Chapter 2

The truth was, the doctor had only said that when a couple can't get pregnant, both partners should get tested.

But Earl and Bonnie didn't need to know that.

They both dug out their reading glasses and went through every page. Earl held each one under the lamp like the numbers might change if he squinted hard enough. When they got to the end, neither of them said a word for a long time.

"Can they fix it?" Bonnie finally asked.

I shook my head slowly. "They think it's probably azoospermia. Zero sperm count. The doctor said there's not much anyone can do."

Bonnie went gray. "Linda's son has that. Linda Fenwick, from my water aerobics class. They spent over twenty thousand dollars on specialists, and nothing worked. I heard his wife's filing for divorce."

I looked at her stomach and let out a long, shaky breath.

"Honestly, Mom? Thank God you're pregnant. Otherwise, that would've been the end of the Hollis family."

The end of the Hollis family. Those words hit them both hard. Earl's hand went still on the papers. Bonnie's went straight to her belly.

Earl was an only son, and so was his father. He'd told me once at Thanksgiving, three beers in, that his dad had made him swear on his deathbed to keep the Hollis name going. Grant was supposed to be the one who did it.

Earl took Bonnie's hand.

"We're having this baby," he said. "End of discussion."

Bonnie nodded hard, both hands on her stomach.

"I'll help with everything," I promised. "I'll love him like he's my own." Then I made my eyes go wide and pleading. "But please don't tell Grant. Not yet. For a guy, hearing something like that... I don't know what it would do to him."

They agreed right away.

Sure enough, at Bonnie's first OB appointment, the doctor took one look at her chart and got very careful. A natural pregnancy at Bonnie's age, she said, was something she'd only ever read about in medical journals. Then she went through the risks one by one and recommended ending the pregnancy.

My in-laws lost it.

Bonnie sobbed and called the doctor heartless. Earl said she had no business calling herself a doctor and threatened to go to Channel 8 and tell the whole city how this clinic treated a pregnant woman.

It got so bad that by the end of the afternoon, they'd been through the OB, the head of the department, a high-risk pregnancy specialist and a patient advocate with a very tired smile.

Everyone tried. They showed Earl and Bonnie studies, charts and real numbers from real cases. Babies born with severe disabilities. Mothers who had strokes and never walked again. Mothers and babies who both died.

Earl and Bonnie only heard the success stories. They were sure they'd be one of them.

In the end, the clinic had no choice but to keep Bonnie on as a high-risk patient. My in-laws came home like they'd won a war.

Grant was waiting in the kitchen with his arms crossed. "Mom, the doctors told you it's dangerous. Why are you being so stubborn?"

Bonnie huffed. "Dangerous. Those people just like scaring folks." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Besides, when we asked what you thought, you didn't say no."

That caught him off guard. Then he put on his worried-son face.

"I'm not saying no. I'm worried about you, that's all."

"Well, don't be. I'm healthy as a horse." She patted his cheek like he was six. "And honey, you don't need to worry about anything else either. Baby or no baby, you're my first. Nobody's ever taking your place."

"We're doing this for you too, son," Earl said, with a meaningful look. "When this kid grows up, he'll be there for you. He'll look after you."

Grant had no idea his parents thought he was sterile. All he heard was his father telling him he needed a backup. His face went red right up to his ears.

"I don't need anybody looking after me!" he snapped. "Do you even hear yourselves? You're grandparent age! People are going to laugh at this whole family."

"I'm not okay with this. Go back and get rid of it. Or don't come crying to me when you need a nursing home."

Bonnie stared at him like she didn't know him. "That's your brother you're talking about! How can you be so cruel?"

Earl slammed his palm on the counter.

"You want us to stop? Then give us a grandkid yourself! Till you do, this baby's coming."

My stomach dropped.

Grant turned around and looked straight at me.