Best Mistake

"Hey daddy!" I chirped, answering the incoming call from my dad. I hadn't heard from him in a while, so it was great to hear his voice.

"Hey, Whit!" my dad responded, equally as enthused as I was, his southern drawl thick.

"How are you?" I asked as I walked out the back door of the restaurant. "I feel like I haven't heard from you in years."

"Listen here, now, the phone works both ways," he laughed.

I sat on one of the chairs that were out back for the smokers, kicking cigarette butts around. "I know, I'm sorry. There's just been a lot going on the past couple of months."

"Like what?" he asked.

I chewed my bottom lip nervously. Neither of my parents still had any clue that I was pregnant. I was pretty proud of myself considering I was creeping up on seven months and the only people that knew aside from me and Alex were Megan, Luke, Eric and Jack. I didn't want to keep it from my parents, but I didn't want to tell them over the phone either.

"Eh, a little this, a little that," I lied.

"Ok," he said slowly. "Obviously you don't wanna talk about it. So how's your love life?"

I scoffed, blushing a little. "It's ok," I laughed nervously.

"Got you a boyfriend yet?" he asked.

"Um," I said. I really wasn't sure how to answer him. "Not yet?"

My dad chuckled. "So you're seeing someone?"

I blushed again. "I guess you can kind of say that."

"You guess?" he asked.

I sighed heavily. "It's really complicated, daddy."

"Complicated how?"

"It just is," I shrugged. "I don't have enough time to explain it right now, unfortunately."

"Well," he huffed. "I guess you should just come visit and bring him and explain it to me then."

I laughed a little, feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over me. I missed him so damn much.

"I wish," I sighed.

"When are you coming home?" he asked.

I blinked and felt a tear slip down my cheek. "Hopefully soon."

I had to pull the phone away from my ear when I started sobbing. My dad was tough as nails, but super sentimental when it came to me and my sister. I couldn't bare to make him upset.

"Well, I have to get back to work," I said once I'd calmed down a little bit.

"Alright," he said slowly. "I love you."

"I love you, daddy."

"With all my heart," he added.

I closed my eyes tight, another tear spilling over. "With all my heart, too."

I hung up and before I could stop myself, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I jumped slightly when I'd noticed Stevie had snuck out the back door and sat beside me. His face was dripping with concern.

"You ok?" he asked, gently rubbing my back.

I nodded quickly, running my fingers under my eyes. "Yeah. I just talked to my dad. I miss him," I shrugged.

He shrugged back. "Take some days off and go home."

My eyes shot in his direction. It was tempting, but I knew I couldn't afford it. "That's ok," I shook my head.

Stevie nodded. "It is ok. You need to go see your family, Whit. Everybody needs a little spiritual boost every now and then."

I smiled. "You're sure it's ok?"

He nodded again. "I wouldn't have told you to do it if it wasn't."

I smiled bigger and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, Stevie."

After work I rushed home to tell Alex the news. I walked in through the garage and made my way to the kitchen where I found him hovering over a pot of spaghetti. He was wearing cut off jeans and a burgundy v-neck. God, he looked so handsome.

"Hey," he smiled.

I put my purse and keys on the counter and made my way to him. We'd been living together for about a week, and the comfort level was making a slow but steady increase.

"Hey," I smiled when I got to him. "This smells awesome."

"It is awesome," he said. "I can make the hell out of some spaghetti."

"Well then I can't wait to taste it," I said, rubbing his back briefly as I moved past him to get some plates.

He loaded them up while I got our utensils and drinks ready. I was soon following him into the living room where we would eat. Apparently, March Madness goes into April too.

"So how was work?" he asked once we were sitting down with our plates in our laps.

I shrugged, twirling some spaghetti onto my fork. "It was ok. I spoke to my dad."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, taking a second to glance at me before turning his head back to the tv.

I nodded. I was so excited to get to go back home to see my family, I almost couldn't stand it. I guess I was quiet for too long, since Alex reached for the remote to turn the volume down before turning towards me.

"You ok?" he asked.

I nodded, a smile slowly forming on my lips.

"My boss told me to take a few days off to go see my parents," I said.

Alex stopped chewing on the spaghetti in his mouth for a second. "That's awesome. When would you want to go?"

"I have next Thursday through Sunday off."

He nodded, then set his plate on the coffee table and walked towards the kitchen. I watched him as he picked up his phone and he slowly made his way back over to me, his eyes glued to the screen.

I continued eating while he steadily scrolled and clicked on things. I couldn't help but think about how excited my mom was going to be when I told her I was going to be coming home.

"How's that?" Alex asked, and turned his phone to face me.

I looked over the airline ticket he'd reserved. I was about to tell him that I'd much rather fly into Augusta instead of Atlanta to save myself from having to drive too far when I saw that he'd reserved two tickets instead of one.

My face flushed when I realized who the second ticket was for.

"You're going with me?" I asked quietly.

Alex blushed a little, putting his phone in his lap. "Do you not want me to?"

I shook my head quickly. "No! It's not that. Its just..." my voice trailed off, failing to form words.

He looked really sad as he turned his screen off. He played with the hem of his cut offs a little before saying, "Am I moving things along too fast for you?"

I shook my head slowly. "Not really. I'm just worried that you're only doing these things because you think it's what I want you to do. Are you really ok with going with me?"

Alex shrugged. "Sure. I think it would be nice to meet your parents."

I grimaced a little before saying, "They don't know I'm pregnant yet."

He smiled a little before sarcastically saying, "Even better."

Notes