Hello,
I'm sorry it took so long!
I've been very busy and haven't had time to continue writing. Unfortunately, I can't promise that it will go any faster now. (I'm writing a lot of exams)
Sorry :-(
I hope you enjoy the chapter all the more!
Chapter 6
Lemon was nervous. Although she had said that she didn't care how George's parents would take the news, she couldn't deny that she wasn't exactly reassured by the prospect of the conversation. She had spent the last half hour waiting for George to come and get her. And that half hour had been enough to make her excitement slowly rise. Even though the drive to his parents' house would take another two and a half hours.
The doorbell rang. Lemon was already standing in the hallway and opened the door directly for George.
"Good morning," he greeted her with a smile. "Are you nervous?" he wanted to know immediately after he had looked at her briefly. George knew her just too well. Even if she tried to play something up to him, he would quickly see through it.
"A little," she admitted.
"It'll work out." George said confidently, or maybe he was just trying not to make Lemon's nervousness worse. "Can we go?"
"Yes," Lemon replied, grabbing her handbag and pulling the front door shut behind her. George's car was parked on the sidewalk and Lemon got in.
It was strange. Some memories just wouldn't go away. George's truck always made Lemon feel safe. As if she still belonged here. Lemon automatically thought of the thousands of times she had driven somewhere with George in this car. Her eyes fell on the glove compartment that used to be her second handbag. What did George keep in it now?
As if he had noticed her glance, George said: "I've brought something to drink and a few snacks for you. After all, the journey takes a while."
So it was her things that George had in his glove compartment again. Lemon had to smile involuntarily. "Thanks."
George had started the engine by now and soft radio music was playing in the car. They sat in silence for the first few minutes of the drive. The advantage of a fifteen-year relationship was that it was okay not to say anything. You didn't feel like you had to have forced conversations all the time. However, it wasn't always easy to distinguish between being silent together and simply having nothing to share. Lemon wasn't sure which of the two was the case. The few years had been enough to turn her and George into completely different people.
"We would have been married for over two years."
Lemon had no idea why she suddenly spoke her thought out loud. As soon as she did, she wanted to take the words back. George next to her seemed frozen. Lemon stared compulsively out of the windshield at the road. She didn't want to see the look on George's face. She was afraid he would look at her with pity. To George, it must have sounded as if she was alone and still mourning their relationship. And that wasn't the case. It was just that the baby and all the time she spent with George because of it triggered all these thoughts in her. George hadn't said anything yet. Lemon wished she had thought before she said something like that.
Suddenly she felt a touch. George had briefly let go of the car's gearshift and reached for her hand instead. He gently interlaced his fingers with hers.
"Yes, we would." he simply agreed. Nothing more. Then he let go of her hand. There was nothing more he could have said.
Fortunately, the rest of the journey was without any further emotional outbursts. George talked about crazy cases he'd been working on lately and Lemon listened to him most of the time, grateful that he'd taken over the conversation without being asked.
Lemon realized that talking to George was a lot less complicated than she had thought. The two and a half hours flew by. However, when George's parents' house was only ten minutes away, Lemon's nervousness began to return.
"What exactly did you tell your parents?" she asked.
"Well, I just told them that I'd like to visit. And I said that I was bringing someone else with me. I didn't think it would be wise to give them no warning at all, but if I had said that you were the one, my mother would have had a week to get herself into something. I wanted to avoid that."
Lemon nodded. "" Okay.
They were there. Lemon took one deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm herself. George looked over at her and smiled reassuringly. "It'll be fine."
Lemon got out of the truck and looked across the paved road to the house. Actually, it wasn't even anything new that she was nervous before visiting George's parents. Only the reasons had been different before. She gave herself a push and set off. It would be best if she just got it over with.
George rang the doorbell. Lemon beside him looked composed. But George saw how she had clasped her hands together.
His attention was diverted from Lemon when the front door opened. His mother was standing there.
"Hello, George. I'm so happy..." she fell silent as her gaze fell on Lemon. Her mouth stopped slightly open in astonishment.
"Hi mom. I told you I'd bring someone."
His mother frowned, then turned her head over her shoulder to look back into the house.
"Harold! You should come and see the visitor accompanying our son." She called to the back.
Lemon straightened her shoulders. She wouldn't let anything get her down. Nevertheless, George would much prefer it if his mother wasn't so dismissive. George's father now came into the hallway.
"George, my son. I'm glad to see you!"
He shook George's hand and gave him a friendly pat on the back. Then he turned to Lemon. For a moment, he too was quite surprised at who was standing there. His eyes flicked back to George as if he was trying to find an answer or an explanation for the situation on George's face. But then George's father looked back at Lemon and smiled at her.
"Lemon. What a surprise! Nice to welcome you here."
