Page 195 of Unhinged

I cry again, brokenly saying, “I think so. Candi, please help me. I don’t know. I can’t do this. He’ll kill me.”

She gasps, “Who knocked you up, Simone? Oh, God.”

I stop crying for two seconds as I watch her work out some cheating scenario in her head. “What the hell? What do you mean who? Greg did!” Though I jilled off with his cum in the goddamn bathroom.

“You haven’t been married long. Damn, he worked fast. It would be your wedding night, right?” Horrified to tell her what I did, I nod. I hate to fucking lie.

“He’s not ready. I’m not ready! This will devastate our marriage.”

“He had a part in it, Simone.” As I cover my face and cry, Candi walks over to me. “How do you know for sure?”

“I took three tests. Two were positive.” I reach into my purse and show her.

“Oh, wow.”

I sob harder as she puts them back into my purse. “There’s a negative one! Maybe that’s the right result! I can’t do this to him!”

“Simone, shh. It’ll be okay. Greg loves you. He told all of us he does. This is something married people deal with all the time and get through it.”

I shake my head. “No. He didn’t want this. I’m too fucking young to do this! He’s going to be a lawyer! I can’t ruin that!”

Candi puts her hands on her hips. “I was sixteen and alone. You have your husband.” Candi inhales as I cry. “Sweets, come on. Think of this as good news for five minutes. Take a deep breath.” I do, and Candi smiles. “You’re going to have Greg’s baby. It’s a shock, but he’ll be happy. Just think. Inside your body, you’re carrying a human he helped you create. No, not on purpose, but still.”

“I have to force a large baby out of a small hole, Candi.”

She laughs. “They drug you! And Greg will be right with you to yell at. It’s like a requirement. My second baby’s father was there, and yes, I did that.” I don’t react to her, but she continues, “Greg will cut the cord and cry harder than you. And let’s go back to the pregnancy. Girl, you’ll get to order him around, so you don’t have to strain yourself. He’ll complain, but he’ll really love every second.”

“Why?”

“Because he’ll be Dada.”

I cry with my hand going to my stomach. “Greg might be a daddy,” I mumble, unsure of how to feel about this.

“See? It’ll be okay. And as soon as he sees the baby y’all made, holy shit, Simone. He’ll be so protective of you and your son or daughter it’ll drive you bonkers, but you wouldn’t want it any other way. You and Greg will be the best parents to the luckiest kid around.”

“What do I do? I know from interning at a hospital, doctors rarely examine a pregnant woman until six weeks unless there is a pre-existing condition or family history of complications. But I can’t go another second without knowing the truth!”

“Go to urgent care and tell them you’re pregnant and have cramps.” It’s not far from the truth since my stomach feels like it’ll explode from anxiety.

I nod. “I need you to go with me.”

“Okay. Let me tell Harold.”

Covering my face, I pace the storage room perimeter. I would rather break up with Greg and do this alone than throw him off his career track. I’m the one who doesn’t have a straight career path, and I’m also the dumbass who used his cum for lube when my birth control dumped me on the side of the road. He didn’t sign up for this. He shouldn’t have to suffer someone else stealing from him and breaking his trust.

Shit. This is worse than I can even imagine. I lean against the wall and try so hard not to slide to the floor.

Candi returns with her coat and purse. When I don’t move from the wall, she takes my arm since I’m an obvious wreck and leads me to her car.

Chapter 28

Reading Simone’s last text, I respond that she’s never in my way. Why would she think that? She’s my reason for everything I do now. Before her, it was my dream to become a lawyer. But with her, I found the drive to do anything, including helping myself as I promised her.

Knocking on the door, I wait. It’s weird being here without Simone. I miss her already. The silly things that come out of her mouth make me smile. I hope I do that for her too.

The door opens, and Amos laughs. “You largely live here. You don’t have to knock.”

“I’d never live with you. And someone could’ve locked the door.”

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