This whole chapter feels like an unhinged fever dream. Big thank you (!) to all the readers still sticking with me besides my... let's be honest non-existent uploading schedule. ALSO (slight spoiler) there is a slur in this chapter, just know that's the character speaking and not my opinion at all!
–The Father–
''Pregnant?'' Andy looked at her shocked. It had been clear what Lu had been alluding to but when the word left her mouth it still shocked her just the same. She frowned, thinking back to that night, trying to recreate a mental image of how much of Milo's cum had actually still been on her face and where exactly and she could feel a twinge in her lower belly that she ignored. ''Lu… I mean, the odds of that happening are-''
''Not zero.'' Lu interrupted her. It felt silly to even bring it up, as Andy said the odds were pretty much nil that one little guy had found its way inside and it had actually taken, but with her period more than a week late she had to entertain the possibility.
Andy was silent for a while, her mind obviously racing. She stood up from the bed, pacing around before turning back to Lu, her arms crossed in front of her chest looking a lot more defensive than she had consciously intended. ''Could it be Julian's?''
Lu quickly shook her head. ''No. No, no, he and I never…'' She had slept over at his house once and they had planned on sleeping together but he couldn't get it up, had repeated a million times that he was sorry and that that had never happened to him. They had never tried again.
Andy's eyebrows shot up. ''Never?''
Lu leaned back on her hands, her legs crossed as she looked up at Andy. For the most part Andy was easy to read but this time she didn't even bother to hide her surprise and it made Lu wonder what preconceived notions Andy had about her.
''Sorry, I just assumed.'' Andy bit her lip, ''are you sure about this?''
Lu shrugged, feeling even sillier now for bringing it up without any kind of confirmation. ''I mean I haven't taken a test or anything but…'' She didn't feel pregnant. With Marc she had felt it before even taking the test, from pretty early on, but even though it did not feel the exact same way she felt something was off inside her.
She could see the seriousness on Lu's face. ''You're never late, are you?'' She hadn't kept track of Lu's period or anything but they seemed to come at pretty regular intervals from what she could remember.
''No…'' The only time Lu had ever been late was when she was pregnant last. As a doctor she could think of all kinds of reasons why her period might be late, but it was easier to consider pregnancy – no matter how difficult that could turn out to be – than entertaining the more disastrous options. ''I really think I might be.''
''Okay. What do you want to do?'' Andy didn't do well with uncertainty and she felt like she needed to know. ''Do you want me to drive to the store? Get a test?''
''No, let's just forget about it for now.'' Lu said, scooting back on the bed and pulling the cover over her legs, wanting to just go to sleep instead. She didn't want her mind to have time to go over all the worst case scenarios a pregnancy could result in. Thinking of how she would break this news to Milo, how she would explain it to the people at the hospital… Their friends already thought their relationship was strange even if they hadn't verbalized it, another baby wouldn't help. ''I don't want to know, not yet. Not until I know what I want to do with whatever the results of the test will be.''
There was a pause as the meaning of Lu's words sunk in. ''You're not sure you'd want to keep it?''
Lu could hear the slightly judgmental tone in Andy's voice and it stung. ''Andy-''
Andy knew she was just about the last person who should have such a negative opinion on this after her own abortion, but she couldn't hide her feelings from Lu. ''What?'' It came out louder than expected and she slunk back against the wall, keeping her fingers crossed that her parents hadn't heard.
Lu shrugged slightly, unsure that Andy would be able to view her reservations from Lu's point of view – she was sure Andy would think them to be a lot less unfounded than she did. ''I don't wanna risk having to raise another child on my own.'' Though she wouldn't have missed the experience of raising Marc for the world it had been far from easy, at this point she wasn't sure she would want to do that again.
Andy frowned at her. ''What makes you think you would?''
''You and I only just got back together a few weeks ago, there's no guarantee we'll stay together.'' It was painful to even think about but she couldn't say it was impossible they would break up again. The other reason was a bit more difficult to bring up, ''and Milo…''
''What about Milo?'' It came out harshly but Andy couldn't help herself. Andy would always be defensive when it came to any possible criticism about her husband, even if it came from Lu.
