Page 36 of Dark Truth

Thoughts ran around in my head. Plans I had and the things we wanted to do together. So far, the new medicine was working, and I wanted to make sure I took advantage of each day. I’d spent so much time dreading the moment when I might have a flare, when Emily would know what was wrong with me, that I felt as if I’d barely lived our lives together.

I’d only been half invested, but now, I wanted to be fully invested in whatever we planned to do in the future. I was even considering a wedding, at some point. In the future.

I frowned, but I knew it was a big step. I was certain Emily was the one for me, the one I wanted to spend my life with, such as it may be, but I wasn’t sure if it was too soon. She wasn’t the kind to watch romantic movies, or stare at wedding magazines; she’d never even mentioned it, so maybe she didn’t want to get married?

I knew she wasn’t an assuming person, and she wouldn’t push for anything she thought I didn’t want, but I did wonder sometimes. She never, ever mentioned marriage, at all. Not even by accident.

It was a possibility, then, that she didn’t want to marry anyone.

She’d seen the kind of marriage her parents had, and although it was nothing like my parents, her parents weren’t exactly the most loving or warm people to their children. From what I’d seen so far, they weren’t that way with each other either.

Maybe she wanted to avoid it? Which would be fine, I wouldn’t push her if she didn’t want it, but I would like to give her that protection, in case something happened to me. I wanted to know that she’d be taken care of.

Of course, she had family who would always do that, I suspected now that they’d got over their squabble. I hadn’t completely thawed to Trent, but I liked Kevin and Mason. They were intelligent fellas and not as unyielding as Trent. We’d had dinner with Laura and Mason the other night. They’d seemed like good company, and Emily was happy to be with them.

She’d been distracted, but she had been that way since I’d fallen ill. I knew she was probably calculating when I had to take my medicine next, or if I’d been still too long. She caught my gaze on her and smiled. She was alright, but I was worried that she was dealing with too much stress.

I’d take her for a weekend away, I decided. After the opening and everything had settled down. I knew she had a girls’ weekend planned with Roxie and her sisters-in-law, but that was later this summer. She deserved a couple of days before then, at least.

I knew she was exhausted, but she’d stayed that way lately. She was already snoring softly against my shoulder. I shifted a little, and her head moved. The snores stopped, but she was still asleep. The poor thing couldn’t get enough sleep lately. I’d make sure she slept in the next morning. One way or another.

I slid out from beneath her and went to her phone. I turned off the alarm she’d set and crawled back into bed. She curled into me and I sighed, happy to have her by my side.

I wouldn’t have believed it when I first met her, but even then, I’d known there was something different about her. How right I’d been. She was different from any woman I’d ever met, and that was what made her special.

I thought about the next day and all I had to get done. It all stopped mattering when Emily made a soft sound of fear in her sleep. I soothed her, and she fell back into something more peaceful.

I watched her sleep for a while longer, and I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep until Emily moved away, and that woke me up. I patted her back and rolled to my side, too tired to fight it anymore.

I’d make sure she took care of herself tomorrow, and that we’d both get some sleep tonight. I let the dreams take me, at last, and started to snore.

The next morning, Emily wasn’t in bed. I was disappointed to find she had got up already, and I got up to find her. “Emily? Why are you up, darling? I turned your alarm off, woman!”

I heard noises in the bathroom and went to the door. “Emily?”

“Don’t come in! I must have eaten something bad last night.”

I could hear she’d been crying, and I didn’t want to invade her privacy, but she needed me. “Emily? I think we should take you to the doctor, sweetheart. You’ve been ill a lot lately, and I’m worried about you.”

“I don’t need to go to the doctor, Dylan. I know what’s wrong.” I heard the toilet flush and the door opened. “Let’s go to the kitchen, and I’ll explain it all.”

Her face was drained of all color and her eyes were terrified, but she walked to the kitchen with a determined gait. I wasn’t sure what she was about to tell me, but I suspected it was something important.

Dylan

I watched as Emily poured herself a glass of ginger ale from the fridge and came to stand in front of me on the other side of the island. She looked rough, worn out, and pale. I didn’t like the look of her and wanted to ask her to let me take her to the doctor, but she brushed her hair back from her face, took a deep breath, and looked me straight in the eye.

“I’m pregnant.” Her mouth was a grim straight line, and her eyes lacked their normal sparkle, but as soon as she said the words, I knew they were true. Maybe I’d never been around pregnant women, and I didn’t really know the first thing about pregnancy, but it all made sense now.

The stomach nausea, the exhaustion, the paleness, even the way her nipples had darkened, all made sense now. She was pregnant. I could only stare at her and nod.

“Alright. Well, that’s good I suppose.” I sat there, too stunned to ask her how, or why, or what should we do. A baby.

A few months ago, I’d have coldly told her to abort it, and then I’d have dumped her. Now? I wasn’t sure what I felt, but coldness wasn’t the name for it. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t sad, I was just … numb.

“Good?” she said, her eyes disappointed.

I couldn’t help it, though. This was a big thing, on top of so many big things, and well, I was fucked if I could think of how to respond. I knew I should be angry or excited, one of the two, but right now, I just wanted to process the whole thing. I wasn’t always able to handle surprises well, and this was one of those times.