Four Weeks Later…
Iwon’t lie; when Dr. Webster told me Kylie was pregnant, I crapped my pants. I was so convinced her results would come back negative, I didn’t stop to consider that they could be positive. Kylie’s chances of getting pregnant naturally were around five percent, so we got a little lax using protection. I should have known my sperm are stronger than that. There’s no stopping the Scott men’s spawn.
Because Kylie is still grieving, she hasn’t acknowledged her pregnancy just yet. She feels wrong expressing happiness when she just lost her best friend. I understand her apprehension, so I’ll continue supporting her through her grief without mentioning her pregnancy until she’s ready.
She’s still grieving, but I’ve seen sparks of the old Kylie returning the past few days, so I’ve decided now is the right time to give her the USB from Melanie. When I hand it to her, she peers at me curiously before plugging it into her laptop. When I realize it’s a video like the one I saw in the bathroom in San Jose, I remove the USB from her laptop and place it in the flat screen on the wall in our loft.
The movie is a timeline of Kylie and Melanie’s friendship the past two and a half years. It’s similar to the one Marcus showed me last month, but more based on them, instead of the men Kylie rejected. It even has the day Kylie arrived at Melanie’s apartment wearing the clothes she left the cabin in.
Kylie squeezes my hand several times throughout the movie. Just from watching the hour-long clip, I can see how important Melanie was to Kylie, and I finally understand why her grieving process is taking longer than initially expected. I also understand why Kylie previously stated Melanie is a female version of me. We were two peas in a pod. We just had different bits between our legs.
By the time the movie ends, Kylie has the most beautiful smile plastered on her face. It grows when I click on a second file on the USB. It’s a similar video to the one shown at Melanie’s funeral. She’s sitting on her bed, crossed-legged and smiling brightly.
“Hi, gorgeous. I couldn’t tell you everything I wanted to say in the video at the funeral so I made you your own special edition. I have one last gift I’d like you to help me give.” Melanie rubs her hands together as her throat works hard to swallow. “Because I was diagnosed with ALL at twenty-one, I had the opportunity to store my eggs. Even having no intention of using them, for some strange reason, I had them gathered and stored. When I met you, I initially thought I did it for you. But after meeting your boyfriend, I highly doubt you’ll need them.”
My hope soars when Kylie’s hand covers the tiny bump low in her belly. This is the first time she’s acknowledged her pregnancy in the past four weeks.
“What Serena’s foundation is doing is very admirable, and it will help a lot of people, but I think we can go one step further. Maybe we can help out the young girls like you who were too young to have their eggs stored?” Melanie stops talking to wipe a tear off her cheek. As she struggles to rein in her composure, her eyes dart around her room.
Several seconds pass in silence before she gains the courage to continue. “I want to donate the eggs I have stored to women who have been through what we’ve been through. Can you do that for me?”
Kylie nods, even knowing Melanie can’t see her.
“Great!” Melanie beams, aware Kylie would never deny her request. “I love you, Kylie, and I miss you loads and loads. I’ll see you on the flip side.”
After squashing two fingers to her lips, she raises them to the sky. Kylie copies her movement just as the screen goes black. In silence, I watch her profile. I never know what to say to help her, so I just comfort her the only way I know how. I pull her into my lap then run my hand down her back.
“I miss her,” she murmurs into my chest a short time later.
“I know you do, baby.”
I see how much she misses her every time I glance into her eyes. Part of her soul vanished the day Melanie died.
Her head pops off my chest so she can peer into my eyes. “I miss you too.”
A broad smile etches on my face. I’ve missed her too, but I understand this is part of the process of grieving her friend. “I know you do, baby.”
When she rolls her eyes, I see sparks of the old Kylie reigniting in them. “Do you think you could ask your mom about Melanie’s suggestion?”
I nod without pause for thought. I accidentally let it slip to my mom last week that Kylie is pregnant when she dropped off some home-baked goodies. She was beyond ecstatic. She would have never said anything to Kylie or me, but she was worried she’d never become a grandmother because she knew the statistics on infertility for chemotherapy patients. After I shared our news, she’s even more convinced Kylie is a gift from Serena. The more I think about it, the more I believe it too.
“It’s a great idea, but I don’t think we should do it under Serena’s name.”
Kylie’s brows furrow. She appears utterly confused.
“We should do it under Melanie’s name. It was her idea, so she deserves the credit.”
A huge smile carves on Kylie’s face. “I love you.”
“I know you do, baby,” I repeat, laughing.
It isn’t that I don’t want to say it back. I love her more than life itself, but I want to keep the mood light because it’s the first time I’ve seen the true Kylie emerging from the shadows the past four weeks.
When she grabs one of the cushions off the sofa to smack me upside the head, my loud chuckle echoes around our loft. Then my eyes bug when she stands before pulling her long-sleeve shirt over her head. We haven’t done anything more than kiss the past month, so you can imagine how much I’ve missed seeing her beautiful body.
Her hesitation is all part of her grieving process, so I’d never push her into doing anything she wasn’t ready to do, even if my body craves her more than air.
When she saunters backward, the swing of her hips gains the attention of my cock. Once she has a few feet between us, she removes her bra and drops it to the ground. My teeth grit when her forearm covers her perfect tits from my view, but I have no chance in hell of stopping my raging hard on. Her body is fucking dynamite.
