the weekend you and I had and he flipped his lid. He called one of his judge buddies over and had us married by dinner. We didn't have to say 'I do' or kiss, thankfully. He just made us sign the certificate and boom, we were lawfully married. He wanted me to move into the mansion saying he wanted to keep an eye on his daughter, but I refused. Said if I had to be married to her, I was going to take her to my house and live as I see fit. He tried to argue but I told him that now that she's my wife, he didn't have any more say in her life. His judge buddy agreed which pissed him off, but he let me take her out of his house. She wasn't allowed to take anything but what she was wearing that night. He's a real piece of work. Anyway, I brought her here and Amy brought over some of her old clothes for her. The first few days, she stayed in my room and I slept on the couch until Rocky moved out. Once he moved, she moved into his room and Amir started spending the weekends here with her. I admit it's a soap opera set up, but it is what it is for now. Angie knows about you and I and she's good with it. That's why she was happy to finally meet you. She's in love with Amir and is just biding her time with me until she's old enough to move on without her dad's interference and I'm good with that. If her grandmother manages to get us annulled before her next birthday, then all the better. That just means you and I can get married sooner."

"I still have to finish school."

"Hey, you okay in here?" Amy asked from the door. I nodded as round three sent me leaning over the toilet once again.

"She'll be fine," Darren said. "You wanna make her some ginger tea?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right back."

"I'm sorry," I croaked. "This is the first time I've been this sick. I think it might because I didn't eat dinner last night."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to sleep that much either. But it sure felt good to have you next to me." He smiled, eliciting one in return. It did feel good to be in his arms and I never wanted to leave them again. "I'll go make some toast to go with your tea."

"Thanks." I wandered to the kitchen where brother and sister were working to get me fed and chatting haphazardly about this morning's news. Rocky and Amir had left to go visit Angie in the hospital. "So, Amy?" I queried. "You said my coming down here would be worth it. What did you mean by that?"

"It hasn't been," she asked innocently.

I looked over at Darren who looked almost hurt. "Of course, it has been. But I don't think you meant..."

"Meant what, Erin? That you'd end up having great sex with my brother? Because clearly that happened." She grimaced "Or that I knew Grandma would come around to the truth?"

"Well, you really couldn't know either of those things would happen."

"True. In all fairness, I didn't know what would happen if you came down, I just knew it'd be worth it. And it has been, has it not? Of course, it has been. And on that note, I have something for you Darren, before I forget." She dug through her purse and pulled out a small gift and set it on the counter in front of him.

"What's this?"

"A present."

"Obviously. It's not my birthday."

"It's a 'just because' thing." He started to unwrap it. "No. Not yet. Wait until I leave." She looked at her watch, "Which is now actually. Time for the babysitter to go to her real job. I love you both." She gave us each a hug and left.

I nibbled on my toast and he worked through the wrapping paper. For such a small box, his sister made sure he'd have to work to get to the actual gift. "I need to head out too," I said distracting him. "I was supposed to meet my parents for lunch. You wanna come by the hotel later?"

He put the box aside and hugged me. "Yes. I would love to. Just text me, okay?" He leaned to kiss me, but I put fingers to his mouth.

"Barf breath," I whispered shamefully. "Later?"

He agreed and kissed my forehead instead. "I love you, Kid."

"And I love you Old Man."