"Kevin, I'm really nervous," Sarah said as they walked up to the door to his house.
"Don't be. My family's gonna love you, I promise. Just be yourself," he said then knocked on the door.
Kevin's mother answered it. She smiled when she saw him. "Kevin, you're home!" she exclaimed as she hugged him.
"Good to see you too, Mom," he said as he hugged her tightly.
"And this must be Sarah."
"Yup, that's me," Sarah replied nervously.
"Kevin's told me so much about you. Come on in, everyone's here."
Sarah and Kevin walked in to see the whole family. Sarah looked around nervously as everyone came over to talk to Kevin. She jumped when she felt Kevin grab her hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand for reassurance. Soon everyone gathered together for dinner. Sarah wasn't very hungry so she picked at her food. She knew it was a combination of her anxiety and recent attacks of morning sickness. She looked up when she felt Kevin put his hand on her leg.
"You okay? You're not eating," he said, concerned.
"I'm fine. I'm just not very hungry for some reason My stomach feels a little off."
"I really do hope you're not catching that flu that's been going around. Are you done eating because I was gonna put my plate in the sink. If you're done, I can take yours with me."
"Yeah, go ahead," Sarah said as she pushed the plate away.
Kevin put their plates away and came back over to Sarah. "Come on, let’s go in the living room and sit on the couch," Kevin said as he offered her his hand.
Sarah took his hand and followed him to the living room. She sat on the couch with Kevin and rested her head on his shoulder while he watched the game and talked to his brothers. The night went on then Brian and Rachel had come over to see everyone. She smiled and waved at them when they came in. Sarah looked over to the other side of the room and noticed Kevin‘s neice, Tabitha, sitting all by herself, away from the other children. When she looked over at Sarah, Sarah gestured for her to come over. Tabitha got up and sat down on Sarah's lap.
"Why aren't you playing with the other kids?" Sarah asked.
"They say I'm too little so they won't let me play," Tabitha pouted.
"Oh, I see. They think you're too young to play big kid games, right?"
"Yeah," Tabitha said while nodding.
"How old are you, Tabitha?"
"I'm four," she said while holding up four fingers.
"Wow, four years old?! You're a big girl!" Tabitha giggled. "Would you be happy if you had another little cousin to play with?"
"Yeah!" Tabitha beamed.
"Well, I promise you'll get a new cousin to play with real soon."
Tabitha smiled and hugged Sarah. She climbed down off Sarah's lap and sat down on Kevin's.
"Uncle Kevy, guess what!"
"Chicken butt," Kevin teased.
Tabitha giggled. "No!"
"Okay, I give up. What?"
"I'm gonna get a new cousin to play with!" she exclaimed.
Kevin looked over at his brother Jerald and his wife. "You guys gonna have another baby?"
"No," Jerald said in confusion.
"No, Uncle Kevy! Sarah told me I was going to have another cousin to play with."
Sarah froze when she heard those words come out of Tabitha's mouth. She slowly looked over at Kevin, afraid to see his the look on his face. She was too scared to look at him, she shifted her glance over to Brian, who was smiling. He stood up and walked over to Kevin.
"Congratulations, Cuz," he said as he patted him on the back.
"How?" Kevin said with a cracking voice. "I mean we only did it...."
"Kev, I'm--"Sarah began but was cut off by Kevin's lips on top of hers.
When he let go she looked at him in shock. Her heart pounded against her chest as she continued to stare at him.
"I'm gonna be a daddy!" Kevin shouted.
Everyone gathered around Kevin and Sarah to congratulate them. Everyone was happy...except one person.
"Kevin, may I speak with you for a moment," his mother said.
"Sure, Mom," Kevin said as he got up and followed his mom to the kitchen.
"You should be ashamed of yourself! Having premarital sex! You know better than that! What were you thinking?!"
"Mom, I--"
"I'm very disappointed in you. I thought I raised you better than that," she said as she crossed her arms.
"Mom...I love Sarah with all my heart. Doesn't that at least count for something?"
"You said the same thing when you went and got engaged at nineteen!"
"This is different," Kevin defended.
"How is it different?"
"I was young and stupid."
Kevin's mom sighed and took a seat next to him. "Kevin, I'm too old to fight anymore. I just want what's best for you. I see girls throw themselves at you all the time and it worries me."
Kevin placed his hand over his mother's. "You don't have to fight. I'm happy and Sarah is what makes me happy. I haven't been this happy for a long time. Probably not since dad died."
"How do you know she's just not after your money?"
"She's not. Trust me on this one, Mom, she's not. You seemed to like her before you found out about this. Why does it change anything?"
"It doesn't. I'm just trying to look after you."
"Mom, you don't have to anymore. I'm all grown up."
"I know, baby, I know. It's just a mother's instincts to want what's best for her children. But if you're happy being with her....then I'm happy too," she said with tears in her eyes.
Kevin smiled and hugged his mother. "I promise everything will be just fine."
Kevin's mom looked up at him and smiled. "You've grown up to be just like your father. He always was an optimistic person. Used to drive me nuts."
Kevin laughed at the memory. "Yeah, he was always happy."
Just then, Sarah came into the kitchen. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything but Kev we gotta get going. You have rehearsal in the morning. I already called the Taxi; it's waiting on us outside."
Kevin looked at his watch. "Yeah, you're right. I'll see you at the show tomorrow, Mom."
Kevin's mom nodded with a smile as the two left the room. They said good bye to everyone and walked out of the house to the taxi. When they got in Kevin placed his arms around Sarah's shoulders and kissed her. They rode to the hotel in silence and didn't speak a word until they had gotten into bed.
"Kevin, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Kevin smiled and kissed Sarah on the forehead. "Don't worry about it. All that matters is that we're happy. You are happy, right?"
Sarah nodded. "I couldn't he happier."
"Me neither," Kevin said as he caressed her stomach.
