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“I’m scared, Joe,” she continued to whisper, over and over, as she buried her face in my chest and leaned against me. “I’m so scared.”
I couldn’t reassure her of shit. Not when I had no clue how this would play out. All I could do in that moment was hold her. Because I didn’t have the words to fix this, to make it right for her.
All I had was my body.
My presence.
My ability to stay.
Sniffling, she looked up at me, eyes puffy and red. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For proving me right.”
Confused, I frowned. “How have I proved you right, exactly?”
“Well, you’re here for a start,” she said, offering me a small smile. “And you haven’t hit the roof.”
“Molloy, you didn’t climb on top of yourself and get pregnant,” I bit out. “I’m the asshole who did that. I’m not going to hit any damn roof. This is on me a hell of a lot more than it’s on you, okay?” I shook my head, feeling lost and frustrated. “I didn’t realize your birth control mightn’t work. I didn’t even think about it when you were throwing up that weekend. I should’ve put a condom on. I should’ve taken better care of you.”
“I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”
No, she shouldn’t have, but I got it.
“I have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow,” she blew my world by saying. “It’s for an ultrasound—a dating scan, they called it.” Shivering, she added, “I really don’t want to go on my own.”
“You won’t be on your own. I’ll be there.”
“You will?”
“Of course,” I ground out, feeling too much in this moment. “I would’ve been there for the doctor’s appointment, too, you know. If I had known. I’m a lot of things, Aoife , but I’m not a coward, and I don’t run.”
“I’ve been trying to ask you for days,” she whispered. “Trying to work up the courage to tell you.”
“It’s okay.” I pulled her close. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I’m going to be the talk of the town, Joe,” she admitted in a small voice, looking achingly vulnerable. “Everyone at school probably knows by now. Paul and Danielle will make sure of it. How am I supposed to walk back through the doors of BCS?”
“We are going to walk back into school with our heads held high, and if anyone has something to say, then they’ll have me to deal with,” I replied, hackles rising. “Because fuck them, Molloy.”
“Fuck them?”
“Fuck them,” I confirmed.
She sniffled. “Kev told Dad.”
My heart dropped into my ass. “Kev has a big fucking mouth.”
“I don’t want to go home yet.” She worried on her lip. “I’m not ready to face my father, and if I see my brother, I’ll kill him.”
That made two of us.
“Then don’t go home yet,” I replied. “Stay with me.”
“What are we going to do, Joe?”
I have no fucking idea. “We’ll figure it out.”
