Now she did.
What result was she hoping to see?
The obvious answer was negative. After all, her circumstances were hardly ideal. She had no job, no source of income. She didn’t have a home of her own. Her future had never been more uncertain.
And she was alone. Elise had always dreamed of having a child, of starting a family. She had always wanted to become a mother. But in her fantasies, she had always embarked on that journey with a partner by her side.
Having a child alone…it wasn’t something she had ever thought about. It would be difficult, and Elise thought it was likely to be lonely at times too.
But when she thought of stepping forward and seeing a negative test result, she was surprised to find that her heart sank a bit.
Having a child would be the first unequivocally good thing that’s happened to me in a while, she realized.
Yes, it would be challenging. It would likely be the most difficult thing she’d ever do in her life. But it would probably also be the most rewarding.
She braced herself, stepped forward, and looked at the test.
Positive.
Chapter 7
Elise
“I don’t understand,” Marilyn said. “You never told us you’d met a man in Rome.”
“Well, we didn’t plan to see each other again,” Elise said. “It didn’t seem like an important thing to tell.”
“But who is this man?” her father asked. He sounded distraught.
Elise couldn’t blame him. It must have been overwhelming for her parents to hear that their only daughter was pregnant and that the father was a man they would never know. They had done a good job of hearing her out, and Elise knew she had their support. But they also had questions.
Lots, and lots of questions.
“He’s an American,” Elise said. “He lives in Boston. He works for some pharmaceutical company.”
“Are you going to let him know about this?” her mother asked.
“She doesn’t have to tell him anything,” her father said. “It’s her business.”
Elise felt a wave of gratitude. Her father could be gruff sometimes, but he was a good person to have in her corner.
“I couldn’t tell him if I wanted to,” she said. “Something’s wrong with the phone number he gave me. I tried to call him once, but the call didn’t go through.”
Her mother nodded. “I suppose that’s that, then.” She sat down beside Elise and put a hand on her arm. “Do you know what you want to do?”
“It seems like it should be a harder choice than it is,” Elise said. “It seems like something I should be wrestling with. It kind of scares me that I’m not. But I want to keep it.”
Her mother nodded. “You don’t need to be scared,” she said. “Sometimes you just know.”
“Do you think so?” Elise asked.
“I knew I was ready to be a mother when I became pregnant with you,” her mother said.
Elise couldn’t help smiling. “That’s different,” she said. “You were married, and you had a place to live, and you and Dad were trying to have a kid.”
“The details are different,” her mother agreed. “But at its essence, it’s the same thing. Your circumstances may be complicated, Elise, but if life has taught me anything, it’s that you can never predict what’s going to happen. If you want to make God laugh, make a plan.”
“Your mother’s right,” her father chimed in. “If you wait until everything is perfect to have a child, you’ll probably never do it. When you came along, we’d just bought our first house. We had a mountain of debt to contend with. And your grandmother, your mother’s mother, had just died earlier that year. Things weren’t perfect for us either.”
Elise found her parents’ words reassuring. “You don’t think I’m being horribly irresponsible by going through with this now?” she asked.
“Look at it this way,” her mother said. “If you have a child, you’re going to have that child for the rest of your life. There are going to be ups and downs. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s something you can only do when you’re not struggling, because even if everything was going well for you right now, there would be struggles in your future. You have to be able to parent while you’re struggling if you’re going to do it at all.”
Elise nodded. “That’s a good point.”
“And we’ll help you,” her father said. “You may not have a partner, but you’re not going to be alone. We want to be involved in our grandchild’s life.”
It was the first time anyone had said the word “grandchild,” and it warmed Elise’s heart. Maybe her child wouldn’t have a father, but her child would have the two best grandparents anyone could ask for.
And we’ll be a family, she thought. A family didn’t have to be a mother and a father and their children. A family could be any group of people who loved each other.
Her father was right. She wouldn’t be alone.
Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You’ll stay here with us until the baby comes,” she said. “I insist. I should have the chance to look after the two of you.”
“Mom, no,” Elise protested. “It’s bad enough that I’m in your space. A newborn would be much more disruptive. And that would mean almost another year of me imposing on you and Dad.”
“What do we keep telling you?” her mother asked. “You’re not imposing. Howard, tell her she’s not imposing.”
“Of course you’re not,” her father agreed. “We like having you here, Elise. I know you’re going through some hard times, and I wish that wasn’t happening, but I can’t pretend I’m not thrilled to have my only daughter back home.”
Tears welled up in Elise’s eyes. “You guys are the best,” she said. “Thanks for supporting me.”
“Of course we’ll support you,” her mother said. “We’re your parents.”
Elise leaned over and hugged her mother tightly. “If I’m able to be a good mother, it’ll be because I had the best possible example,” she said.
Her father rested a hand on her shoulder. “Come with me,” he said. “Let’s go see how much of your old baby stuff is still in the storage space. We’d better get started converting that bedroom of yours into a nursery.”
Chapter 8
Lucas
I should have told her the truth about who I am.
For weeks, Lucas hadn’t been able to stop that thought from popping up in his mind. It was like a weed, emerging over and over, thriving when he thought he’d finally beaten it.
I should have told Elise who I am.
Maybe then she would have called.
The fact that he even wanted her to call was surprising. He’d been baffled by his own actions even as he had written down his phone number. How long had it been since he’d left his phone number for a woman after a night like that?
Years, probably.