The Miner's Girl

Chapter 74

(((May 16, 2016)))
Nicole's POV

"Whatever, no I'm not." I said into the phone.

"You don't need this in your life, honey." My aunt Marie, replied.

"I don't need what?" I snapped. "I don't need a man that takes care of me? I don't need a family as a supporter system? I don't need my baby to be born, and be healthy, and I can love him?"

"You need to come back and be like you were." Aunt Marie said.

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes, "go back to working all day every week, and go out with Sammy on Saturday. That was a really nice life. I just can't wait to go back and work my butt off only to go to the Cracker Barrel or San José once a week."

"You seemed fine with it before. You and Sammy were such a cute couple. You always seemed very happy with your life." Aunt Marie reminded.

"I was." I admitted. "But that was only because I was looking towards the future. I was looking forward to moving here, and seeing Parker again. All that work I did, I did it because I wanted to leave."

"And what about Sammy? He was prepared to give you a good life and marry you."

I scoffed. "No, he wasn't. He was this guy that I went out with on Saturdays, and he always talked about going into the Marines and everything. He never even hinted that he loved me, but Parker says it to me all the time."

"There you go again with the Parker thing." Aunt Marie grunted.

"He's my boyfriend, and my best friend, and the father of my baby. Yeah, a lot of things in my life go back to Parker. I'm sorry that you don't like Parker, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you that he's a good guy. I want to be able to go see you and the boys, but I'm not going when all I'm going to hear is criticism. You moved away from your family and had a life, and I'm going to, too."

"I didn't get pregnant within six months either." Aunt Marie retorted.

"It doesn't matter. No, I didn't plan on having the baby this soon, but hey, shit happens." I stated. "But my baby sure ain't a mistake, and you can't convince me that it is. I'm keeping the baby, whether anyone likes it or not. At least I know that I have my family here. Parker's family has been more of a family to me than my real one ever was, except for my mama and daddy, and my grandma."

"Because they let you and Parker do whatever you want."

"No, because they love us and support us. We make mistakes, and Parker and I don't always get along, but 99% of the time we do get along, and it's perfect. I don't know why you don't want me to be happy."

"I do want you to be happy, honey." Aunt Marie sighed. "I just don't like you being in Alaska with that boy. You've already gotten pregnant. What happens up there in the igloo?"

I smirked and shook my head. "There's no igloos. How many times have I told you that? I have a house, with power, and water, cable and internet. Well, right now the cable and internet got moved from my house to the trailer up at the mine, but I have it nonetheless. And believe me, I'm safer here with Parker than I ever was down there."

"I don't believe that."

"I know you don't." I thought a minute before saying, "But, I'm happy, safe, and taken care of here. I don't want to go back to North Carolina. This is my home, with Parker. Aunt Marie, this is my life. It's what I've always wanted for my life. A handsome man that loves me and takes care of me, that I fall asleep in his arms every night. And he's not the same Parker that you see on TV, okay? He gets mad sometimes at work because he's stressed out. But that's not my boyfriend. My boyfriend is the guy that you only see for a few minutes on the show. The guy that loves his grandpa, the guy that plays with his dog, and the guy that works his butt off six months out of the year. That's the real Parker. And he has enough stress for both of us, and you and everyone else back in NC aren't helping my stress to stay down."