One Christmas Eve by Robin Patchen

Author:Robin Patchen [Patchen, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611162400
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2012-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

7

Blake leaned against the car.

Eli walked across the parking lot towards him. He handed his father a fresh coffee and leaned on the car beside him. “What’d they say?”

“They’re on their way.”

Eli nodded and sipped.

Clouds rolled in above them, reminding Blake of the red light on the Hancock building. Maybe the rain would hold off until they got home.

Home. How he wished Eli’s home was his own. Which reminded him of a question he’d wanted to ask Eli for some time. It was so rare his son wasn’t angry with him. Now seemed as good a time as any. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What do you think about your mom getting married again?”

The boy’s mouth flattened into a tight-lipped line. He said nothing.

“Not thrilled, I take it.”

“It’s fine.”

Silence settled as anger rolled off Eli like a thick, gray fog. This was the first time he’d seen Eli angry with Amber, not him. An interesting turn of events.

“Don’t you like the guy?”

“He’s fine. It’s just…do you know why they got married?” He scraped his foot along the ground. It found a pebble, which skipped forward a few feet. “She’s…she’d kill me for telling you this.” In the light from the diner’s sign, Blake could see the bright red creeping up the boy’s neck to his jawline. Eli didn’t turn red when he was angry. But he did when he was embarrassed.

“If you don’t think you should tell me—”

“You’re going to find out soon enough.” He scuffed his sneakers on the ground again, took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “She’s pregnant.”

Blake couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. Seeing his son’s look of horror, he slapped his hand over his mouth and tried to stifle it. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. It’s just…holy cow.”

Eli’s lips twitched. “Holy calf,” he said with a little chuckle.

“I can’t believe it. What a…no wonder you’re mad at her. How embarrassing.”

“No kidding.”

“Obviously it was an accident.” Blake said, trying to stifle his snickers. “And I’m proud of her for not, you know, getting rid of it.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You’re not excited about having a sibling?”

“The kid’s going to be seventeen years younger than me. And only a half-sibling. And now everything is going to be all about the baby. Which is fine. Whatever.”

Blake’s smile faded. He wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulders. “You know, when you were born, it was like…like I grew a new heart. I still loved your mother like I had before, probably more. But I had this whole new, amazing capacity to love. And although I never had a second child, I imagine it’s like that with each new one. Your mother won’t love you one bit less because of this new baby. In fact, if you help her out a little bit, she’ll probably love you even more.”

Eli sniffed and nodded. His son was tearing up.

The thought brought a lump to Blake’s throat. “Thanks for telling me. I promise I won’t let on that I know.”

“Sure.”

“You know, if it gets to be too much at baby central, you can stay with me anytime you want for as long as you want.

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