Page 36 of Pregnant in Plaid
She's gone pale. Completely pale. Her hand moves to her stomach, that protective gesture she does when she's stressed.
"My signing bonus?" Her laugh sounds broken. "No, no, I understand. Legal fees. Right. Of course." Another pause. "Sure. Yes. Thank you for letting me know."
She ends the call and just sits there, staring at her phone like it might spontaneously combust.
"Patrice?"
"The company's gone." Her voice is flat. Emotionless. Which is somehow worse than if she'd been crying. "State shut them down for fraud. Apparently the CEO was running some kind of pyramid scheme and it all collapsed yesterday. The job's gone. The signing bonus I was counting on for—" She places both hands on her stomach. "Gone. All of it."
Shit.
"Okay," I say carefully. "That's?—"
"I have no job." She's still staring at the phone. "No insurance. The apartment lease I am supposed to sign in Anchorage starts on Monday and I can't afford it without the job. Tessa's wedding is next weekend, and I have exactly two thousand dollars in savings and—" Her voice cracks. "I'm having a baby in eight weeks."
"Patrice—"
"I'm so stupid." She puts her phone down with shaking hands. "I thought I had it figured out. Thought I could do this on my own. Be independent. Notneed anyone. And now I'm—" She makes a sound that's half laugh, half sob. "I'm that statistic. Single mom with no job and no plan and?—"
"Stop."
She looks up at me, eyes shining.
"First of all," I say firmly, "you're not stupid. You got screwed by a criminal who's probably going to federal prison. That's not on you."
"But I should have?—"
"Should have what? Run a full financial investigation on the company before accepting a job? Patrice, that's not how normal people operate." I move my chair closer, reaching for her hand. "And second, you're not alone. You have me."
"Trace—"
"Let me finish." I take a breath. These thoughts have been spinning since yesterday—time to get them out. "You're here. In Alaska. The baby's going to be born here at Ashwood Falls Medical. You've already got Dr. Martinez. The nursery down the hall—" The one I stayed up until 2am last night clearing out. "—has space for a crib."
"I can't just?—"
"Stay." The word comes out rougher than I intended. "Stay here. In Ashwood Falls. In this cabin. You don't need to figure everything out right now. Just—" I squeeze her hand. "Stay for Tessa's wedding. See how it feels. And then we'll figure out next stepstogether."
"Together," she repeats, like she's testing the word.
"Yeah. Together. As in, you're not doing this alone anymore whether you like it or not."
She stares at me for a long moment. "You're offering me your cabin."
"Our cabin," I correct. "If you want it."
"Trace, that's—that's insane. We barely know each other."
"We're having a baby together. We're going to know each other real well real soon." I give her my best reasonable expression. "Besides, where else are you going to go? Try to find another job seven months pregnant?"
"I could—" She stops. "Okay, I don't actually have a counter-argument."
"Because it's a good plan."
"It's an insane plan."
"Best kind," I say. "Look, I'm not asking you to marry me or sign a lease or anything. Just—stay. At least through the wedding. See how it goes. No pressure."
"No pressure," she says skeptically. "You're offering me a room in your cabin and you're the father of my baby and there's no pressure."
