Page 87 of Surprise Baby for Mr. Fischer
“Did she try to trap you with a baby?” Another voice rose above the dim. Pain lanced through me, but I’d expected something like this to happen.
“This picker made the ultimate find.” A man said, causing a chuckle to rise up from the group of reporters.
The blood left my face, and tears obstructed my view. I gasped and struggled to draw in my next breath.
“It’s going to be okay. Just focus on my voice, Harper.” Lincoln whispered against the shell of my ear.
“She sure hit the jackpot with you. Are you sure the baby’s yours?”
That last voice was familiar. I turned away from Lincoln to lock eyes with Whitney.
She stood behind the temporary barricade, her beautiful face sneering at me. I’d known we were drifting apart, but to hear her words dripping with such hatred gutted me. How could she take pleasure in my despair?
“It was you, wasn’t it?” I shouted at her. How could I not see that her distaste for me ran this deep? It flashed in her eyes and drew the skin around her mouth tight as her lips curled into a vicious smile.
Whitney shrugged, looking like the evil witch I now knew her to be. We'd never been friends, not the true kind I'd wanted us to be. I'd been kidding myself all these years.
Lincoln guided me inside the car and quickly jumped into the driver’s seat. He backed up as fast as he could, trying to avoid the crowd. Whitney’s words and all the other horrible accusations swirled in my head. My body trembled at the onslaught of my worst fear, finally crumbling the bravery I’d tried to hold on to.
This is what I was afraid of all along. It didn’t matter that the vile words they flung at me were false because the public would believe what they wanted. This time, though, I had to be strong. I couldn’t bow under the weight of my sadness and shame. I had a baby to look out for.
She was my priority now, and like a mama bear, I had to protect my child no matter the cost.
“Harper, please, say something.”
I stared straight ahead, ignoring his demand. The fight or flight response in my body was screaming at me to run, and I agreed.
“Harper,” he whispered, “tell me what’s going on in your head.”
I turned to him, feeling the coldness settle down in my chest and slowly spread to encompass the rest of my body. I needed to bury my emotions so they couldn’t escape because I only saw one way to protect our child. “Take me to my parents’ house.”
“Harper. They might be there too. I called Heidy at the store when I found out about the press. She gave me their number. Reporters have been calling their house all afternoon. It’s only a matter of time before they try to camp out there to find you.”
There was no way I could knowingly bring this chaos to my parents. The stress of avoiding reporters wouldn’t help my mom or her health. “Then take me to Hope’s.” I typed her address into his dashboard GPS.
“Come home with me like we planned until this blows over,” Lincoln pleaded. “Don’t shut me out.”
I had to protect our child. Didn’t he see that? There was no way I would allow her to go through what I had. “I can’t. Tell your uncle I’m sorry I wasn’t there to meet him.”
“Harper, give us a chance. Your experience with the press was awful, I agree, but you can’t keep letting it control your life.”
My eyes narrowed. “I’m not letting it control my life. This isn’t about me anymore, Lincoln. I need to protectourbaby.”
“I’m not trying to put her in any danger.” His knuckles turned white he was gripping the steering wheel so tight. “You’re justifying us not being together based on your fears, based on what you think might or could happen.”
“Look at what happened today.” Anger had my words whipping out of me. “They think I trapped you. That you’re only with me because I forced your hand.” I held tight to the fury. It was easier than letting in the sadness or regret.
“Weknow none of it’s true.” Now he sounded angry.
“It doesn’t matter.” I turned away to stare out the window.
He heaved an angry sound, almost like a roar of frustration. “You’re right. It doesn’t if you’re not willing to fight for us.”
His words pierced me, but I had to stay strong. It didn’t matter anymore what I wanted. My heart squeezed painfully.
We stopped in front of my sister’s rental, a duplex. I didn’t know how it was only 4:00 pm. It seemed as though days had passed since I woke up this morning.
Lincoln didn’t get out of the car. With sadness beginning to consume me, I faced him. “I’m sorry. I hope someday you’ll understand why I had to do this.”