''He and I don't really get along, at least most of the time we don't. If we break up… I'll forever be tied to him because I'd have his baby.'' The thought of having to co-parent a child with Milo despite their wildly differing views on practically everything besides Andy… she knew she was committing to that anyway since they were going to raise the child Andy was expecting but at least then they had Andy to run interference, to have it be just the two of them sounded like a nightmare. ''I'm just not sure that if I have another baby I'd want it to be his.''
Andy swallowed hard. ''Okay.''
Lu pulled Andy a bit closer and laid her hand on Andy's now quickly growing baby bump. ''Look, I'd love for him or her and my possible child to be related, genetically, I'm just not sure I can deal with Milo. Just give me some time to think.'' She laid down, turning her back to Andy. It was easier to just fall asleep hoping against hope that her period would arrive in the morning than to risk getting into an all out fight with Andy in the middle of the night.
''Okay.'' Andy laid down behind Lu, wrapping an arm around her and burying her face in her hair. ''So you and Julian never…''
Lu shifted onto her back and faced Andy, surprised that she would ask about this. ''Is that really that hard to believe?''
''I just assumed you did,'' from what Andy had gathered Lu usually didn't wait as long to get intimate with men, and considering that she and Julian had been together for nearly two months… ''Don't you ever miss sleeping with guys?'' It was something she had wondered about often. It was just different with men and she wasn't sure she would be able to give it up as easily as it seemed Lu had.
''Honestly?''
''Honestly.''
''Not really,'' it had surprised Lu too but Andy had been plenty. ''I mean, I'll look at them, but none of them hold my interest like you do.''
''I'm glad.'' The hypocrisy aside Andy was glad to have Lu all to herself. She was sure it would be difficult enough to figure out sleeping schedules and everything with just the three of them and she couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would be with a fourth person in the picture. ''I don't like thinking about you with someone else,'' she added.
''Would you ever be able to give up men all-together?'' Lu asked, knowing she probably wouldn't like the answer. ''I mean if Milo weren't around,'' she could see Andy's face fall at the thought of that, ''would I ever be enough?''
Andy stared at Lu. She wanted to be honest but she wasn't sure what she would honestly do if that were to ever happen. She could feel Lu pull away and grabbed her close, ''how not around are we talking about?''
''Six feet under.''
She tried to imagine Milo dying and having to live life without him and for a second there was a tight feeling in her chest. ''You'd be more than enough, you are more than enough…'' she could see the doubtful look on Lu's face. ''Look, I know it can't be easy to-''
''I know what I signed up for,'' Lu interrupted her.
''You know that I love you and think you deserve the world, or at least much more than I could ever give you,'' Andy said, ''but know that it's a fault within me, not you.''
''Can we drop it for now?'' Lu asked. It was late and all she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't want to think about the possibility of being pregnant, of what would happen if Milo were to ever not be here.
Andy could see the frustration on Lu's face and snuggled into her side, ''okay.''
Lu could feel Andy pull away after a second and groaned, ''what now?'' She turned around to look at Andy who was laying on her back, one of her hands on her belly.
Andy grabbed Lu's hand, laying it down on her belly near her bellybutton where she had just felt a kick, quickly shifting it when she felt a few kicks near her side. ''You feel that?''
Lu stared down at their hands together, feeling the small movements beneath her hand, ''that's the baby…''
''Yeah.'' Andy looked over at Lu who – even after her years of treating pregnant women daily – still looked amazed. ''That's our baby.''
It was a few hours later when Lu was awoken, at first unsure by what until she could hear some soft murmurs coming from Andy. Laying face to face with her Lu could see a slight frown on Andy's face, clearly deeply asleep and dreaming about something.
