Page 67 of The Fake Play

“Hey, sweetie! What’s going on?” she asks, her voice warm and kind. I miss her more than I’d realized.

“I… I think I need to come stay with you for a while,” I blurt out, unable to contain the flood of tears. “I’m in a mess, and I don’t know what else to do.”

“Okay, slow down. What happened?”

I take a deep breath and pour my heart out to her. I tell her everything—how I landed this great job then ended up pregnant by the guy I was supposed to be fixing, a guy I genuinely liked. How I had just ruined the biggest night of my career, and how I felt completely and utterly lost. How Michael would never forgive me for screwing this up. How much I hated myself for my bad choices. All of it. By the end, I trailed off because my voice broke and I couldn’t talk anymore.

“…just think it might be better to leave before anyone can make a bigger deal about it,” I say, my voice cracking between sobs. “I don’t want to face the fallout.”

“Keke, it’s understandable to feel crushed right now,” Aunt Tessa says gently.

“That’s exactly the right word for it, crushed,” I reply miserably. I knew she would understand.

“But you ought to give everyone else the chance to be understanding, too.”

I blink. “What do you mean?”

“They can’t surprise you if you don’t let them be there for you, and you don’t have to face this alone. From the sound of things, you’ve got three people in your corner down there. Let them help you.”

“I can’t,” I admit, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I’ve already messed everything up. They set boundaries, and I crossed them?—”

“No, you didn’t.”

“No, I really, really did. Didn’t you catch the part about getting knocked up?”

She snickers. “Honey, boundaries are for yourself. Rules are what you expect other people to follow, and they set down some rules that just didn’t work for you. That’s all this is.”

“That’s all this is?” I ask, my voice rising with every syllable. “Are you kidding me right now? I am pregnant, Aunt Tessa. This isn’t about not following the rules?—”

“Well, honey, the way I see it, it is. You broke rules they made that didn’t work for you, and so, they can just get over it. You didn’t make those rules up, they did. The only rules you have to worry about are the ones you set for yourself.”

I huff at the thought. “Pretty sure everyone else in the world would disagree with you.”

“That’s fine. They get to be wrong.”

I laugh and shake my head. Same old Aunt Tessa.

“Rules, boundaries, whatever you want to call it, I fucked up.”

Maybe. But if you run away, you’re not giving them the chance to prove that they really can be there for you.”

I groan as I face-palm myself. “I don’t think that’s how this works.”

“Then you deal with it as it comes.” She sighs. “You have always been more like me than your mom. Stubborn as all hell. For the sake of your child—if you’re planning on keeping it—you have to give this a shot.”

“I don’t know?—”

“You’re stronger than you think, and you deserve to give yourself a chance to find out if the people in your life will surprise you and handle this like adults.”

I open my mouth to respond, but before I can say anything, I hear the front door creak open, and my heart skips a beat. Luke was supposed to be at work all day, what is he doing home so early?

“Hey! You home?”

“Uh, yeah,” I reply, trying to sound casual as I wipe my tear-streaked face. I didn’t want him to see how wrecked I was.

He walks in and stops instantly when he spots me on the couch. “You look, well, like you’ve had a rough morning.”

“I’m fine,” I snap, a little too defensively. “Gotta go, Aunt Tessa.”

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