Tickled Pink by Debby Mayne

Author:Debby Mayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Fiction
Published: 2013-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

25

Laura

You better tell Mama, or I will!” The sound of Bonnie Sue’s screeching voice sends me flyin’ up the stairs to see what’s goin’ on.

“If you do,” Renee shouts back, “I’ll tell her about the time you and all your little cheerleader friends skipped school and hung out with those frat boys in Hattiesburg.”

Pete and I have had the toughest time keepin’ Bonnie Sue from growin’ up too fast, and there’s no tellin’ what kinda lies them college boys will tell to get what they want. I reach the top of the stairs, ready to light into Bonnie Sue, but I see Renee comin’ outta the bathroom, her face streaked with tears. And they don’t look like fresh tears either.

“What is goin’ on up here?” I’ve managed to soften my voice, but I still plan to let Bonnie Sue know she’s grounded for the summer.

Bonnie Sue pops her head out of her bedroom and smirks at her sister. “You gonna tell her, or do I have to?”

“You—”

Renee starts to call her sister a name, but I stop her. “There’ll be no name-callin’ here, young lady. One of y’all needs to start talkin’, and I’m not waitin’ all day.” I prop my fist on my hip for extra emphasis.

Bonnie Sue snickers. “If you don’t say it, I will.”

“Okay, okay.” Renee turns to me, chin quiverin’, and blurts, “Mama, I’m pregnant.”

My life has just gone from bein’ slightly messy—okay, a total mess—to bein’ a disaster. “What? How?”

Bonnie Sue laughs. “You should know, Mama. You had four young’uns.”

I point my finger toward her room. “Get back in your room right now, Missy. I’ll deal with you later.” Skipping school doesn’t sound quite as bad at the moment, but I can’t tell her that. “And be prepared for a summer of hard work . . . around the house.”

Bonnie Sue narrows her eyes at her sister and mouths something I can’t quite decipher, but I suspect it involves pain later. When I glare at her, she bobs her head, pops back into her room, and slams the door behind her, leaving Renee and me facing each other.

“Mama, I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She lifts her hands to her face, and her whole entire body starts shakin’.

It breaks my heart to see my second-born in such sad shape, so I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her. “I know you didn’t mean for it to happen, but you did somethin’ you knew you weren’t s’posed to do, and that’s what happens.”

“Am I grounded too?” She separates two of her fingers and looks at me with one eye.

I slowly shake my head. “I could ground you, but I think you’ll be payin’ for this much longer than anything I can do to punish you. Have you been to the doctor?”

“No.”

“How do you know you’re . . . pregnant?” The word sticks in my throat, but I try not to let my child know how afraid I am.

“Home pregnancy test.” She points to the package in the bathroom trashcan.

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