Despite the many things on her mind she had fallen asleep relatively fast but now all the thoughts came flooding back to her. The thought that she could give her all completely one hundred percent to Andy and never get the same back was painful and it was starting to get to her more and more. In her head she had fully forgiven Andy for what had happened with Nick but yet the memory of that night still popped up often and she couldn't say she was entirely comfortable with them being alone together.
It made her want to cut and run before the possibility of getting hurt again presented itself. It made the possibility of being pregnant that much scarier and it made her wish she would just get her period, not wanting to have to make the choice to keep or abort the baby.
A soft moan coming from Andy pulled Lu from her thoughts. She could feel Andy's hot center against her thigh as Andy grinded against her, one of her hands moving beneath the pajama top Lu was wearing. She softly tickled Andy's arm and could feel her pull away.
''Stop it,'' it came out with a small giggle as Andy rolled onto her back, her own hand moving down her body and resting on her thigh.
Seeing Andy like this reminded Lu why she hadn't just let her go months ago. Just the thought of Andy dreaming about them together turned her on and she briefly considered waking Andy up, ultimately deciding against it knowing that she needed plenty of sleep now that she was pregnant.
She stroked Andy's cheek with her thumb, debating on kissing her and risk waking her up before heading to the bathroom as her bladder was calling attention to itself.
Andy moved her face against Lu's hand.
''Hmm…''
Lu's thumb moved down to Andy's lips, her gaze following.
''Les…''
Lu pulled her hand away like she had been burned. She moved back to the edge of the bed, watching Andy who dreamed on like nothing had happened. There was a moment she just laid there, nearly frozen, unable to decide what to do next.
It had felt like progress when Andy had invited her to come along this weekend, even if it had mostly just been because Milo was out of town and unable to come. It felt like something normal couples did, the kind of stuff Andy usually did with Milo.
It felt like they were finally moving on from the whole Nick incident, but now that progress felt nullified.
Lu sighed as she sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She didn't know why she was still surprised after Andy's hesitation earlier that night on if she could ever just be with her, but she was.
She could hear some more moans coming from Andy and got up off the bed, heading into the bathroom, needing to clear her mind before making an attempt at falling asleep next to Andy moaning someone else's name.
Andy was sitting up against the headboard, already awake for a little while when Lu finally opened her eyes. She smiled down at her. ''Morning.''
''Hey,'' Lu rubbed her eyes as she shifted in the bed, trying to wake herself up more. ''What you got there?''
Andy looked down at the journal in her hands, she had been flipping through the pages, the things that Sarah had told her the night before still at the forefront of her mind. ''My old diary. Seems Sarah was right,'' she showed Lu the page where she had written about their kiss. She handed Lu the journal not caring to read on knowing what it said.
Lu's eyes scanned the page and she flipped to the next one, reading seventeen-year-old Andy's description of the fight that she had had with her father that culminated in him slapping her across the face. ''I'm sorry, about your dad I mean. What he did to you…''
''It's fine.'' Andy shook her head, taking the journal back and throwing it closed on the floor, not wanting to reminisce any longer. ''At least I don't live with him anymore.''
''Still can't be easy,'' Lu said, cuddling up next to Andy. She remembered Andy mentioning that she didn't want to keep their relationship a secret from her family but couldn't imagine her ever following through with actually coming out of the closet about it.
Andy gave her a small smile, ''it's worth it though.''
Lu narrowed her eyes at her, ''yeah? You don't ever wish you were still with Les and didn't have to worry about this?''
''Sorry what?''
''I heard you, okay? You were dreaming and I heard you say his name,'' Lu said, she could already see Andy's argument forming in her head, ''it was pretty clear what kind of a dream it was.''
''Okay so? Does that have to mean something?'' Andy asked, getting up from the bed. ''Just because I had a dream about Les that doesn't mean I want to be with him, for Christ's sake he lives on the other side of the country.''
''I'm not saying that you want to be with him.''
''Then what are you saying?'' Andy couldn't imagine why she would bring it up if she didn't have this in mind.
