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Johnny was caring for the garden when she arrived. He was doing his best at pruning the bushes by the stream that ran across the yard, even though he knew Daniel was better at this type of work than he was. He wanted to help him, though; the man had been so busy at work, he just hadn’t had the time to do it.
Johnny looked at the plant, wondering where he should cut it next so it would look nice, when he heard her opening the gate.
It was Sam. He dropped the scissors by the bush then went to greet her.
“Hey, Sam!” He smiled, enveloping her in a big quick hug. “Your dad’s at the dealership...”
“Yeah, I... I wanted to talk with you.”
Johnny furrowed his brows as he saw the anguish in her face.
“Sure.” He led her inside the house. “Come on in.”
They walked inside and Sam sat at the table. Johnny poured her a cup of coffee, scared to wonder what must have brought her there in the middle of the morning, wanting to talk with him. He handed her the mug and sat down himself.
“Is everything alright?” He whispered.
He watched her eyes filled up in tears in a second, as she diverted her gaze hoping he wouldn’t notice, but he did.
“Sam, what’s wrong?” He questioned her, moving his chair closer to her.
She didn’t answer, focused on the task at hand of not letting those tears escape.
“Is... is someone hurt?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” She assured him, and he was instantly relieved.
“Is it Miguel? Did you guys have a fight or something?”
She shook her head, but then the tears finally ran down her face, he was onto something.
“Hey...” He tried to calm her, bringing a hand to her shoulder. “C’mon, talk to me.”
“I... I think I’m pregnant.” She blurted out.
Johnny’s hand dropped, as did his jaw, and then she was crying in earnest, face in her hands and all, and Johnny didn’t know what to do, or what to say, and he just knew he sucked at this.
“Oh... hm... Sam, perhaps you should talk to your mother about this... or... or Daniel, I mean...”
“No, they’re gonna kill me!” She cried out, and he realised she had come to him for help and he was suddenly flattered, albeit still lost.
“They’re not gonna kill you... How... why do you think... you’re pregnant?”
“My period was late, really late, and... and I feel bloated and tired all the time, and then yesterday I started feeling nauseous, and this morning I got a pregnancy test and... look.”
She shoved her hand inside her purse, bringing out and handing Johnny the used pregnancy test, with two stripes on it and if that was not enough, the word PREGNANT stamped right on its front.
“Oh...” Johnny uttered, examining the stick. “It’s okay... It’s gonna be alright, don’t lose your mind over this, it’s okay...” He tried to console her.
“My parents... They’re gonna flip out, you don’t get it.”
“Okay, look, first, they love you, they won’t kill you over this, relax.”
He finally caught her attention.
“Second, we should take you to a doctor, make sure before... you tell them, right?”
Sam smiled for the first time. She knew she had made the right choice coming to Johnny for help.
He didn’t even remember to put his tools back in their place, leaving them all scattered around the garden. Instead, he took her to the OBGYN, on one of the most uncomfortable doctor visits of his life.
She was examined, they ran a few tests, they asked her a lot of personal questions Johnny pretended he didn’t listen, then finally came the result: Sam was pregnant.
After they left the hospital, she was so shaken up he decided to take her out for something to eat, perhaps some sugar would bring colour back to her face again.
“Sam... Have you told anyone?” He asked her over a cup of coffee.
“Just you...”
“Okay... Look, you’ve gotta tell people. Miguel, your parents... I can’t keep this from your father, he has the right to know...”
“Yeah, I know...” She admitted.
“Say what, come over tonight. Bring your mom and Miguel, we’ll order pizza, then... you tell them.”
Later that day, Johnny’s heart raced as he gulped down his pizza. She was right, Daniel was going to lose his mind, at least at first, and he needed to soften the blow for her, except he didn’t really know how.
What he did know was what it felt like to screw things up, and how it hurt when people you love turn their back on you, and he just wasn’t going to let it happen to her, she didn’t deserve it.
“I... need to say something.”
Oh God, there it was. Johnny couldn’t watch this. But he had to. He took his husband’s hand and watched in terror as Daniel smiled fondly, so blissfully unaware of what was going on, and he prayed that he didn’t overreact.
“I’m pregnant.”
She simply put it out there for everyone to listen. She was a brave girl, Johnny had to give her that.
After that everything happened so fast.
Miguel stayed frozen on his chair, in shock. Amanda drank down a glassful of wine and Johnny suddenly admired the woman a bit more. Daniel got up from his chair in one move, and then he was yelling and Sam was crying and everything had turned to hell.
He shouted at her, he made accusations, he just made it all worse and Johnny didn’t even recognize him. Then Daniel left, saying he needed to get some fresh air, slamming the door behind him.
“It’s okay, I’ll talk to him.” Johnny told her as she was crying in her mother’s arms.
He followed Daniel, finding him on the street, just outside the gate.
“What the hell, man?!” He asked, flinging his arms up.
“You knew about this, didn’t you?!”
Johnny silenced, not wanting to look him on the eye, he knew this was coming to bite him on his ass sooner or later.
“I can’t believe this...”
“Look, she came over to talk to me this morning... I told her to tell you as soon as she told me, okay?”
“Why didn’t she tell me...?”
“Well, perhaps she figured you would throw a tantrum and call her stupid!”
“I didn’t say she was stupid...”
“You told her she ruined her life...”
“Well, she did!”
“She didn’t. You’re ruining her life if you keep this up. Take it from a guy who’s been in her shoes, more or less.”
Daniel took a deep breath, rubbing his face with his hand. Johnny figured it was safe to approach him then, so he put an arm around his shoulder.
“It’s not that bad... You’re gonna be a grandpa.” Johnny grinned, causing a smile to form on Daniel’s worried face.
“She’s so young, Johnny... She has her whole life ahead of her... I didn’t even know they... I mean, I thought they weren’t...”
“Banging.” Johnny helped him, or tried to.
“Dammit, yes...”
“C’mon, sweetie, what were you doing when you were their age, hm?”
“I was studying! I was getting my ass kicked, by you, actually! I hadn’t even reached second base by that age!”
“Oh.” Johnny stared at him. “We had very different teenage years. But anyway, she has a lot on her plate now, she needs you...”
Daniel turned to embrace his arms around Johnny’s waist, resting his head on his shoulder.
“We need to be there for her... In a year or so, who knows, we may even start teaching baby classes. Get him or her one of those really tiny gis, that’d be cool right?”
“You’re changing the diapers...”
“You’re damn right I am, I never got to do that...” Johnny confessed, and Daniel pulled back to look at the hurt in his eyes.
“Don’t... screw this up, honey, you’ll regret it.”
Daniel nodded, then gave him one last squeeze before turning to walk back home, hand in hand with him.
“You got it... Grandpa John...”