Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (206 page)

“It doesn’t matter.  Let’s get outta here.”

Jude took her hand.  He left a tip on the table and then led her to the register.  The waitress had returned.  She gave them a look. 

“You’re having a baby aren’t you?”

Mellenda blushed.  “We are.”

“Congratulations.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen two kids who look so in love.”

Jude grinned widely.  “Thank you.  Is the cook your husband?”

She winked.  “He’s my boyfriend, but don’t tell my husband.”

Mellenda let out a weak laugh.  “We won’t.”

The waitress shook her head and laughed.  “I was kidding.  He’s my husband.”  She stuck out her hand and showed them the wedding ring tattooed on her finger.  “We are just not the traditional couple.  Good luck you two.”

Jude paid the check and then said “Thank you.  Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Jude pulled Mellenda with him out of the restaurant.  “I want to celebrate.  Do you want to drive?  It’s a lot easier to drive than the truck.”

Mellenda shook her head.  “No thank you.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.  Jude, do you think we could make a stop on the way back to town?”

“Sure.  Where do you need to go babe?”

She gave him a sly grin.  “Do you think we could stop at the old make out spot?”

“I think I like you when you’re pregnant.  But I thought we could get a room tonight.  I want to stay with you and I don’t think my parents will let me get away with having you in my bed even when you are pregnant with my baby.”

“Thank you.”  Mellenda pressed him gently against the side of the car and kissed him.  “I love you so much.  I never thought I’d feel this way.”

“Hell baby how do you think I feel?  I’m the reformed player.”

Mellenda shook her head.  “You are still a big dork.  But you’re my dork.”

“Damned right I am.  I love you Mellenda.”

Jude opened the door for her and then went around and got behind the wheel of the car.  They didn’t speak on the drive back to Brentwood.  Mellenda’s heart was pounding in her chest.  She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack by the time they pulled up in front of Jude’s trailer.  They got out of the car. 

Seneca called to them from across the street.  “Jude, did you finally convince Mellenda that you’re a changed man?  Girl, he is gone over you.  I never thought I’d see the day when Jude
Ashland wasn’t chasing after one girl or another.  But since you dumped him, he’s been walking around like the world ended.”

Jude laughed.  “Shut up Sen, like you wouldn’t be broken up if Grant dumped you.”

Seneca gave Grant a look.  “Grant will never dump me.”

Grant gave her an easy grin.  “Of course not baby.”

Jude shook his head.  “Have a good night guys.”

“Oh we will,” Seneca said.  “My parents are gone again.”

Jude laughed.  “Horny teenagers.”

“Damned right.”  Seneca laughed.  “See ya’ll later.  It’s good to see you again Mellenda.”

Mellenda smiled at her ex roommate’s pretty best friend.  “Thank you.  You too.”

Jude squeezed Mellenda’s hand.  “Are you ready for this?”

Mellenda put her head on his shoulder and breathed in the scent that she loved.  “No.”

“It’s gonna be okay baby.  I promise.  They’ll be happy.”

“I just hope my parents don’t kill us both.”

“Are you gonna call them or are you going to wait until they come down for graduation?”

Mellenda sighed.  “They threatened not to come to my graduation at one point.  I think I’ll call them tomorrow.  I’m sure if they want another excuse not to come to my graduation this will give them one.”

“Baby, it doesn’t matter whether they’re happy or not.  It’s not their baby.  Yeah, it’s gonna suck if they want to be complete assholes, but you can’t let yourself get lost in the crap that they’ve put you through for so long.  You are so strong.  We’ll get through this no matter what.  I will always be there for you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too baby.  Let’s go inside.”

Jude took Mellenda’s hand and they walked up the steps together.  She took a deep breath and then let it out as he opened the door.  His parents were in the kitchen and his siblings were in the living room, watching a movie.

Mrs. Ashland looked up and gave them a bright smile.  “Mellenda it is so good to see you.  Jude has been so lost without you.”