''I'm saying that you hesitate before you can even say that I could ever be enough for you. You created that whole situation with Nick and now you're dreaming about Les as well and yet somehow you don't understand how I could have doubts about having Milo's baby,'' her hand landed on her lower belly, ''a child that might not even exist.''
''So why are we arguing about it? Just take the damn test and find out,'' Andy bit her lip. She hadn't meant to curse, she never did, but it had just come out.
''That's not what I mean.''
''So you're mad because I needed a moment when imagining a life without my husband?''
''I'm mad that you would give up me to have Milo but never the other way around,'' Lu said. ''I'm mad that you don't love me as much you love him.'' She could see the tears in Andy's eyes and her own eyes burned too, ''how can you expect me to make this major commitment to not just you but him too when, when it really comes down to it, I don't matter as much.''
Andy's shoulders slumped, ''oh my god,'' she said, sitting down on the bed, ''we're just never going to stop having this fight, are we?'' She buried her face in her hands, trying to stop tears from falling but failing.
Lu could feel her arms dropping to her side. Having Andy not immediately deny it made it even more painful and she wasn't prepared for it.
''I don't know what I'd do it if I ever had to choose between you two, I really don't. I don't even want to think about that ever happening,'' Andy said honestly. ''I'm not gonna lie and say that how I feel about you both isn't different, because it is. It's not that I love him or you more or less, it's just different. I don't know what it is, maybe because our relationship was so much more focused on the physical aspect, my mind just sometimes has trouble equating the two and I'm sorry for that.'' She grabbed Lu's hands in her own, ''and as for me dreaming about Les…'' she was so done with apologizing for what had happened with Nick and wasn't gonna bring that up again, but if she could put Lu's fears about something happening between her and Les at ease then she would do that gladly, ''I'm sure it's just because I saw him last night for the first time in a long time, we have a lot of memories together and to be frank, I'm horny all the time,'' she didn't remember this as much from her previous pregnancies but her hormones were raging.
Lu sighed, ''okay, fine. I'm sorry I brought it up.''
Andy looked up at Lu, ''maybe you and me and Milo can do something together sometime, maybe if you two had a better bond it would make things easier.''
Lu shrugged, ''you could let me be more involved with the pregnancy,'' she suggested. ''I get that most of the developments to do with the baby happened while we were broken up but I wanna be included in the decisions, I wanna help decorate the nursery, I wanna be there with the ultrasounds,'' she thought about the ultrasound scan that she carried with her, ''I want more than just a smudged up picture of the scan and the promise that I'll be included when the baby is here.''
''We have barely discussed the baby these past few months,'' Andy countered, ''and I didn't give you a smudged picture.''
''Yes you did,'' Lu pulled her handbag closer, pulling it out and shoving it in Andy's hands as she sat down on the bed as well.
Andy glanced down at it, ''you mean the baby?'' She asked. It was barely visible as the ultrasound had happened when she was only 7 weeks along. Seeing the barely visible baby on the picture next to her ever growing baby bump just reminded her that she really needed to have another ultrasound. At least at this point in the pregnancy an ultrasound could identify any possible problems with the baby and hopefully put her mind at ease about all the concerns she had about it constantly in the back of her mind.
''No,'' Lu said, pointing at the smudge at the edge of the picture. It had bothered her only slightly, feeling like she got the messed up copy since she didn't matter as much, and she knew she was blowing it out of proportion but it had stung a bit.
''That's not a smudge,'' Andy said, wiping the picture on her pants before looking back at it again, biting her lip when it was still there, ''actually I don't know what that is.'' She now couldn't remember if the small black mass had been present on the other pictures as well. She glanced at Lu before looking away, her mind racing.
''I'm sure it's nothing,'' Lu said, taking the picture back and putting it away, wishing she had never shown it to Andy in the first place. She could sense Andy's worries and felt bad for causing them. As she attempted to convince herself it truly was nothing she wrapped an arm around Andy's shoulders. ''How about we just check it out tomorrow?''
