Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[2.11]

𝓢ummer arrived and it was finally time for Taryn to break the news to her parents. It felt like every important person in her life who lived outside of Stars Hollow already knew and she truly felt awful for it being that way. But this conversation wasn't one she could have over a work phone or an email. It needed to be a sit down discussion where she could read their reaction as it occurred and be able to explain everything that needed it. The only time she had, due to her now jam packed schedule, was the first four days of summer. So she borrowed Aria's car yet again and drove home. Ri didn't need it as she was staying in the city for her part time job because they desperately needed her - a worthy enough excuse to keep her out of her parents house for at least half of the break.

Taryn chose Monday poker night as the time she would reveal the news, figuring she could hide the slight bump she now possessed through 'loads of fashionable layers' as her Dad would call them. So after dinner, they sat down to poker and Da handed the cards to Taryn to deal. She collapsed the cards in both hands and her Dads became aware of the shakiness her fingers possessed and how quiet she had been compared to normal. Usually she dealt straight away, making some comment about how she would win within minutes.

"What's wrong?" her Da asked as he placed down his glass of wine. Taryn had accepted the offered beverage but hadn't drunken a sip, not wanting to risk them piecing things together before she could officially tell them.

She cleared her throat and looked between them, her breath quickening. "I have something to tell you."

"There's nothing that could make us not love you," her Dad replied, sensing the seriousness of the situation based on the look on his daughters face. All color had drained from her cheeks, her eyes had a film to them and she continuously swallowed as if trying to remove a physical lump.

"I'm pregnant," she sighed softly and unfolded a piece of paper that had been kept in her pocket all day. She slid the scan over to her parents and watched in silence as her Da picked up the picture, checking for her name in the corner. Silence befell the Lewis family as her parents thought and Taryn's bounding leg began to rattle their kitchen table. "And the dad will not be in the picture as I don't even have his number to tell him."

"What's your plan?" Da asked, gently placing the sonogram picture back onto the table.

She watched as they both kept sneaking glances at the image and she couldn't tell what they were thinking at all. "I'm keeping it. I don't want-"

"Okay sweetheart," her Dad smiled and took her shaking hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

Her brow furrowed, "You're not mad?"

The two of them instantly shook their heads but it was her Da who spoke for the both of them. "We're not mad or disappointed before you even think that. These things happen. You're perfectly capable of handling this situation and will be an incredible mother."

She smiled brightly and continued, "And I talked to C and she's willing to let me work through the summer and up until around November and still graduate with the others come spring. She says I'm good enough to succeed now and the course is just a formality."

The two of them both sighed in relief at the mere idea of her finishing her education. That, of all things, had been what they were most concerned about. They wanted their daughter to finish the thing she had worked towards for years and they were desperate to see how much she could succeed in her field. Yes this was a little earlier than they had expected but honestly, the idea of being grandparents wasn't too awful.

-

Taryn returned to the New York house and dropped her bags by the door, no longer wanting to carry them after the journey from the car to the building. She figured she would unpack at a later date, when she managed to find time between doctors appointments and a whole year's college fit into eight months. "How'd it go?" Aria asked as she walked out of her bedroom, shoulders covered with a blanket as there was a cold breeze running through the apartment. Taryn would later find out that, whilst cleaning the kitchen floor, she had somehow managed to spill an entire bottle of bleach and wanted to air the place out before Taryn got home in fear of the fumes harming the baby.

"Good," she sighed in relief yet again as she pulled off her coat and shoes. "They looked a bit apprehensive but they're fine with it. Excited, even."

"That's great!" Aria grinned brightly and Taryn felt some of her unnatural happiness begin to rub off on her. "I have a present for you. Two presents actually."

She sighed, "Ri..."

"Shut up, it didn't cost me much," Aria retorted before she could finish, pulling a small light pink back out from her bedroom. Taryn, apprehensively, pulled the tissue paper out of the bag and felt tears choke her throat as she looked at the delicately folded item of clothing at the bottom. She set the bag down and pulled out the smallest little baby sleep suit, adorned with a hand crafted brown bear that looked exactly like the one Taryn still slept with from time to time. "I best be this child's fairy godmother," Ri laughed as Taryn wrapped her in a thanking hug, unable to express what the smallest of gifts meant to her.

"If you can handle me being the godfather," a voice she knew the instant he opened his mouth came from behind her and she could tell Tas carried a grin like no other. He loved surprises more than anything else in the world. Taryn laughed and ran over to him, immediately flinging her arms around his torso. It had only been two months but she had never wanted to see him more, she assumed it was the hormones. Tas had decided to set up camp in one of the spare bedrooms until he had to return to school in the fall, wanting to be there for her through all of this as much as he possibly could. He had considered postponing his final year for her but Taryn, when the suggestion was brought up in an email, had threatened to never speak to him again if he did. So, naturally, he had signed up for the final classes two months earlier than anyone else.

"I suppose I'll have to," Aria sighed in fake annoyance, the grin she attempted to muffle away shone brightly. "Requests for dinner?"

"Mac and cheese the way you do it," Taryn replied so rapidly and without thought that Aria was slightly taken aback. It usually took them at least twenty minutes to decide what to do for dinner. "I've been craving it, leave me alone."

Both Aria and Tas laughed as Taryn flipped them both off, heading to the couch so she could rest. "With the crispy bits on top?" Aria called from the kitchen, head poked around the pillar that separated the edge of the kitchen and their tiny living room.

Taryn nodded as she sat down on the couch, spinning so her legs extended across the length. She turned the tv on with the thankfully nearby remote just as Tas walked in front of it. She scowled and he laughed, choosing to sit right next to her. He moved her legs out of the way then simply placed them atop his own, choosing not to make a comment about the movie she had picked knowing he hated it. She smiled after he eventually muttered something disproving and she rested her head against his shoulder. Her body felt like it could finally relax. All, well all but one, of the uncertainties in her life had been dealt with and now all she had to do was wait and work hard to get through the next few months. She figured her future and her child's future was the perfect motivator.