{90}✔️

Dahlia's POV

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"Dad, somebody in this room is pregnant."

My eyes bulged out as I turned to look at Denver, my mouth falling open in shock. I don't know how I expected him to tell dad, but this was not it.

Dad looked around at the six of us, narrowed his eyes, and then shook his head. "Cora, How could you?"

"Me?!" She yelled. "Why would you think it was me?!"

"Dahlia is gay. Denver is gay. Two negatives equal a positive. Two positives equal a negative. They kinda cancel out...I really don't know where I was going with that, but it really seems like neither of them—"

"And you didn't think to pick Billie or Julia before assuming it was me?!" She asked.

"Well, they're not my kids, why would they be here to announce to me that they're pregnant?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Denver facepalmed. "Dad, Cora is eliminated. One of your kids is having a kid with somebody else's kid."

Dad looked between the two of us for a moment before sighing and coming over to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I know you two love each other, but you're too young to adopt." He mumbled as he looked back and forth between me and Billie, completely ignoring the whole 'pregnant' part of what Denver said.

"Mr. Doe, try again." Billie patted his back before going to sit on the couch. Cora and I followed closely behind, plopping down on either side of her and watching the scene in front of us closely.

Dad looked between Denver and Julia and didn't say anything for a while. They all just stared at each other, and Billie, Cora and I stared at them staring each other, and it was just a whole bunch of staring and not a whole lot of talking.

Billie had been over here for a few hours and we'd been working on our project when Denver called everyone downstairs. It didn't really occur to me that he was announcing to dad that Julia's pregnant, even when I got downstairs and saw her standing on the opposite side of the room, watching Denver closely.

I thought he might announce it over dinner or on a special day, like when they get an ultrasound picture or something. Apparently, he had other plans.

Today is just a regular ass Tuesday, and he really decided it'd be smart to come right out and say it. Rip the bandage off, I guess.

"Ugh...Um..." Those were the only two words dad said before it got silent again for a few more minutes.

I shifted uncomfortably as I watched the three of them staring at each other. Julia and Denver were on opposite sides of the room, my dad facing away from us and toward them. I couldn't really tell what he was thinking or feeling because I couldn't see his face. I could tell, at least a little bit, what Denny and Julia were feeling though.

Scared as hell.

Hell, it's not my baby and even I feel scared as hell.

Dad is a pretty cool dad. A really cool dad. He's good with us going out to parties and hanging out with our friends whenever we want. He fully trusts us to make the right decisions and I think for the most part we do a good job of doing that, cause if we weren't doing a good job he would've stopped trusting us long ago.

He's not very strict at all, and he doesn't get mad easily. He didn't get mad the time I broke his favorite lamp when I was ten. He didn't get mad the time Cora knocked down an expensive painting when she was thirteen. He didn't get mad when Denver and I were chasing each other around and accidentally knocked orange soda onto the carpet when we were younger. He didn't get mad when we spilled coffee all over his laptop either.

He didn't get mad when I came out to him. He didn't have a single problem with me being gay or with me bringing Billie home or going to the Sadie's dance with her. He didn't get mad when Denny came out during the cabin trip. He didn't get mad when Cora told him she was bi a few nights after Thanksgiving.

That stuff is a bit different though. None of us had ever told him we were having a baby before. I mean, a baby is a permanent thing. You can't really move past it. You have it and then it's there for a long, long time, hopefully.

"Um..."

More silence followed.

The air was thick and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I kept holding my breath because I thought that if I didn't I'd end up breathing too loudly and that might set him off.

How would I respond to this if I was a parent? If my son came home one day and randomly announced to me that he was about to be a father?

I'd like to think I'd take it well. Shit happens, teens become parents all the time, and it's just apart of life. Denny is pretty mature for his age, and in one more year he'll be twenty. That's not a bad age to have a kid. It's not the worst. I mean, my dad is turning 41 next month. He had Denny when he was 21. That's just two years older than Denver is now and that's not so bad.

I think I'd still freak out if my kid came home and announced he was having a baby though. Even if he was fifty years old. That's a big deal.

