Family Reunion Nancy Thayer (summer reads .txt) 📖

she seldom thought of him, and when she did, she shivered with dread at what she had almost done.

But…the baby.

Ari wanted to have this baby. He or she already felt like hers, part of her life, and Ari was pro-choice, but something about this baby made her choose to keep him or her. It just felt right. So wasn’t she somehow obligated to marry the baby’s father? After all, she had loved Peter once, and they had been friends since that moment on the rock in Lake Winnipesaukee. She did not want the life Peter intended to live, but she could slow him down from the fast track, just a little…

It was time. She got out of her car and walked to the coffee shop. Peter wasn’t there yet, of course he wasn’t—he would want to be late, proving he was more important than she was. She bought a cup of iced coffee and found a table in the corner. She wore a blue sundress, because Peter had always liked her in blue, and she hoped the color would work subliminally to make him feel kind to her.

Five minutes later, Peter strode in. Ari thought, Good God. Peter had already changed, his chin held higher, his shoulders straight, his comportment making it clear that he was very significant and very busy. His red hair had been parted on one side and swept over neatly and he wore chinos and a button-down shirt. He carried a briefcase instead of a backpack.

“Peter,” Ari said. “Thank you for coming.”

Peter yanked a chair out from the table and sat. “I don’t have much time.”

“Of course.” Oh, help, she didn’t love this man even a little bit. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I’m having iced coffee because it’s so hot.”

“Fine,” Peter said.

She knew what he wanted her to do, so she did it. She was, after all, the supplicant here. She went to the counter and bought him an iced mocha grande and brought it to the table and set it before him.

“How are you?”

“Exhausted. This coursework is tougher than I’d anticipated.”

“But you love it,” Ari said with a knowing smile.

Peter nodded. “I love it.”

For a moment, they were almost friends. But their eyes met, and Peter’s gaze grew wary.

“Why did you want to see me?” Before she could answer, he announced, “Because I’m with someone else now. Lacey Harbuck. She’s at the school, too, and she’s got the same goals I have. She’s gorgeous, and she’s smart, and we can see a successful future together.”

“Well, that happened fast,” Ari said, not hiding her surprise. “Not even two months.”

“When it’s right, you know it,” Peter said, jutting his chin out defensively.

Ari took a sip of coffee. How could she say this now? Should she not tell him, because he was clearly so together with Lacey?

But he should know.

“Peter, I’m pregnant,” Ari blurted.

Peter froze. Defiantly, he said, “So what?”

“It’s your baby.”

“You can’t prove that.”

“Actually, I can. If I wanted to go to the trouble of getting a DNA test. You know I wasn’t with any other guy, Peter.” Before he could reply, Ari said, “I’ve missed a period and you know I was regular. I’ve taken some pharmacy tests. I haven’t gone to a doctor yet, but I’ve got nausea, and I’ve been throwing—”

Peter leaned across the table, hissing. “For God’s sake, Ari, I don’t need the details. I’m sorry if you’ve been inconvenienced, but you know what to do. Just get rid of it. If you insist, I’ll pay for half the abortion.”

Without thinking, in a completely spontaneous action, Ari crossed her arms protectively over her abdomen. She waited until Peter sat back in his chair and calmed down.

“Peter, I want to keep the baby.”

“That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s not. I don’t know why this happened, but somehow it seems right.”

“You are not going to force me to pay child support.”

“Stop that. I’m not going to ask you for any money at all. You don’t have to even see him or her, ever, if that’s your choice. But I thought it was necessary to tell you, to inform you that you will have a child walking on this earth.”

“It will not be my child.” Peter brought a fist down on the table hard, making Ari jump. Several other diners looked their way. “Jesus Christ, Ari, you are a curse on my life.”

Ari said earnestly, quietly, “I don’t mean to be a curse on your life, Peter. If I hadn’t told you, that would have been wrong, wouldn’t it?”

He gritted his teeth and didn’t answer. But he valued being honest, so he spoke. “You did the right thing to tell me. But I am in the right to say I will not consider this my child. I will not legally acknowledge it. I never want to see or know about it. My wish is that you never have it. If you press, I will hire a lawyer to make a financial settlement for you. Otherwise, Ari, I hope I never hear from you or see you again.”

Ari nodded. Peter pushed back from the table and walked away.

—

Ari drove back down Route 3 along the coast toward the Sagamore Bridge and Cape Cod. She realized she felt oddly empty. Not saddened by Peter’s reaction, not angry, not anything at all. In a world where her father was having an affair and her mother blithely went off on a trip, and she was pregnant by a man she’d made love to out of sympathy because they were taking finals and she didn’t want to upset him then—she had done what she’d thought was right—what was right? Did right even matter?

She had the obligation to decide. She was pro-choice and she’d helped friends go through interventions, friends who were adamant about not having a baby and who were relieved afterward. Now, this was her body—and her life. Could she go through life alone, as a single mother? In a way, it was a ridiculous question. She was educated,