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Enough time had passed, and I checked the test.
Negative.
My heart sank. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I was still feeling the weight of the bad news. I washed my hands and went back to the bedroom, falling onto the bed. Noah looked over at me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah… the test came back negative is all.”
Noah reached out for my hand, and I let him take it. “Are you sad?”
“A little but mostly frustrated. I just thought I’d be pregnant by now, and I’m just… frustrated. I don’t know how else to say it.”
He kissed my head. “No, no. I understand. I’d love for it to happen too, but you don’t have to worry because I’m here for you, and it’ll happen in good time. I’m sure. Let’s just enjoy the now.”
It was so strange seeing how much Noah had changed. He was calmer, and he had a great way of grounding me.
“It’ll happen when it happens,” I whispered to myself.
***
It was a few hours later, and Hope was on her way to drop Olivia off. Noah and I spent the day lounging around and simply enjoying one another. I took his advice to heart. Having a baby wasn’t the crux of our relationship anymore.
“You know what might be a good idea?” I asked him.
Noah and I were sitting in the living room, waiting for Hope to drop off Olivia.
“What?”
“Maybe sending Livvy to school. I know it isn’t something you were planning on doing, but—”
He smiled. “Yeah, I think she would like that.”
“Really?”
I hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly. Things had changed immensely over the past two months, but it was still surprising.
“You were right when you said Livvy needs to be around more people her age. I was actually looking into a few in the area, just to see what was out there.”
Well, who knew?
Just then, the doorbell rang. We were both about to go and answer it, but my phone went off.
“Um, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Noah nodded and left. I got up and walked into the other room to take the call. It wasn’t a number I recognized, but I didn’t get calls often, so my guess was that it was probably important.
“Hello?”
“Is this Scarlett?”
“This is her.”
“Hi, we’re calling because your father Glenn has been admitted to Montrose Memorial Hospital. He has you as his emergency contact, and we were hoping you could get down here.”
My stomach twisted in knots. “Is he okay?”
“He should be. It looks to be alcohol poisoning. We think it would be best to have someone here to talk with him.”
“Um, yeah. I’m in the mountains right now, but I can head down today and hopefully be there in four to five hours.”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
The hospital hung up, and I leaned against the wall. I wasn’t surprised that my father landed himself in the hospital again. No matter what I tried, he wouldn’t cut down on his drinking. He always had Mom’s death weighing on him, and Kylie dying pushed him over the edge. I just wanted him to be in a better place like Noah and me. Maybe hearing about his granddaughter could snap him out of this funk. He did love Olivia, and he hadn’t seen her for two years. Perhaps I could get him to see the light.
I went back to the living room, and Olivia and Noah were already in there chatting.
“Hey, guys.”
Livvy ran over to me and hugged my legs. Noah stayed on the couch and gave me a look. He could probably see I was upset.
“Is everything okay?”
“Um, it should be. I have to head back to town. My dad had a little too much to…” I trailed off because I didn’t want Olivia to know the details of what was going on, but Noah picked up on my meaning.
“Do you want us to go with you?”
“No, it’s fine. I should take care of this myself.”
I didn’t want to leave them, but my dad needed me. I came here to get away from him, but I loved my father and wasn’t ready to give up on him yet.
Olivia looked up at me, and I could see tears in her eyes. I knelt down in front of her to wipe them away.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“You’re leaving again?”
“Oh, only for a little bit. I have to go see Grandpa. He needs my help with something. I promise to come back when I’m done. And I’ll call all the time.”
She sniffled. “You promise?”
Livvy had the most serious look on her face. I knew if I broke this promise, this little girl would come after me with everything she had.
“Pinky promise.” I held out my pinky, and she wrapped her little one around mine. After, she giggled, and I pulled her into my arms so I could kiss her forehead.