Andy's eyes followed Lu as she walked to the ladies' room. They had joined Sarah for brunch and it hadn't been long until they had run out of stuff to talk about. They hadn't spent enough time together in high school to reminisce much now and didn't have enough in common to change the subject.
Lu saying that she needed to use the bathroom had ended an uncomfortable silence.
''So…'' Sarah started, her eyes darting around as she tried to think of something to think about. ''I heard that you got nomina-''
''Ehh,'' Andy quickly put up her hand, stopping Sarah mid-sentence, ''I'd really prefer not to talk about that, I haven't discussed it with Lu.'' She knew how difficult it must've been to find something to talk about and now she had eliminated another thing, ''how'd you ever hear about that?''
''People talk.'' Sarah said simply. ''So how is it staying with your parents?''
''It's okay. I found my old diary, got to read all about that kiss we had,'' Andy said, blushing a little bit, embarrassed for her teenage old self's actions.
''I can't believe you don't remember,'' Sarah said, ''that was my first kiss, you know.'' It hadn't been the ideal situation for a first kiss but at the time she had felt glad she had gotten it over with even if it hadn't ended in a steamy relationship the likes of which she only knew from her mother's romance novels.
''Oh god I'm so sorry,'' Andy said, a small laugh escaping. ''I can't believe how long it's been, high school doesn't feel that long ago.''
''Twenty-five years,'' Sarah nodded, ''and the boys still haven't grown up.'' She had only rolled her eyes when her old classmates – the guys mainly – had discussed pulling a prank on the new principal the previous night.
Andy laughed, mostly just to fill the silence. She looked down at her watch, ''Lu is really taking her time,'' she said. When Sarah didn't respond she stood up, ''I'm just going to go check on her real quick, she wasn't feeling well earlier and…'' she didn't even finish the sentence before walking off. She could hear muffled sounds coming from inside as she knocked on the door, ''Lu are you in there?''
After their discussion the previous night and that morning she wouldn't blame Lu if she had just simply left, taking her chance. Sure, the argument had already been mostly forgotten by both of them when they looked down at the ultrasound picture but Andy knew that everything that had been said Lu was still repeating in her head.
Lu opened the door the slightest bit, allowing Andy to step inside. Her eyes were still red although the tears on her cheeks had already mostly dried. ''What?'' She asked, wondering why Andy had come looking for her.
''Are you okay?'' Andy asked, pulling Lu into an embrace and feeling Lu shake in her arms.
Lu shook her head, ''it's nothing, it's stupid.'' She pulled away and took a couple of sheets of toilet paper from the roll to pad her eyes dry.
''Lu, talk to me.''
''It's…'' Lu sighed, ''I was thinking about what we talked about this morning and I wanted to call Isabel to talk about it and then-'' she didn't even need to use the bathroom and had already gone searching for some payphones until she remembered that nobody would be there to pick up.
''I'm sorry,'' Andy whispered. She grabbed Lu's face, kissing her softly, wishing she could take the pain away. Lu hadn't mentioned Isabel much at all and Andy had known it would only be a matter of time until the grief would fully hit her, she just hadn't expected it to happen right now.
''It's okay,'' Lu said, leaning back against the wall. ''I'm just used to being able to call her when something happens and I… I just really need her right now.''
''You know you can always talk to me, right?'' Andy asked, leaning her forehead against Lu's, ''or maybe Lana.'' She kissed Lu's temple before pulling her close again, feeling Lu cry into her shirt.
Lu nodded, pulling away. She wanted to put Isabel out of her mind for now. ''Let's just go back out there, I'm sure Sarah misses all the riveting conversation we were having.''
Andy chuckled, ''how about we just cut the brunch short?''
''Yes, please.''
Andy followed Lu back to the table, trying to think of an excuse as to why they had to leave.
She listened to Lu and Sarah discussing some stuff, barely listening until rejoining the conversation, ready to call it quits until Sarah changed the subject.
''Congrats on the baby by the way,'' Sarah said between sips of her coffee, ''you must be really excited.''
After their conversation from that morning Andy wondered how Lu would respond.
''We are,'' Lu said, putting her hand on Andy's belly, feeling a kick.
''So who's the father?''
Andy swallowed hard. She hadn't planned on bringing up Milo at all though – when she thought about – she thought Sarah might understand their relationship. ''Just a friend,'' it came out before she had decided what to say. She caught Lu looking at her questioningly before turning back to Sarah.
''Wow, you know my ex-girlfriend and I talked about having kids but somehow it just never happened… I think it's wonderful that you guys are taking this step,'' Sarah said. The last thing she had expected the previous night was to see Andy pregnant but now that she could see the relationship Andy and Lu had she knew that their kid was going to be lucky to be raised with two great moms.
''We're very excited,'' Lu said softly, her hand grabbing Andy's, their fingers interlacing.
''Hey,'' Andy pulled the door shut behind her as she stepped onto her parents' back porch, joining Les.
The previous night she had agreed to him coming over to have dinner with her parents and vaguely heard him mention something he wanted to discuss with her but couldn't imagine what. Before the reunion she hadn't seen him for almost a year, even their phone calls tended to be short and to the point, it felt strange to now see him two days in a row and she felt bad being alone with him after her dream.
''Hi.'' With his hands in his pockets he looked exactly like he had when they were in high school, boy-ish and innocent, so very different from how she was used to seeing him.
''So what's up?'' She wrapped her arms around herself, it being chillier than expected.
''Just wanted to give you a heads up, I'm moving back to Philadelphia in a few weeks,'' he said.
For a moment she was speechless, after her dream she needed this even less than she had before. ''How come?'' She asked even though she knew he didn't owe her a reason, ''I mean, not that I'm not thrilled,'' not for herself but she was for their daughters, ''but why? Why now?''
''Well, it's a lot closer to where Jesse is and it'll give me some time to spend with Lizzy before she goes off to college… I want to be in their lives more, Andy,'' he knew it wasn't a guarantee that he would actually see them as Andy had been granted full custody but he had hope she would facilitate their relationship.
''I'm sure they'll love to see you more,'' she said, sitting down on the fence, watching him as he sat down next to her. ''Did you find a job, or…?'' She didn't know what to say.
''I'll be coming down in a few weeks to sort all that out but the company approved my transfer so it should all be fine,'' he had been preparing for a while and it showed.
Andy watched his lips move while not really listening to him as he discussed plans with her; the apartment he had applied for, how he was going to move all his stuff across the country, activities he wanted to do with their daughters when they were with him for the weekend or whenever.
All she could hope was that this move wouldn't affect her life too much. Before she knew it her mom called them both in for dinner.
Glancing at the clock she realized how much time had passed and felt bad for leaving Lu alone with her parents that long. She took a seat next to her at the dining table, her eyes on Les as he sat down across from her.
''This all looks great, mo-'' Les caught himself before the word had left his mouth. He hadn't seen Andy's parents since the divorce and was so used to referring to them as mom and dad, ''Liz, I mean. I-it looks great Liz.''
Andy looked over at Lu who was clearly uncomfortable. She joined hands with both Lu and Les as her father said grace and was glad Milo wasn't there to make the whole situation even more uncomfortable. It was over quickly and she wiped her hands on her jeans.
''So, Andy, what's been going on with you?'' Liz asked, mostly just to make polite conversation. There had been several moments where she had picked up the phone to call Andy only to hang up before anyone picked up. Their relationship had been strained since she had found out about Andy and Lu's relationship and she didn't want to risk Andy bringing that up and her having it turn into another fight.
They had had only short conversations over the course of the weekend and she was glad to now have a chance to actually catch up with her daughter.
''I heard you got nominated for surgeon general,'' Andrew said, interrupting before Andy could even respond to her mother, ''and that you turned it down.''
Andy could feel her blood turn cold as everyone's eyes were on her. ''I did.'' She said simply, picking up her utensils and taking a bite from her food as she tried to stop herself from looking at Lu.
