“My biggest fear of all.” Propping my elbows on the edge of the table, I rest my head in my hands and stare down at my legs, at my still flat stomach. Will I soon not be able to see my legs at all? Will I have a giant belly that’ll make me waddle and look like an idiot? What if I get all bloated? Will Drew still find me attractive?
“You need to tell him,” Jen says, her voice soft. “Where is he?”
“He left for Chicago.” I drop my hands and look at her. I feel tears threaten and I blink them away. I can’t cry. I’ve cried enough this last week to fill a freaking river. I never do that. I’m a complete mess. “I was going to tell him last weekend but I chickened out.”
“Does Owen know?”
“No.” I shake my head. “He’d tell Drew. He’d tell everyone. He can’t keep a secret.”
“Are you having morning sickness?”
“More like morning, noon, and night sickness,” I say wryly, then take another sip of my water. “Plus I always want to take a nap. I told Owen I’m sick and that’s why I came back here, but that excuse is only going to hold up for so long.”
“That’s why you need to tell your husband you’re having his baby.” She stares hard at me. “You quit taking the pill when you suspected it, right?”
“Yes, absolutely.” I nod. My body had felt different a few days after I came home from Boston. I can’t quite describe it, but … I knew. Not at that precise moment, but something was up. I quit taking my pills a week later, figuring I’d go to the doctor for a different prescription.
Instead, I found myself knocked up.
“Are you going to Chicago this weekend?” Jen asks.
“No, I’m staying here. The weather is for crap, and I don’t think I’d be up to traveling anyway. I told Drew I was sick, too,” I admit miserably.
“Oh, Fable. You gotta be honest with him. He’s your man, your husband, and now the father of your child. He might be shocked, but he’ll get over it. What’s done is done. And he’s going to be happy. Trust me.” Jen smiles and I want to agree with her. I want to be confident that Drew won’t be upset or think I did something to deceive him.
But I’m scared. This is something Mom would do. In fact, she did just this with Owen’s father, who I can barely remember, he was in and out of our life so quickly. They weren’t married, but they were pretty steady for a short, intense period of time.
Then she got pregnant, told him, and he bailed. I don’t remember the details because I’d been young and I didn’t care, but here I am, so proud of the fact that I changed my path. I’d been sure I was going to turn into my mother. I looked like her, I was working the same sort of jobs as her, I had the same reputation. Then I met Drew and he changed everything.
My true colors slip out every once in a while, though, and bleed all over my new life. The old me isn’t completely out of my system yet. Though I hadn’t planned any of this, had not tricked him on purpose, something happened. Perhaps I forgot to take a pill or took one too late? Had it been some sort of subconscious thing? I don’t know.
All I know is I’m frightened of my husband’s reaction when he finds out.
Chapter Eight
Fable
I wake up from yet another nap to find Owen standing above my bed, his expression one of incredulity as he watches me.
“What’s wrong?” I scramble into a sitting position, smoothing my hair with shaking fingers. Everyone makes me nervous lately and I blame hormones. And the fact that I’m hiding a major secret that weighs on my chest like a solid steel beam, crushing my heart and making me anxious.
“I was, uh, just watching some gossip show on TV and it said you’re pregnant.” He pauses, his eyes so wide they look ready to bug out of his head. “Is it true?”
“What?” I stumble out of the bed, tripping over my feet, and I nearly fall. Owen dodges toward me, gripping my arm and saving me from landing on my ass. “What gossip show did you see this on? And since when do you watch gossip shows?”
“Never mind that, who cares about that shit? What I want to know is the truth.” He pauses, staring at me, suddenly looking so very wise and adult. I almost want to squirm under his stare and I wonder if he picked that look up from me. “Are you pregnant, Fable?”
I don’t answer him. Instead, I yank out of his grip and go to the bedside table, grabbing my phone to see if I have any text messages.
Oh, and I definitely do. My heart sinks. They’re all from Drew, asking that I call him, each one more frantic than the next, and there’s a voice mail from him, too. With a shaking finger, I press play and listen to it.
Fable, I need you to call me, baby. There are reports that you’re pregnant all over the internet and the publicists are asking me if it’s true. I told them it wasn’t, but I guess there’s talk of a reliable source and they heard it straight from your mouth or whatever. Anyway. Call me. We gotta talk. Now. Love you.
Closing my eyes, I press my lips together, the phone still clutched to my ear even though the message is over. I’m wobbly on my feet, my head is spinning, and I collapse onto the edge of the bed, sitting heavily on the mattress. I crack open my eyes to find Owen still staring at me, though now he looks positively freaked out.
“You’ve been weird for weeks, telling me you’re sick or whatever. You sleep all the time and you’re not eating. I’ve heard you puke a few times.” He grimaces and shakes his head. “Fuck me, you are pregnant, aren’t you?”
I can’t even work up the energy to protest, let alone scold him for saying “fuck.” “Fine. Yes, I’m pregnant.”
He gapes at me, for once in his life at a loss for words. “Holy shit, Fabes. Does Drew know?”
“He’s gonna know in about two minutes, so can you give me some privacy?” My heart sinks to my stomach at the realization that I’m about to deliver news to Drew that’s going to change our lives completely. And he might be angry about it, too.
“Yeah, sure, Fabes.” As if in a daze, Owen leaves my bedroom, closing the door behind him.
I sit on the edge of the bed for a few more minutes, rehearsing in my head what I’m going to say to Drew.
Remember how I wanted to have a baby? Well, guess what?
Yay, I’m pregnant!
Drew, you’re going to be a daddy.
Please don’t be mad at me.