30/Off the Carousel

Eric lead Lila up to his master bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"Do you really think there is anything you can do to change my mind?" Eric whispered vehemently at Lila. "Sex is more likely to work on you!"

"Stop talking!" Lila hissed at Eric. "Clearly we've made a mess of things downstairs and clearly your mom isn't going to let us escape to have this out like we wanted." She walked to the king-sized bed with the plush beige comforter and sat down. "I thought we could continue the conversation up here." She leaned back, her weight being supported by her hands as she crossed her legs.

Eric sighed heavily running his hands through his hair, ignoring her. "Fuck!" He whispered angrily. "I never wanted mom and dad to find out about Alex's offspring."

"Well now they know," Lila added matter-of-factly. "More-or-less. So this complicates your plan because from what I can tell, your mom is gung-ho about becoming a grandmother so unless you tell her the truth about Alex right now, you'll have to play along to being nested with my offspring for a little while."

Eric flinched at her words. "I've never lied to my parents about something this big."

Lila uncaringly shrugged as she stood. "The ball is in your court," she pulled the hem of her dress down as it had hiked upwards when she sat down. "Either way, the offspring in question is now mine so I won't be the one lying but it is up to you whether you break your mom's heart by dissolving her imaginary grandchild, or by telling her you plan on having her youngest dissolve her real grandchild against his will." She looked at Eric's face.

He didn't care for her words too much.

She shook her head and began walking away. "You know what? You're fucking killing me and I can't stand to be around you right now."

Eric grabbed her arm, halting her departure. "What do you mean?"

She pulled away. "You tried to feed me hope for a child and now that I have it, you are the one taking it away from me!" She pointed a finger in his face. "You won't even let Alex decide for himself what to do with his own body! You want him to have the same type of existence as you based on your own preferences!" She took a few more steps towards the door. "That empty existence may not be yours, but it will be mine and you're condemning Alex to suffer my same fate and it's fucking cruel and heartless of you!"

Lila pulled the bedroom door open with unnecessary force, causing it to slam behind her. Eric quickly grabbed the door, pulling it open and running behind her. She had already taken a few steps down.

"Don't worry honey, it happens to most women at some point." He heard his mom call out.

"Lila!" Eric yelled behind her.

"I need space," Lila yelled back at him as she grabbed the front door and stormed out of his house.

Eric stood at the bottom of the stairs seeing her drive away through the windows.

"Son, what happened?" He heard his father's calming voice speak behind him. "Is she okay?"

"Of course she's not okay," his wife answered. "Your son wants to dissolve her child. It's his autonomy, and she has no say."

Eric looked towards the kitchen where his family was sitting around the kitchen table.

His mom patted Alex's shoulder with a clear look of disappointment. "At least I have hope for a grandchild with you."

Eric felt a wave of heartbreak aimed towards him from his family at that point.

"Mom?" Eric called.

His mom stood without looking at him. "It's alright, Eric, I was hoping to be a gran sooner instead of later but it's your body and your life." She grabbed a wine glass from the cabinet and a bottle of wine from the wine refrigerator. "At least Alex has always wanted kids."

Eric's eyes darted towards Alex.

His brother stood, but immediately walked out of the house leaving him alone with his parents and the palpable overwhelmingly disappointment they were feeling towards him.