Chapter 69: This Is Serious

Chapter 69: This Is Serious

Maddie

He looked shocked.

Like he genuinely looked surprised, as if pregnancy hadn’t been a possibility at all.

As if the night at Basil’s party had existed in some separate universe where consequences simply didn’t apply to him.

“You don’t seem happy at the news, Andy.” I smiled sadly. “Would you have been happier if it was Ivy? Perhaps this has ruined all your chances of finally getting together with my sister.”

The name hung in the air between us. I watched it land. Watched the way his jaw tightened for half a second before he forced it loose again.

“No. It’s not that.” He said, rising to his feet. “It’s just… this is—” He scratched his head, trying to find the suitable words to describe how he felt about the development.

The silence that followed was louder than anything he could have said. It was deafening.

I pulled my drawer open and retrieved the pregnancy test strip I’d originally planned to give him as a surprise, before I found out he’d been cheating on me with my sister.

Before the world I thought we were building together had cracked down the middle.

I dropped it in his hand, resisting the urge to moan from the soreness and tiredness in every muscle in my body.

Standing still hurt. Existing hurt. The dull ache low in my abdomen felt like a constant reminder that something irreversible had already begun inside me.

He stared at the test like it was not real. “This is real.” He said more to himself than to me. “You’re pregnant.”

“The baby is yours.” I said. “You know that.”

“I know.” He nodded, still staring at the boldly displayed PREGNANT written on the blue and white stick. “How did this happen?”

My eyes stung. He wasn’t happy. Of course he wasn’t happy. Some part of me had known he wouldn’t be, but hearing the absence of joy in his voice still cut deeper than I was prepared for.

“I never did this intentionally. It just happened. I don’t know.”

He slumped down on the bed like his legs had suddenly given out. The test tumbled to the ground as both of his hands tugged at his hair, tightly. “My dad’s going to kill me. Shit.”

The tears finally dropped. He wasn’t pleased. He didn’t want this baby. It was a mistake to him. A problem. A complication that threatened the version of his future he had already decided he deserved.

“My dad is going to kill me!” He said again with much more force than the first time. “Shit. What do I do?” Then he looked at me.

I gasped from the look in his eyes. His eyes had turned red—not from tears, but from the kind of panicked anger that made people dangerous.

I wrapped a protective hand around my belly and stumbled back a step. “This baby is here to stay, Andy. I’m not getting rid of it.”

“Maddie, you can’t be serious.” He said. “Stop thinking emotionally. Think with your head. How are we supposed to care for a child? I don’t want a child now. And I’m sure as hell not going to raise one.”

“Then you should have thought of that before you touched me.” I said. My voice shook, but I forced it to stay steady. “Do you remember that night? At Basil’s birthday party two months ago. You made love to me that night when you were drunk. I told you it was a bad idea—”

“Then you should have stopped me!” He said, lashing out in anger. “You should have fucking done something! Anything! You said it yourself! I was fucking drunk! I didn't know what I was doing!”

“I tried!” I raised my voice too. If he wanted a yelling match I’d give him that. The walls of my childhood bedroom felt too thin for the volume of what we were becoming. “I tried to tell you that you didn’t have a condom with you! You said you’d pull out!”

“That is bullshit, Maddie!” He said, veins popping at his temple. “You knew I was drunk! It was your responsibility to stop something like this from happening! You know how Basil is! He spiked the punch!”

“Of course I knew that! That’s why I didn’t take any.” I said in my defense. “I told you not to play those games! You didn't listen!”

“Then you didn’t try hard enough!” He yelled. “This is all your fault!”

“Why are you yelling at me?!” I sobbed. The tears came freely. “How is this my fault?! You talked me into that! I didn’t want to do it with you when you were drunk! You insisted!”

He scoffed. “Oh. So that’s it?”

“So that’s what?!” I asked. “Blame yourself, Andy! This is your fault!”

“If you knew I was drunk, why didn’t you take any precautions?!”

Anger bubbled inside me as I marched into the bathroom and got the pack of emergency contraceptives I had taken the next morning. The empty blister strip felt light in my hand.

I walked back into the room and threw it at him. “That’s the pill I took the next morning!”

He picked it up, inspecting it like it might contain an answer that would make this entire situation disappear.

“If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself! Not me.” I said. “I did my best in preventing this from happening.”

After inspecting it for some time, he threw it to the ground and turned, one hand on his waist and another on his forehead.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” He kept repeating, pacing the length of my room like a caged animal. “What to do. What to do.”

Watching the man that I had sworn would spend the rest of his life loving and protecting me, pacing around in panic because he found out we had unexpectedly created a life, was the most heartbreaking scene I had ever witnessed.

This was supposed to be the man who would stand beside me through everything. Instead he looked like he was searching for an exit.

“Andy, this shouldn’t be a problem.” I said, carefully. My hand stayed over my stomach. “We are about to be married, aren’t we? So why are you worried?”

He stopped pacing. His entire body went rigid.

“You said you love me. You claimed Ivy was just a mistake. A temptation. So this is your chance to prove to me that—”

“No!” He spun around in anger. “No, Maddie! Don’t do that. Don’t try to gaslight me into agreeing to this.”

I shrunk back. “Gaslight you?”

“Yes!” He said. “I don’t want this child! Not now! We never talked about this. Raising kids at this point in our lives! I’m not ready for it.”

“But you claimed to love me—”

“Yes! I love you. Not the… this.” He gestured to my belly like it was something separate from me. Something contagious. “Not the… child you’re carrying.”

The distinction landed like a slap. He could love me, apparently, as long as I remained the version of myself that didn’t come with consequences.

“I’m not getting rid of it.” I shook my head. “I’m not doing that.”

“Maddie, you don’t exactly have a choice here.” He said, as if discussing a very difficult subject with someone too emotional to understand logic. “We can’t afford to raise a child now. Think carefully.”

“I’m not listening to anything you’re saying.” I insisted. “I’m keeping my baby. And that is final!”

“You can’t make that decision, Maddie.” He said. “I have a say too. I’m the father, aren’t I?”

“No. You’re not. Right now I only see you as a threat.” I spat. The words surprised even me with how true they felt. “I know this somehow traces back to Ivy. You’re worried that she’s going to find out about this. Right?”

“Stop talking nonsense, Maddie.” He said. “This is serious.”

“And I’m serious too!” I screamed. “Nothing is happening to this baby.”

“You’re not keeping it.” He said like this was somehow something he actually got to decide. “Stop being hysterical. We can always have more in the future when we’re ready.”

“I am ready.” I pointed towards the window where he had climbed in from. “Get out! Right now!”

Instead of leaving, he walked forward. The movement was slow. My heart rate spiked. “Who have you told about this?” He asked.

“No one.” I said. “No one.”

That answer seemed to satisfy him. Then his next words shocked me to the bone.

“Good. Tomorrow, be ready by 10 in the morning. I’ll pick you up. We’ll get this sorted out.”