Mellenda gave her a smile.  “I’ve been pretty lost without him too.”  She squeezed Jude’s hand. 

“I need to talk to you Mom, Dad.  Do you want to send the kids to their rooms?”

His brother gave him a puzzled look and his sisters both gave him a dirty look.

Mr. Ashland cleared his throat.  “Is it something that shouldn’t be discussed in front of your brother and sisters?”  Mellenda thought that he looked a little worried.

“Not exactly.  I just wanted to tell you guys first.”

“If it’s G rated, they can stay where they are.”

“Okay.  Um, I don’t know how to say this, so I guess I’m just gonna say it.  Mellenda is having a baby.  I mean, Mellenda is having my baby.”

“Judeah Wallingford Ashland are you serious?”  Mellenda couldn’t read the look on Mrs. Ashland’s face.  She stepped back into Jude’s arms.

“Yeah.”  Jude looked back and forth between his parents. 

Mr. Ashland sighed.  “Kids go to your rooms.”

Jacob sighed.  “C’mon Dad.”

“Now.  This is not up for discussion Jacob.”

Jacob got up from where he was sitting in front of the couch.  Marissa and Joelle followed, talking quietly.

As soon as the door to both bedrooms had shut, Mr. Ashland said “Sit down kids.”

Mellenda’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.  If things were going like this with Jude’s parents, she couldn’t imagine how her parents would take the news. 

Jude squeezed her hand and then led her to the kitchen.  He dropped her hand long enough to pull a chair out for her.  Once she had sat down, he sat down and twined his fingers through hers again.

“Are you guys mad?”

Mrs. Ashland sighed.  “You’re eighteen years old Jude.  You’ve seen how your father and I have struggled most of your life.”

“I’m almost nineteen.”

Mr. Ashland laughed.  “A year hardly makes a difference son.  I believe your mother’s point is that babies are an expensive venture and not an easy one either.  We will help with what we can, but you two have some decisions to make.  They may not be easy decisions but you’re worrying about more than yourselves now.”

“We’re keeping the baby.”

“I believe that the mother of your child should have a say in that as well son.  Is that what you want Mellenda?”

Mellenda cleared her throat.  “Yes.”

“That’s a relief.  I don’t believe that abortion is a viable option unless the circumstances are extreme.  Jude certainly wouldn’t have the money to pay for one, and neither would we.  I’m not
sure what the circumstances with your parents are Mellenda, but it seems mighty cold hearted to me to pay to abort your grandchild.”

Mellenda’s face felt like it was on fire.  “I don’t think they’d be very okay with that either.”

Jude squeezed her hand.  “We’d like to raise the baby.  We know that it’s not going to be easy, but we want to do it.”

“Well, we had hoped that if adoption was what you had in mind that you would think of us or Mellenda’s parents,” Mrs. Ashland said.  “We were afraid that when you were messing around with so many different girls that one of them would end up in this situation.  I’m very glad that the girl you’re having a child with is someone that you truly care for Jude.  But babies are hard to care for.  They may look cute and cuddly but they can drive you half out of your mind.  Babies cry for no reason sometimes.  Babies teethe, babies get diaper rash, babies get sick.  It’s a lot for a person to take, no matter what age you are.”

“We’re gonna be fine Mom.  I have three younger siblings remember?”

Mrs. Ashland laughed.  “It is an entirely different thing than having a child of your own Jude.  When the child belongs to someone else, you can hand them back to their parents when they’ve made you want to tear your hair out, or you just have to get through the minutes or hours or whatever until the parents return.  When you’re taking care of your own child, there is no one to hand them off too.  They are your responsibility.  Now, I’m not saying that we won’t be there for you.  If you need a night off, or a weekend off, or even a week off and it’s at the point when we’re able to take the baby, we will, no questions asked.  We’re always a phone call away and I want you to remember that.  What are you going to do about school?  You had a scholarship didn’t you Mellenda?”