''You didn't tell me that,'' Les said. He could sense that everyone else thought it was a bigger deal than he thought it was.
''Well it's really none of your business,'' Andy said harshly. The only thing they had really talked about since he had packed up and moved to California was stuff to do with their daughters, she didn't see why she would ever have to tell him.
''Andy.''
The slightly threatening tone in her mother's voice got on Andy's nerves. She knew it hadn't been the most polite thing she had ever said but it wasn't her mother's place to comment on how she talked to her ex-husband.
Lu looked back from Liz to Andy, ''Andy?'' Her tone was soft. ''Is that true?''
''Lu, it's not that big a deal,'' Andy said, it was almost a whisper. She truly didn't want to have this conversation in front of her family, actually she didn't want to have this conversation at all.
''Why did you turn it down?'' Lu asked confused. From what she had gathered over the years it had been Andy's lifelong goal to become surgeon general, to think that she had not even mentioned a nomination…
''Lu…''
Liz' jaw had slightly dropped, ''is this because of her?'' She asked, her eyes finally meeting her daughter's eyes when she had avoided them all weekend.
Andy could feel anger rise in her body. The way the word ''her'' had come out, it said so much about what her mother thought about Lu and their relationship, ''mom, stay out of this.''
''What are you talking about?'' Andrew asked as he dropped his fork to his plate, much more interested in what his wife was implying than the food on his plate. He turned to Andy, ''what's your mother talking about?''
''Lu, I think it's time for us to leave,'' Andy said, getting up from her chair. She could see Les shrink down in his chair, clearly reconsidering his decision to have dinner with them.
''Is it because you didn't want Milo finding out about your infidelity?'' Liz asked, ignoring her husband's questions. She could feel him grab her arm and finally looked at him, ''they are involved with each other.''
He stood up as well. ''Andy?'' He threw his napkin down on the table.
''Dad.''
''Is this-?''
''I'm sorry.'' She truly was. All her life she had strived to be the daughter they wanted but could never live up to their expectations, she just hoped that her parents would let her leave in peace. She could see he needed to hear the full story before he would even think about letting her leave, ''I'm sorry but it's true, Lu and I are… together.''
He shook his head, ''no daughter of mine is going to throw her life away for some dyke relationship-'' he sputtered, unable to form the words he needed to express his disdain.
''Dad…'' she could feel tears threatening to fall but refused to allow herself to shed any tears over her parents' small-mindedness. She softly pushed Lu to the hallway, getting between her father and girlfriend as she took a few steps backwards, waiting until she was far enough from her father that she could turn around and run.
''Young lady where do you think you're going?'' Andrew grabbed Andy, his hand encircling her upper arm. ''What do you have to say for yourself?''
''I'm not going to apologize for my feelings,'' Andy said, trying to pull her arm away from his iron grip. Apologizing was what she had done when he had confronted her 25-years earlier, it was what she had done her whole life, and she was sick of it. ''Now please let me go.''
''It's all because of that girl Sarah, isn't it? She tried to make you like her and now you've thrown away all your values for some woman?!'' He could feel her trying to pull away but tightened his grip, ''I don't know who you are!''
''I'm the daughter you raised! It's still me, I haven't changed,'' Andy fired back. She could feel a bruise forming on her arm and tried to pry his fingers loose, ''let me go.''
''If you choose her you're not my daughter anymore,'' Andrew threatened, lowering his voice, looking into the eyes of the daughter he barely recognized anymore. He could feel her struggle but needed her to say the words before he let her go.
Andy could feel a few tears start to fall, ''I'm sorry,'' she repeated. It came out a few times before she could finally feel him release his grip and felt a stinging pain spread through her temple, her ear ringing. She stumbled backwards, the whole room going quiet as she lifted her hand to where she was sure a red mark was forming. She could feel her father's contempt as she looked at him, she looked over at her mother who was clearly in shock, then to Les who was watching her, speechless.
She finally turned on her heel, grabbing Lu's arm and pulling her out the door behind her.