explain it then?”Angie challenged, her hands
crossed.
Christine shrugged. “I
haven’t thought about it. However, if I really feel like I’ll
die if I don’t know I’ll just cross over and ask them,”
she said causing Angela to kick her in the shins. Yes, the girls were
close, and like all close siblings, they had their fights and
arguments. Fights could flare up and flare out in the blink of an
eye.
“ Ouch.
Careful now before you hurt someone,” Christine said.
“ Well
if someone doesn’t
wanna get hurt they better can it with the crazy talk,” Angie
shot back.
Christine put up her
hands. “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
Angie flipped her the
bird but went back to her table arranging.
Once the food was done,
they all sat down and Misha said Grace as they all linked hands.
After the ‘amens’ were said they all dug in and the table
was relatively quiet for a bit. Midway through the meal, Christine
began to feel a little queasy but hoped it would pass. The barbecue
had been made extra spicy in classic Uncle Andrew style and the
combined smell of vinegar and garlic was assaulting her nostrils
pretty bad. She tried taking shallow breaths to escape from the
nausea but abruptly stood and ran as she lost the battle to keep her
food down. She only just made it to the kitchen sink before she was
projectile vomiting everything she’d eaten since the beginning
of time. It was mortifying and Christine was glad that the only
people who were there to see it were family…and Kevin. She
didn’t care about him so she wasn’t worried what he did
or did not see. In fact, she would really have been happy if her
mother had just not come with him but she couldn’t control that
so she just shrugged inwardly and told herself that her mother would
have told him anyway even if he hadn’t been here.
“ Hey
are you okay?” Uncle Andrew was already rubbing soothingly
against her back while Aisha handed her a towel to wipe her mouth and
Angela washed out the sink. Christine took as long as she could
wiping her face and nodding that she was fine before she looked up
into her uncle’s concerned eyes and smiled.
“ I
have something to tell you guys,” she said as she leaned
against the kitchen counter. Everyone who wasn’t already
watching her looked up from their plates now.
“ Lemme
guess; you’re pregnant,” Uncle Carl said totally stealing
Christine’s thunder.
“ Uh...”
Christine replied at lost for words for a moment. Uncle Andrew leaned
forward so he could see her face properly. “You’re
pregnant?” he said sounding unflatteringly incredulous. “I
didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.”
“ Yeah
neither did I,” Angela said looking very aggrieved.
“ Hey,
you wanna sit down?” Sadie asked linking arms with her and
leading her back to her seat. Christine was grateful for the
temporary distraction. Sadie was really good at that shit; knowing
exactly what people needed when they needed it.
Aisha placed a tall
glass of water next to Christine and she drank carefully. Her mother
was staring at her with wide eyes, as if she knew something and was
just waiting for Christine to confirm it. Grandma Misha was watching
her sister who was quietly eating her corn on the cob. Christine took
a deep breath.
“ I am pregnant,” she confirmed leading to an eruption of
conversation, everyone trying to talk over everyone else; asking
questions, exclaiming and generally making it very difficult for
Christine to explain anything.
“ Everybody
keep quiet,” Martha snapped cutting the noise level off as if
there was a mute switch she’d pressed somewhere. She gestured
to Christine. “Continue,” she said.
Christine took a deep
breath and then breathed out, trying to calm her frantically beating
heart. “It's gra’s boss. Mr. Lestrange. He and I decided
together that we wanted to have a child. Together. Since…well,”
Christine shrugged looking down at her plate. “You all know I
ain’t been seein
Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney