“I will never trust a single word that comes out of your mouth ever again, you deceitful little pixie,” I snap.
“No, it’s not like that, let me explain what happened,” Izabel begs.
“Let my friend go, you monster!” Kayla screams at me, lunging towards me with hatred in her eyes. The guard grabs her arms and holds her in place as I turn back to Izabel.
“Did you really think you could actually pull this off? And everything that happened over the past weeks…what was that? A game?” I snarl.
Kayla starts screaming at me again.
Izabel’s face distorts in stress as she yells to be heard over her friend. “How can you even say that? This whole mess isn’t what you think it is!”
“Of course it is! It’s exactly what I think it is!” I yell at her, my fists clenched at my side.
She breaks down.
Kayla is still fighting the guard to reach me when Izabel bursts into tears.
Instantly, my heart shatters in a different way. I never want to see her crying or hurt in any way, and seeing her crumble like this has me rushing to pull her into my arms.
I wrap both arms around her and hold her tight against my chest as I stroke the back of her head. “Hey, wait, don’t cry. I’m sorry for yelling at you.”
She buries her face against me, talking non-stop, but I can’t hear her words muffled against my jacket. I pull her awayand hold her chin, gently lifting her head up to look at me. “I can’t hear you, Pixie,” I sigh.
“I went to the mall to get a pregnancy test. I was only sneaking around because I was so scared to tell you I thought I was maybe pregnant, and then I had to find a way to get the test, and maybe it wasn’t something to worry about, but I had to do the test to find out. And I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure. But then I did it and…” she's still crying, and the words are falling from her in a stream of shock and panic and frustration.
“Pixie, are you pregnant?” I interrupt her.
She swallows hard, looking at me through eyes glittering with tears and tinted red from crying. She nods.
“I am,” she whispers softly.
My brain flip-flops in confusion. I glance at her friend, who is suddenly quiet, then back at her. “But you were with Kayla?” I stammer.
“It was all a crazy accident. I had no idea she was there. I didn’t plan to meet her there. I never planned to escape, Anton. I promise you. Can’t you see that? Why would you even think that I would do that after…after everything….” More tears choke her words off, and I reach my hand up to her face to gently brush the tears away with the pad of my thumb.
She’s pregnant!The thought snaps into place in my mind as though I didn’t actually register it properly the first time.
My beautiful little pixie is pregnant.
Izabel, my wife, is pregnant.
And she shouldnotbe under this kind of stress!
“Pixie! I can’t believe it!” I stammer, pulling her into my arms to hug her again. “I’m…I’m so sorry, you need to sit down.You need a glass of water? Or some tea? I can make you some tea?” I say, lifting her in my arms and carrying her to the sofa.
I set her down and sit next to her, stroking her face and down the side of her body.
She looks up at me and takes a deep breath, her nose scrunched as she tries to pull herself together again.
“I’m so sorry I yelled at you,” I whisper.
“It’s…it’s okay. I just didn’t want you to think…”
“It’s okay, I don’t. It’s totally okay, are you okay?” I blurt out.
She nods, a soft giggle slipping from her lips. She’s relieved. She leans into me and I pull her into my lap to hold her again. I can’t believe this is actually happening.
She’s pregnant with my baby.