"Wow, I love being at your house," Billie whispered. I didn't let my eyes leave the scene in front of me, but I heard her trying to open a bag of what was probably takis as quietly as she could. Not very quiet. Seconds later, I heard her munching on them as quietly as she could. Still not very quiet. I don't even know where those came from. "Nothing like this ever happens at my house...Finneas and Claudia are getting pretty serious, though, so who knows."

"Can I have one of those?" Cora's attempt at whispering wasn't the best. She's naturally loud. She leaned over toward Billie and the couch squeaked. I heard the bag rattling as she reached over to grab a taki and Billie smacked her lips loudly, causing me to cringe.

"Bro, the fuck? Get your own, you little dweeb."

"Shut the fuck up!" I whisper yelled. "I think somethings about to happen."

"I can't believe my son—" Dad cut himself off. More silence followed.

Denny's eyes were still as wide as they were when this whole thing first started, probably fifteen minutes ago by now. Julia's face was blank, but I could tell she was scared.

"How long do you think it's gonna take for him to start yelling? I have to go meet up with Liza at 6:00." Cora tried to whisper again.

"Don't be so pessimistic, he's not gonna yell. Mr. Doe is totally cool. This will be fine." Billie mumbled.

"What if he gets mad and grounds us?" Cora questioned. I rolled my eyes up toward the ceiling before turning to glare at her, hoping to convey to her how annoyed I really was.

"Why the fuck would we get grounded for what Denny and his little Den did? We had nothing to do with that!"

"So, like, if he did ground y'all...Would I get grounded too? I mean, since I was in the house while Denny told him about this, do I get grounded as well? I'm not even his kid...Is that allowed?" Billie muttered.

I was about to reply, but I gasped and grabbed Billie's wrist as I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked back at them and saw that Julia had placed a protective hand over her barely showing belly. Dad had stepped just a little closer to her.

"I can't believe my son is having a baby," He whispered. "Seems like just yesterday you were running around in a diaper with your favorite binkie in your mouth, begging me to keep singing Elvis to you."

Denver had a huge obsession with Elvis when he was younger because dad always used to listen to him. It was annoying and cute at the same time, at least, that's how dad always described it.

"Dad," Denny took a deep breath as he stepped closer to dad. "We didn't mean for it to happen, but it did, and we have to deal with it. I'm gonna be working a lot more so that I can take care of my baby, and Julia's been reading books about childbirth and shit obsessively, and I'm trying to find a place so I can move out before it gets here and please don't hate me!" He rushed out.

"Son, you know I could never hate you!" Dad shook his head, chuckling. I let out a small breath. Good. This is great! No yelling. "I'm shocked as hell and this is a lot to process, but I don't hate either of you. This stuff happens sometimes, you know?" He sighed as he stared at both of them.

"Look, I've done my best to raise you to become a responsible young man. A good person. I've spent nineteen years with you up and under my ass, and now I guess my work is done. I mean, not done. A parent's job is never done. But you're a big boy now and what you do is your business. It's your life and I'm not mad at you for living it. All I ask is that you deal with your shit. You got her pregnant, so you be there for her, and for your baby. Make sure you do right by them, and as long as you always do that, I'm proud of you." He grinned, rubbing Denver's long hair. He turned to look at Julia and put his hands on her shoulder.

"You're apart of the family now, so you don't hesitate to call or come over any time you need anything. If he's not treating you right, you just let me know and I'll kick his ass." He chuckled. "And um...I kinda called you annoying at Thanksgiving. I mean, technically Dahlia said it and I just agreed with her? Anyway, I'm sorry about that and hopefully, I was wrong."

My cheeks reddened as he threw me under the bus. Julia laughed and hugged him, thankfully not seeming too bothered by that little confession.

"I'm gonna have a grandchild! I can't believe I'm gonna be thirty-nine years old with a grandchild!" He yelled after pulling away from her. I leaned forward, about to speak, but he cut me off without even turning to look at me. "Shut up, Dahlia."

I shut up.

We sat, watching for a few more minutes as they all celebrated together. I'm really glad that went well!