Page 35 of Prince of Tides
She was right.
“Well, I hadn’t planned ontellinghim about it,” I said. “But now … if it’s going to be of royal blood, well, I kind of have to, don’t I?”
“Probably,” Mel agreed.
“But what if he’s upset about it? Or angry? I mean, what if he tries to have me killed because royal babies out of wedlock are bad?”
“So tell him in a public place. If he threatens you …” Mel’s face grew grim. “Father has resources.”
I grimaced, looking away. We didn’t like to talk about all aspects of our dad’s business. But he worked on technologies related to war. That was his business. And that meant the people who liked war courted him.
“It won’t come to that,” I said, thinking of Rip. “He’s … he might be angry, but I don’t think it’ll actually come to violence.”
“And you can’t control how he feels about being a father,” Mel said. “As long as he doesn’t threaten you. After all, if he didn’t want to be one, then he should have, you know, used a condom or whatever.”
“Yeah.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I was that dumb.”
“It was pretty stupid,” Mel agreed. “You knew you weren’t on any birth control anymore.”
“I know. I just … he touched me, and …” I looked up at her. “He was good. Like, the kind you dream about that makes your mind melt, and all you can do is go with it, sort of good.”
“That good?”
“Literally never had any better,” I admitted. “And there’s no even close second place.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. I didn’t think because Icouldn’tthink the instant he touched me. It was like my brain shut off. Only when it was over did I realize.”
“Didn’t you … you know, take a morning-after pill?”
“Yup,” I said. “Clearly didn’t do its job properly. Idiot.”
“It feels nice to have you be the idiot for once,” Mel admitted with a reassuring smile. “Usually, it’s me.”
We shared a laugh, and then I cried. Mel held me the entire time.
“So, now, what?” I eventually asked.
“Now, I’m going to drink all that coffee, and you’re going to get up the courage to go find your baby-daddy and tell him you’re carrying his child,” Mel said, getting up.
“Please donotcall him that.”
“Your Sugar-Prince?”
“Mel …”
“Sweet-King?”
“Mel.”
“Aspartame-Emperor?”
I made angry noises.
“Sucralose-Succubus?”
“Argh!”I shouted and flung a pillow at her.
