'God gives us rainbows,

to remind us of hope.'

Chapter 6: Unexpected Visit: July

I stood eagerly at the gate, waiting for my father. I had recently told my parents about the baby, and my dad immediately booked his ticket to visit.

I was excited to see him as I hadn't, in person, since Penny and I travelled over to New York two-years-ago, but I had spoken to him over the phone... slightly.

Again, my father was the only one who seemed happy with the announcement. My mother was still uncertain in my opinion even though she didn't say it, but that was how I expected her to react, and that wasn't something new.

"Son!" His voice boomed in front as I peered over the crowd of people.

I spotted him and pushed my way through parade of people trying to find their way.

"Dad!" I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Leonard, I'm glad you haven't changed." He chuckled,

"Well, that's not the weirdest thing I've ever heard you say." I admitted as he beamed over at me.

I opened the front door as Penny was standing behind it. My dad immediately walked through and hugged her.

"Well, isn't that the cutest baby bump ever?" He smiled, as I shut the door.

"Thank you, Alfred." Penny gushed, "You look great too." She smiled. "Leonard.." She started, her voice completely changing tone.

"Yeah?" I skittishly asked, looking her in the eyes.

"Your mom's here." She sighed, pointing over to the couch.

I peered around the corner to see my mom sitting cautiously on the couch, with her back to the door. I immediately saw the hatred in my father before I pulled him away to the side.

"What is she doing here?" He asked,

"I don't know. She didn't say she was coming, she just turned up out of the blue." Penny explained, joining me and my dad. "She got here about ten minutes after you left." She whispered, looking over at me.

I looked behind me to see my mother carefully examining the living room.

"Go and talk to her." Penny said, pushing me forward toward her.

"Why me?" I questioned, turning around to face Penny.

"Cause, she's your mother." She persuaded, leading my dad into the kitchen.

I awkwardly placed my hands in my pockets and approached the woman that I hadn't seen in four years.

The last time we had spoken, before I told her about the baby, was a complete accident because I had called the wrong number.

"Hi, mother." I nervously smiled, walking past the arm of the couch.

She turned to face me, with a withered smile. I felt a shiver down my spine as I didn't feel like saying anything else.

"It's a nice surprise to have you here." I panicked, instantly regretting it.

"Please, this was nothing more than a pleasant meeting." She scoffed, her attention still in the room.

"So, I'm guessing that you heard about the baby... Well, I did call you to tell you about it.. So obviously you have heard about her-"I stuttered.

"Leonard," She interjected as I immediately stopped. "Can I just say, before you get all talkative about it, that I am very proud of you and Penny, for moving on so quickly-"

"I wouldn't say we've moved on." I blurted.

My mom looked over at me like I had just murdered a homeless person in front of the president. I immediately avoided eye contact from her as she continued to stare at me for interrupting her.

"You didn't say she could come, did you?" I asked.

"Leonard, why would I invite her if I know you had a rough relationship?" Penny questioned back.

Penny gazed through to my eyes as I tried to think of an answer.

"I told you once, and I will tell you again, she just showed up." She insisted.

"Okay, I believe you." I smiled, giving her a hug.

Penny pulled away before cautiously looked around the kitchen, making sure that my mother wasn't standing behind us, eavesdropping, which she would do from time-to-time.

"Good morning, Leonard." My mother greeted, walking through the bedroom door.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" I asked, folding up the clean laundry.

"Pleasantly. I suspect you did too."

I nodded, whilst keeping my head down. Creating eye contact with my mom usually ended badly... For me anyways.

My mother continued to examine the bedroom, taking in every last detail.

"Is something on your mind?" I loudly sighed.

"I was just wanting to know what you and Penny are doing today." She mentioned, still looking around.

"Not much." I said, hoping she wouldn't suggest anything. "We've got an appointment later." I added.

"Can I come with you?" She quietly asked.

I was shocked that she was actually taking an interest in something I was going to do.

"Yeah, if your okay with being with dad, cause he's coming too."

"That wrinkled old-" She began.

"Beverly!" Penny interrupted, walking up behind her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." She apologized, turning to face Penny, who was pulling a mad face, which was pretty cute.

