Chapter Fifteen
Sean was struggling to concentrate at the factory, so got up to walk the grounds and ended up sitting in his grandmother's garden. It was nice and peaceful here, as really only she looked after all the flowers there. It was her idea of a happy retirement, so her sons, daughter and grandchildren just left her to it. It kept her out of their hair to run the family business if they had to be honest.
He couldn't quite figure out why he was feeling restless, thinking maybe it was just because he'd been stuck inside all day so far. He liked coming out here. It gave him some time to himself, which didn't happen often with the whole family living on top of each other. Grandma, his father and mother were in the main house. Aaron and he shared one of the outhouses, thankfully with their own rooms considering some of the girls his brother brought home. Vivian still shared an outhouse with her parents, her father being Sean & Aaron's uncle, but she had the biggest room of course. Their aunt Brenda lived with her husband in the third outhouse, but they'd never had any children. After her brief liaison with Grayson, she did end up pregnant. In the family's opinion, she luckily miscarried but had never been able to bring herself to try for children after she married Harold. She focused on her nieces and nephews instead, and in particular of course Vivian.
"Hey there cuz," her nasal voice broke into his solitude.
Sean grimaced to himself before he got up with a forced smile. "Hey Viv," he greeted her.
"Now why are you here all by your lonesome?" Vivian asked as she sat down next to him. She was only about a year and a half younger than him, but she got on better with Aaron most of the time. She supposed it was because Aaron seemed to hate the Tennants as much as she did, having been protected from them more as the only girl in the family since aunt Brenda.
"Just gettin' some air out of the office," her cousin responded with a shrug. "Ain't you got shoppin' to do or summit?" Sean asked, knowing it was a little unfair of him but it did seem to be most of what she did. They made the money with their pa and uncle, and she went out to spend it.
"You're so funny," she started, "that's this afternoon's plan." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. At least she was honest and embraced it. "Why don't you come with me? You could use some new shirts and jeans," Vivian said as she gave him a once-over.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearin'?" he asked, as he too looked down at his clothes. This was his favourite blue chequered shirt.
"Nothin' cowboy," his cousin shrugged nonchalantly, which of course got her point across. "Why don't you try a nice black shirt? Or some more casual shirts?" she suggested.
As much as he hated to admit it, his blonde cousin did have good fashion sense and she had a very extensive wardrobe to prove it. "Do I have to go with you?" Sean asked hesitantly. He'd take her advice on his clothes, but he really didn't want to have to go traipsing around town with her if he could help it.
"Well yeah, need to make sure they look good before we buy 'em. I'm not totally irresponsible with money," Vivian said with a snort, making him fight back a chuckle.
"If you say so," his laugh still came through in his voice and earned him a smack on the arm.
"Come on Sean, it'll be fun," she whined, shaking his shoulders to get him to agree.
"Okay, okay, I'll go, now stop manhandlin' me," Sean laughed.
"Yeey," she laughed, hooking her arm through his. "This is gonna be fun. Maybe we should invite Aaron too. Spend some time the three of us," Vivian suggested, jumping up to go find her other cousin before he could object.
What just happened? he asked himself a little confused.
Tatum lay back on her bed as she absentmindedly flicked through the leaflets the clinic gave her. She'd read every single one of them twice already, and all she'd been able to do was confidently dismiss the abortion leaflet. It would've been different if she'd taken a morning-after pill straight away. But now she knew there was a small person growing inside of her, she couldn't kill it. The question that remained now was, did she keep the baby or give it up for adoption? She sighed as she got up to move around a bit. When she'd gotten dressed in the morning, she hadn't closed the closet door and she caught sight of herself in the mirror now. Her red hair curled slightly as it framed her face, reminding her that she should probably give her mother a call. Her gaze dropped to her abdomen and she couldn't help herself turn and see if she could distinguish a bump yet. She knew logically there was no way she'd be showing yet, but she could've sworn she could see a slight difference already. In that moment, she knew she couldn't get rid of it or give it up for adoption. It was her baby and she was going to be a mother.
"You know, this ain't Twilight, you ain't gonna be showin' that fast," Isabella said with a chuckle as she leaned against the doorframe.
Her sister gave an embarrassed smile as she turned towards her. "I know, but still..." she admitted with a blush.
"Yeah... sure," the brunette chuckled again, crossing her arms and trying not to flinch when she caught the bruises on her forearms.
"Hey... now I've got you here," Tatum started. "I'm gonna keep the baby," she told her with a smile, seeing her sister smile back. "And I was wonderin', seein' as I'm doin' this solo, could you help me take pictures every week? We never got anythin' like that," she asked her.
"Yeah, course. And you ain't doin' this solo, you got me," Isabella promised her with a big smile as she walked over to give her a hug. "Does that mean you spoke to Kenny?"
"No, not yet," she shook her head. "But I'd be very surprised if he gave a shit." She took a deep breath, not ready yet to make that call. "I was thinkin', we could take the picture now and then I might walk into town. Get some vitamins or summin," she moved away from that topic, getting a nudge from her sister.
"You can't postpone talking to him indefinitely..." Isabella advised. "But, sure we can do the picture now," giving her sister some leeway. She didn't have to decide and sort everything else out all in one day after all. "We could use the closet as a backdrop, better than the window," she suggested, thinking there would be too much light coming through the window and it would ruin the shot.
"Great idea," Tatum smiled now, relieved she didn't have to think about calling her ex just yet. "Is what I'm wearin' okay?" she asked a little insecurely. It was a black strappy top with a pair of harem pants.
"You look fine," her sister assured her, taking her phone from her to take the picture. "Smile hot mama," Isabella encouraged her, making her laugh as she posed. "Beautiful!" She pulled her in for another hug. "This is gonna be so exciting," she smiled, fighting back a grimace when her sister hugged her a little tighter and pushed down on one of the older bruises on her back.