Mellenda’s face got hot again.  “I lost it.  Um, I cheated in my English class junior year and the headmaster found out about it.  I would have taken the class again or went to summer school but Crestview won’t let you do that if you’re caught cheating.”

Mrs. Ashland shook her head.  “That is ridiculous.  I’m sorry honey.  You seem like such a bright girl.”

Mellenda gave her a weak smile.  “It is pretty dumb, but I shouldn’t have cheated in the first place.”

“We all make mistakes.  Do you have plans for college?  The community college in Brown is good.  They should have family housing.  And it’s much cheaper than the university.  Jude, I don’t know if there’s still time for you to change your funding, but it’s an option.”

“I don’t know if I want to go to school anymore.  I feel like I’ve been trying to live up to the ghost of my sister for the last five years and nothing I’ve done has ever been good enough.  I have no idea what I want to do with my life.”  Mellenda felt tears prick her eyes.  Jude put his arm around her and she turned her head into his chest for a minute. 

Mr. Ashland sighed.  “Jude told us about the way your parents treat you.  The loss of a child is a loss like no other and I can’t imagine what it must feel like, but that is no excuse to treat you the way they’ve been treating you.  It breaks our hearts to think about it honey.  You will always have a place in our family.”

Mellenda smiled, though it felt weak.  “Thank you.  You’ve always made me feel so welcome.”

“You are welcome.  Always.  It’s not unusual to be unsure about what you want to do with your life at eighteen.  Some people twice your age don’t know what they really want to do with their lives.  Hell, some people never really figure it out.  We just don’t want to see you two struggle.”

“I know Dad,” Jude said.  “But you’ve done such a great job of raising me and the kids.  It doesn’t matter how much money you have.  Yeah, it sucked sometimes when we were being dumb and thinking about the stuff that we didn’t have that some other kid did, but I wouldn’t trade you for any other parents in the world.”

“Thank you son.  Have you told Mellenda’s parents?”

Mellenda shook her head.  “I’m scared to tell them.  My sister was pregnant when she died.”

“Oh honey, it will be okay,” Mrs. Ashland reached out and squeezed Mellenda’s hand.  “Even if they’re not thrilled at first, I’m sure they’ll come around.  It was a shock for us at first but I think we’ll very much enjoy being grandparents.  Are you planning on getting married?”

Mellenda looked at Jude. Jude looked away from her and looked at his mother.  “Can I talk to you alone for a minute Mom?”

“Of course.”  She smiled at Mellenda and then left the table with her son. 

Mr. Ashland gave her a smile.  “It really is good to see you again Mellenda.  I’ve never seen my son as down as he was when he was without you.  With his behavior with girls the last few years, we were afraid that he had done something to screw your relationship up royally.  He cares so much about you.  You normally don’t see the change in a man that we’ve seen in Jude until they’re much older, but you have turned our son into a real man in so many ways.”

Mellenda wasn’t sure what to say.  “Um. . .”

Mr. Ashland laughed.  “It’s okay honey.  You don’t have to say anything.”

Jude returned to the table and gave them both a bright smile.  “You ready Mellenda?”

Mr. Ashland raised an eyebrow.  “You’re leaving?”

“Mom said I could.”

“Did she?”  Mr. Ashland looked at his wife.

“I did.  Our son believes that he needs some alone time with his girlfriend.”

“Ah.  I see.  Have a good night you two.  Congratulations.  We look forward to seeing a lot more of you around here again Mellenda.  And we promise not to embarrass you too much at your graduation.”

Mellenda laughed.  “Thank you.”

Jude took her hand and she got up from the table.  They went outside and got into the car.  Jude started the car and backed out of the driveway. 

“I don’t think I can afford for us to stay at the place we stayed at on prom night, but hopefully we can find some place that’s not too big of a dump.”

“Wherever we stay will be fine Jude.  I’m so happy to be spending the night with you.”

Jude winked at her as he stopped at the stoplight.  “I think I can make you even happier.”