I rolled my eyes over at Penny as my mom stared over at me, after catching what I had just done.

I flashed a grin over to my mom as she looked like I had just insulted her. I looked away, trying to hide my laughter.

2009:

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, walking out from my bedroom.

"You're in trouble." Penny smiled, her voice in a singsong tone.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were tapping my homegirl?" My mom asked, stumbling across toward me. "Did I say that right?" She asked, turning back to Penny.

"Not bad. Not bad." She smirked.

"Are you guys drunk?" I questioned.

"Well, I would hope so. Otherwise, why would we have stopped at Del Taco?" She mumbled, taking her purse off over her head. "Now, why didn't you tell me you were in a relationship with this lovely, charming young woman?" She asked, wrapping her arm around Penny's shoulder.

I still stood in disbelief as I saw Penny blushing.

"Thank you." Penny gushed.

"You're welcome." She smiled, turning to her quickly. "Is it because she's uneducated, trapped in a menial service position?"

"What the hell happened to lovely and charming?" Penny questioned as I felt myself smiling inside.

"How come you didn't tell me that you and Father were getting a divorce? How come you didn't tell me you had surgery? How come you didn't tell me my dog died?" I said, clenching my fist.

My mother exhaled a few stuttering breaths as she got closer toward me.

"What I hear you saying is that you would want a more intimate mother-son relationship."

"I do." I answered, thinking about what would happen next.

I felt intimidated as my mother hugged me, something I wished she did more when I was younger.

"There." She said, pulling me away from her. "It's late. Now, go to bed."

I cautiously walked through up to my bedroom, still looking through over to her.

I could see, in the corner of my eye, that my parents were trying not to bicker in the back of the room. The whole of the time in the office, I could tell they were struggling to be in the same room together. Fourteen-years from the divorce, and they still couldn't stay in the same room without feeling the urge to fight.

As Penny's due date approached, hearing the heartbeat was the highlight of my day. Just knowing that my daughter was okay, life didn't get any better than that.

Howard angrily kept muttering to himself as she kept moving out of sight, leaving me and Penny in giggles whenever she did so.

"She's not even born yet, and she's already a trouble maker." My dad smiled, as Doctor Perry was quietly getting angry with her.

"Just like you then." My mother grunted, looking away from my dad.

I glared up at my father, to stop him from continuing with her. He smiled over at me, before I turned my attention back over to Penny.

"Okay, you little bugger. You may be camera shy, but I'm not going to give up that easily." Howard smirked, eyes glued to the screen as I noticed he had switched to concentration mode.

Penny looked over at me as I smiled at her. She rolled her eyes as Doctor Perry was still complaining by the monitor.

I stood behind the wall, separating the living room from the kitchen, listening to the conversation between my mom and dad, whilst trying not to be caught.

This was the first time they had talked a proper conversation without fighting since I was a child, but I was only listening because it was about Bentley.

"It was a tragic thing for both of them. I don't want to see it happen again. It wouldn't be fair." My father whispered, luckily loud enough for me to hear.

"Yes. I can agree with you on that. I've never noticed Leonard that depressed before, apart from the time when he was eight and he won that science ribbon."

"That was your own fault."

I laughed silently remembering the days when my mom humiliated me in public, luckily keeping my location for myself.

"It's just he's in a really good place, and he's so excited to have this baby. I just hope the hospital staff aren't so unreliable this time. And I hope her heartbeat is the same for the rest of her life." My dad added.

He was right, for once. I could wait for this baby to be here. And I hoped the nurses weren't as crap as last time.

I could feel something bubbling away as I rethought about what happened on October 30th. Everything was just coming back, the anxiety, the pain, the depression, the guilt.

"Losing Bentley was one of the hardest things, not only for them, but for me too. He was my grandson. No grandfather should outlive their grandchildren." My father sighed.

I heard my mother nod loudly, as I tried my hardest not to cry. Not because my mom and dad were agreeing on something. Because I was picturing the depression again. Thinking about how hard it would be, losing the baby that we have already grown attached too.