Chapter 141
Peggy had made roast beef for dinner, and it was delicious. Elliott tried to chew it thoroughly, trying not to make eye contact with either of his parents. It had been two weeks since Nancy had caught him in the parking lot, and since then, she’d received word back from the doctor that she was going to be a mother in July, and that meant that Elliott was going to be a father.
He’d told his parents he needed to talk to them about something important after dinner, and they nodded in understanding, though everyone seemed to be taking their sweet time making their way through the roast and yams. Jimmy was going on about some stupid science experiment, and Peggy was doting over every word he said. Elliott swore his baby brother had become even more of a pansy since Peggy had decided he was the sweet little boy she’d always been longing for. He really wished Jimmy would just grow a pair already. He was eleven years old, for crying out loud.
Frank told them a story about how a cow had gotten loose in the horse pasture and that had everyone laughing, even though Elliott’s chuckle was obviously fake, and Jimmy said he’d rig up some scientific device that would let the cows know when they were in the wrong field. Wasn’t he just precious?
Finally, an hour after it had begun, dinner was over, and Peggy began to gather up the dirty plates. Elliott volunteered to help her out in an effort to move things along, and a few minutes later, Peggy sent Jimmy upstairs as the other three family members took a seat in the living room. “Now, Elliott, what is it you wanted to tell us?” Peggy asked, taking a seat on the sofa and gesturing for him to sit next to her. “Have you decided where you’re going to college?”
He couldn’t blame her for asking since he had spent quite a bit of time recently talking about what he wanted to do with his life. Ever since Reggie had passed away, he’d been thinking more and more about how he wanted his life to have meaning. Now, he felt like he’d thrown all of that away.
Elliott cleared his throat and glanced over at Frank who was sitting in his recliner, though the footrest was not up. “No, not exactly,” Elliott stammered. “Something’s happened, and I need to tell you about it. I hope that you’ll try to let me finish before you get too upset.”
Peggy and Frank exchanged glances. “That’s alarming. Does this have anything to do with Lawson’s Point?”
Elliott found it strikingly odd that she knew that information and thought back to the people he’d seen in the trees that night. Was her question somehow related to that? “Uh, no.” He wasn’t about to give her every last detail regarding what he was about to say. “It’s just… you know Nancy Farr, right?”
“Sure. The cheerleader? We know Nancy,” Frank said, his face showing just as much concern as Peggy’s.
“Well, she, uh, she’s pregnant.”
Elliott let that set in for a few moments as his parents’ mouths hung open, and they exchanged confused glances. He knew he should say more, but opening his mouth was going to result in some sort of illogical nonsense, so he just waited for them to fill in some of the gaps.
It was his mother who seemed to get there first. “Are you saying… that is… Nancy is pregnant, and you’re the father?”
With a hard swallow and a nod, Elliott said, “Apparently.”
“Wait—what? What does that mean?” Peggy stammered. “Apparently? You either are or you aren’t!”
He ran a hand through his unruly curls. “I know, Mom. It’s just… she says I am.”
“And you could be?” Frank asked, begging the obvious question. Since Elliott had never had a discussion about birds or bees with either of these people, perhaps they weren’t sure if he even knew how the whole thing worked. But then, for that matter he wasn’t as sure as he thought he was after what Nancy had told him in the car that night.
So the answer was a nod and, “Yeah. I could be.”
“Elliott!” Peggy admonished. “What in the world were you thinking? You’re only sixteen years old! She’s two years older than you! You have high school to finish! You were going to go to college!” Her fists were clenched, and her voice was loud enough that Jimmy could certainly hear from upstairs.
Frank, always the more placid of the two said, “Calm down, Peggy,” but his face had gone an ashen color. “We are… surprised, Elliott.”
“I know. I am, too.” That was about all he could manage, but when he looked at Peggy’s face, her lips drawn into a thin line, he knew he’d have to say more. “Listen, I’ll… I’ll do what I need to, okay? I’ll take care of the baby and her. She won’t be a burden to either of you, I promise.”
“It’s not that!” Peggy shouted, her fingers loose now. “It’s that you’ve essentially ruined your life, Elliott! Take it from someone who knows what that’s like—”
“Peggy!”
Elliott had no idea what she meant by that. How had Peggy ruined her life? They lived in a beautiful house in the country, she had a good marriage, and the children she’d wanted, even if they hadn’t come the way she’d wanted them. She didn’t even work anymore. She’d quit whatever it was she had been doing with Janette and Jordan years ago when Elliott and Jimmy had first moved in.
But that wasn’t the point, and he knew it. “I’ll figure it out….”
“You won’t figure it out!” Peggy got up now, pacing. “I thought… I thought you knew better than that. I had no idea you were even….”
“It was just the once.” He could finish the sentence for her. No need for his mother to say it aloud.
“That’s all it takes,” Frank muttered. “Peggy, why don’t you go check on Jimmy. He’s probably wondering what all of the yelling is about, and let me and Elliott talk man to man.”
She looked like she’d just been ejected from a royal tea party, but she said nothing, only looked from one face to the other, and then stormed out of the room.
“Well, that went well,” Elliott mumbled more to himself than his father. He ran his hands down his face and took a deep breath as Frank stared at him.
“She’s just… she had big hopes for you. That’s all. And that doesn’t mean that you won’t fulfill them, it only means….”
“It only means whatever I accomplish, I’ll be strapped down with a kid for the rest of my life. I get it. It’s definitely not the way I saw things either, but when you’ve got a girl who looks like Nancy Farr pulling you into the back seat….” He hoped he didn’t have to say the rest.
“I understand, Son. Believe me, I do. And you’re sure she’s not handing someone else’s responsibility off on you, right?”
Elliott nodded. “I don’t think so. I mean, she was with Cliff Humphrey, but I think it was too long ago.”
Frank nodded. “Well, I guess if the baby has your crazy mop of hair, we’ll know.” He reached over and ruffled Elliott’s hair, and instantly, the young man felt a hundred times better.
“Listen, I’ve got some money saved up. I was intending to go to college. I think that’ll have to be put on hold now. So… I can find a house for Nancy and me to rent.”
“I’d say you could stay here, but I don’t think Peggy….”
“No, I know.”
They were silent for a long time, just staring at the floor, Elliott’s thumbs moving back and forth around each other, before Frank asked, “You’re going to marry her then?”
“It’s the right thing to do, ain’t it?” he asked, looking up and seeing Frank nod. “I don’t want my kid to be a bastard like me.”
“Well, there’s not much chance of avoiding that.”
Elliott could see in Frank’s eyes that he was teasing, trying to lighten the mood, and it made him smile for the first time in a long time. “True,” was about all he could say.
“Let me handle Peggy. You figure out what you need to do with Nancy.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Elliott said, the word coming out of his mouth more naturally than it had any of the other times he’d tried to use it.
Frank nodded, and the two stood, exchanging a handshake, which was about the closest thing to a hug Elliott could expect at the time. Despite the gravity of the situation, he truly did feel, deep down inside, his life wasn’t over. He would manage to do something important with his life. He’d find a way to make all of it work. He just had no idea how.
