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“Don’t apologize. I rather you be safe than sorry.” I start to laugh deliriously and a fresh wave of pain surges through my head. “Goddamn, Olivia. Maybe you shoulda gotten into baseball.”
“Girls don’t play baseball.”
“Softball then, whatever.”
Olivia reaches up and gingerly rubs where she whacked me. I’ll give her one thing: in a pinch, she can give someone a bad time if needed. If it weren’t for the shitshow outside, I’d be more reassured.
“I take it you saw the shit outside on the house?” It’s the only explanation for why she clonked me on the side of my head.
“Yeah.” She nods. “Stupid, really. I thought the doctor was coming back because she forgot something and I answered the door. Followed a sound. And there all that was.”
“You’d be screwed in a horror movie, y’know. That’s lesson one. You never follow the sounds.”
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s a good thing that we’re not in a horror movie.”
I almost quip that it sure feels like we are. Creepy stalkers, bloody graffiti on the walls, weird anonymous texts. I feel like my life has turned into Scream. The only difference is, my Ghostface is a crazy, compulsive liar I may or may not have been dumb enough to drunkenly impregnate.
Lucky fucking me.
“Let me get some ice for you.”
I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it. Barely even hurts anymore.” I grin. “Besides, getting hit in the head is what I do for a living.”
Olivia gives me a skeptical look, but she lets it go. Truth be told, my skull is still throbbing. But I don’t want Olivia to worry more. There’s no point in that. Especially not when we have some psycho scribbling nonsense on our home…
I breathe through my nose. This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Holly. She has to be the one that’s responsible for all of this.
I look to Olivia. She’s got bags under her eyes, but a renewed determination in her face. There’s a fire under her that wasn’t there before. Protectiveness.
I like this Angry Mama Bear side of her.
Then I get another realization like a second baseball bat conk to the head. “Hey… so, what were the results? The doc gave you an ultrasound, right?”
Olivia sobers up instantly, as if she just remembered that the crazy bitch writing shit on our house is one of the more minor problems we’re currently dealing with.
Her hands cradle her stomach instantly. She doesn’t have to say it. That motion right there tells me everything I need to know. It’s instinct.
“I-I… yeah. I’m pregnant,” she whispers.
Holy shit.
“Holy shit.” My mind can’t conjure up another phrase. Holy shit sounds like it works for every feeling that’s running through me right now. Holy shit means that I’m right on the verge of starting something fucking amazing with Olivia. Holy shit, we’re having a child. A whole new shift in our life. Permanence.
Holy shit.
And yet I can’t help but think about Holly. There’s a child in the mix now. Another one. An unborn baby with Olivia’s chin and Olivia’s eyes and, hopefully, my hard skull to keep him or her safe. But if Holly has her way, she’ll ruin that, too.
Not just holy shit—but Holly shit, too.
I may be concussed.
“You’re not happy about it.”
Olivia’s voice snaps me out of my meandering internal dialogue. I shake my head, putting my hands on her shoulders.
“No,” I say as sternly as I can. “Never think I’m not happy about this. You don’t understand how excited I am. We’re gonna have a baby, Olivia. Violet’s gonna have a sibling. We’re gonna be so happy.”
Olivia’s face relaxes, but she still has questions. I can see them swimming in her eyes. “You’ve got something on your mind then,” she accuses.