He shook Lemon's hand. Lemon returned his smile, a little surprised, but clearly delighted. George was relieved. At least his father seemed to accept the situation. Actually, despite his confusion, he seemed genuinely pleased that Lemon was here.
"I'm glad too, Mr. Tucker," Lemon said.
"Aren't you going to invite our guests in?" George's father now asked his wife. She glared at him angrily. When she looked back at George and Lemon, she put a fake smile on her lips.
"Of course. Come in." She stepped aside.
"Thank you very much. By the way, I'm glad to see you too, Mrs. Tucker." The coldness in Lemon's voice was unmistakable as she walked past George's mother with her head held high.
George had to bite his lips to keep from grinning proudly. He had always known that Lemon was perfectly capable of standing up to his mother, if only she would try. It looked like the time had come for Lemon to stop trying to please his mother.
In the dining room, the table was already set for lunch. A delicious aroma came from the kitchen. George sat next to Lemon at the table. His mother and father also came into the room. Mrs. Tucker had a very critical look on her face. George's father instead reached for a bottle of wine on the table.
"Well, we should drink to the day first, don't you think?" He was obviously trying to lighten the mood and make up for his wife's lack of hospitality. However, alcohol was probably not the best idea.
George straightened up inside. It was better to tell everything from the start.
"Actually, there's something we really wanted to tell you."
His mother's look became even more skeptical. "Well, I'm curious." She sat down opposite George, her husband also took a seat next to her.
"First of all: Lemon and I are not together. But we still have big news."
George's father raised an eyebrow in irritation. Before George could continue, Lemon had taken the floor. She had sat up in her chair.
"I'm pregnant. I'm going to have George's child."
The reaction to her words was predictable and severe. George's father's mouth simply dropped open. His mother turned around so quickly to receive a confirming nod from George that she knocked over a glass of water in the process. The liquid ran slowly across the table and was absorbed by the tablecloth. After that, there was complete torpor. Under the table, George reached for Lemon's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Lemon returned the squeeze so hard it almost hurt.
"How...you're not...how come she's having your baby?" The way George's mother asked the question, as if Lemon wasn't present, made George angry. Still, it was a valid question.
"I'd just say there was a lot of alcohol involved and leave it at that," George said defensively. "In any case, we'll keep the child and take care of it together." he added, emphasizing the word together. It wasn't about where the baby came from, but about the fact that they were going to have a baby.
George's mother still seemed undecided about how to deal with the information. Meanwhile, George's father had got up and walked around the table. When he reached George, he pulled him up and gave him a quick hug. "That's great news! Congratulations!"
His father gave him a genuine smile before turning to Lemon. "Congratulations to you too, of course," he said cheerfully. Lemon stared at him in amazement, while George's father briefly put his hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly at her.
"Um... Thanks, Dad," George mumbled, a little surprised at the genuine joy. Then his gaze fell back on his mother. She still looked quite shocked, even if she had recovered enough to give George's father a dirty look. That was enough for George. He stood up.
"Mom. I'd like to have a word with you. Alone."
He looked back at Lemon to see if she agreed. She nodded curtly.
George's mother also stood up. "A good idea," she said and stepped out into the hallway. George followed her and closed the door behind him.
In the hallway, his mother stood waiting for him with her eyebrows raised and her hands clasped in front of her chest. " So...?"
"Mom, what is this? You're acting impossible! Lemon hasn't done anything to you, she's pregnant, dammit!" It took George a lot of effort to keep his voice calm.
"Yes, I understood that she's pregnant. And to be honest, I'm more than shocked. I thought you had your life a bit more under control." George's mother replied coolly.
"My life under control? Is that what this is about? That means if I had shown up here with any other woman, you would have reacted the same way? It has nothing to do with Lemon at all?" George asked challengingly.
His mother opened her mouth and closed it again without making a sound.
"I thought so." George shook his head.
"You're not right for each other. I thought you'd finally realized that after the failed wedding and now this. I just want that you're doing well!"
"If you really wanted the best for me, it would be a good start if you let me make my own decisions instead of constantly interfering in my life and messing things up. You've never liked Lemon and I don't understand why. She's only ever tried to please you. You have no reason to behave like that towards her!" George had inevitably become louder. His mother just made him angry.
"I know that."
George didn't believe a word she said.
"But a baby. Your whole life will change because of it!"
"Why does that have to be a bad thing. For me, becoming a father is a huge happiness. And you know, I was aware that you wouldn't be jubilant about it, but I thought you could at least be a little bit happy about it. It's Lemon's child, but it's also your grandchild. If you don't want anything to do with it, then keep on doing what you're doing. I can't imagine Lemon will be visiting you with the baby very often if you keep treating her like this!"
His mother stood there frozen for a moment. Slowly, her eyes turned to the closed door behind which was the dining room. "I'm going to be a grandmother." she breathed tonelessly.
