Free Backstage Pass: Behind the Music by Elizabeth Nelson

course.”
    Sasha’s eyes were soft and I couldn’t find a single trace of anger or disappointment or any of the things that should probably be there since I was abandoning her to go do music stuff. She smiled sweetly. “Will I see you tonight?”
    I let go of Miranda and strode quickly around to Sasha’s side of the breakfast bar. One hand slid so perfectly behind the nape of her neck, and the other found its hold at her waist as I leaned her back. “Tonight.” I kissed her. “And every other.”
    As I leaned in for another smacker of a kiss, Miranda and Kerri made a ridiculous number of oohs and aahs but they faded to nothing as my lips met Sasha’s .

CHAPTER 10
     
    What a whirlwind morning. After the girls helped me clean up—and they’d gotten the requisite amount of dirt out of me—I sat alone on the couch and thought about the crazy of the last twelve hours.
    I was so freaking in love with that man I could hardly stand it. I felt all dopey-faced and gooey, just sitting on the couch daydreaming about all the awesome we were going to make.
    Which left me with one more person to tell.
    And I wasn’t entirely sure how Mom was going to take it. Rocker Dad had been bad enough with the unsolicited advice. I loved Mom to death, but this was a subject we’d steered clear of on purpose. Even that last conversation had been unbelievably uncomfortable and I wasn’t sure how much further she was going to let me take it. But she was already going to be upset that I hadn’t called her first. The more people who found out before her, the worse it was going to be. I wanted her to listen and be supportive, even if she didn’t approve.
    I stalled and poured myself another cup of coffee. My first prenatal appointment wasn’t for another couple of weeks. I wondered if maybe she’d want to come with me. I suppressed the thought that I could wait and tell her then, but it did make me smile. Maybe surprising her with something like this wasn’t the best idea. It’d be one thing if Jesse and I were married and we’d done this in the “proper” order and when I wasn’t in the middle of school, but life happened and she knew that better than anyone.
    I took the coffee and my phone outside and dialed her up.
    “Hey sweetie.”
    “Hey Mom. You want to come visit?”
    She laughed. “Of course. I haven’t seen you for a while. What’s new?”
    “Um.”
    “Sasha! Are you pregnant?”
    “Oh my gosh, Mom! That’s the first thing you ask?”
    “Well, you never call me . How am I supposed to know what’s going on with you? How’s Jesse?”
    I wrinkled up my nose. “Good. We had a bumpy patch. I , um, yeah, we’re totally preggers.”
    Silence hung heavily on the line. “Sash . . .” She drew my name out like she did that time that I’d come home to find my bunny had been killed by the neighborhood dog. But this wasn’t like that.
    “It’s okay M om. It’s more than okay. We’re good.”
    “ Were you in the bumpy patch when you found out you were pregnant?”
    “Yes, but— ”
    “Oh, honey.” There was so much pity in her voice that I couldn ’t hardly stand it. Now I was glad I didn’t have to see the disappointment on her face.
    I sighed and wished I hadn’t called her. This wasn’t what I needed today. I needed her to be happy for me. “Never mind, I’ll just talk to you about that later. How’s Dad doing?”
    “Sasha, I’m sorry. I just—”
    I filled in the blank with a thousand things while she hesitated. This wasn’t about me or my issue , this was still about her and Rocker Dad, and I needed to remember that when we talked about this. I cleared my throat and tried to get over the hurt and disappointment. I thought this was something we could have in common.
    “He’s fine. They have to run more tests on him.”
    Silence hung thick and humid in the air between us. I didn’t know what else to say to her and it sounded like she was in the same place. “I’m sorry Sasha, I just can’t