Lemon sat at the table. From the hallway, she heard the loud voices of George and Mrs. Tucker, who were obviously arguing, even though Lemon could not understand anything. She didn't really want to hear it either. Meanwhile, Mr. Tucker had fetched a cleaning cloth from the kitchen to wipe up the spilled water. Lemon unconsciously glanced at the closed door. Mr. Tucker sighed slightly when he noticed this.
"I must apologize for my wife. She's behaving quite inappropriately. I'm very sorry about that."
"It's not your fault," Lemon replied, "It's not as if I didn't expect such a reaction. I'm already glad that you're happy, Mr. Tucker." Lemon smiled a little.
"I am." agreed Mr. Tucker. "You can call me Harold, by the way. After all, we've known each other long enough for that, I think."
Surprised again, Lemon looked up at George's father. "Thank you," she smiled and added, "Harold."
At that moment, the door opened and Mrs. Tucker stepped into the room closely followed by George. She walked in and stopped a few steps away from Lemon. Lemon had rarely or never seen the self-confident woman as unsure as she was now. Lemon tried to catch George's gaze to find out what she could expect, but couldn't interpret his expression.
"Lemon, I'm sorry." Mrs. Tucker began, 'I've been acting unfairly towards you." She looked at Lemon as if expecting a reaction. Lemon nodded slightly. Mrs. Tucker continued.
"I'm probably the last person you'd want as a grandmother for your child. But it seems that neither of us can change that fact. So I hope you'll give me another chance. I would really like to take care of the baby with you and help raise it. And, even if you have a thousand good reasons not to, I hope you'll let me try my best."
Lemon was speechless. She would never have dreamed of receiving an apology this quickly.
"And also, congratulations," George's mother added meekly.
A smile began to spread across Lemon's lips. "Thank you very much. Maybe it won't be so bad after all."
Mrs. Tucker also smiled with relief.
Late in the evening, Lemon and George arrived back in Bluebell. Lemon opened the door to her apartment and turned back to George.
"You were right. It really wasn't that terrible," she said, then added with a hint of bitterness in her voice, 'I wish I'd known earlier that a baby would be enough to make your parents like me."
George sighed. "That would have helped."
"Although maybe it wasn't so much the baby itself, but the fact that the baby is the only thing that connects us. No relationships, promises or rings." Lemon didn't say it reproachfully. It was simply an assumption she had. George still looked pretty unhappy. For a moment he just stared at Lemon, then he seemed to snap out of it.
"Lemon can I come in? I need to talk to you."
Lemon didn't know what to make of George's behavior, but she would probably find out soon enough. They went into the house together and sat down on the sofa. Lemon looked at George, waiting. "Okay...?" George closed his eyes briefly.
"When you showed up at my place a few weeks ago, you said that this one night has more consequences than either of us expected. You were absolutely right. And I already knew one of those consequences before you told me about the baby. That night has had consequences for me too."
Lemon frowned as George took a deep breath and continued.
"I fell in love with you again that night."
Lemon felt like all the air had gone out of her lungs. She must have fallen asleep. That couldn't really have happened. This was too... It was...
"And I tried to ignore the feelings. I thought they would go away. But they didn't."
"George," Lemon finally managed to say with some difficulty. "We did try. We went on that date and ... it didn't work."
"Exactly. We were on a date. As if that was something normal that we could just do. We started it all wrong. Plus, we had the wrong ideas because Zoe made us believe things that weren't true."
Lemon was struggling to breathe. Thousands of thoughts were racing through her head. She didn't know what to say.
"And now? I mean, I never thought about the two of us ever... How do you imagine that?"
"I realize we can't just get together. I don't want to put you under pressure or overwhelm you. I thought" George hesitated "we'll be spending a lot of time together in the near future, and maybe - now that you know how I feel - maybe you'll be able to figure out for yourself how you feel. And whether you can imagine trying again."
There was no mistaking the hope in his voice. Lemon swallowed. It sounded good. And simple. Too simple. And nevertheless tempting.
"And if it doesn't work? The baby will still be there."
George had to see the risk. They could both end up with their hearts broken again and a child together. Lemon had just started to get used to the idea of raising a child with George. A relationship would make things much more complicated again.
"Then we'll manage anyway. We'll still take care of the baby together. It won't be easy, of course, but it can be done. It's just important that you tell me if it gets too much for you or if it just... doesn't work. We'll learn to move on."
Lemon stared at George. The man she had spent fifteen years of her life with. The one she had loved. The man she had a baby with. Who had left her at her wedding. And who had just told her he had feelings for her. And Lemon knew as she looked at him that she was already in too deep to make it easy.
"Okay." Lemon replied without really realizing it. "I think that's a plan." She smiled shakily at George.
He returned her smile. "I don't expect anything from you. It's just a try. A second try."