Torn

by Natasha Knight

  “It’s no problem, Sebastian.”

  We talk for a few minutes, her asking about my family, which I lie about, as we make our way to the house.

  Helena is still annoyed that I’m insisting on this, but I don’t care. She’s waiting outside, her eyes betraying her lack of trust.

  “Dr. Price, this is Helena. Helena, Dr. Carol Price. She was my mother’s doctor.”

  Helena extends her hand. “Good to meet you, but Sebastian and I are not quite in agreement about me needing a doctor.”

  “I’m sure he’s just being cautious,” Dr. Price says. “I promise to make it as easy and painless as possible.”

  Helena opens her mouth and I go to her, close my hand around the back of her neck and turn her to face me.

  “I need you to do this, Helena.”

  She’ll have an examination if I have to hold her down to have it done, but I’m hoping to avoid that route.

  “Fine,” she says. “But next time, you talk to me before making the arrangements.”

  “Fine.”

  I walk them up to my bedroom and as much as I want to stay, I know I should give them privacy, so when my cell phone rings, I excuse myself and go downstairs to the study.

  “Hello?” I answer, not recognizing the number, but knowing it’s Pennsylvania by the area code.

  “Um, hi. Is Helena there?”

  It’s a girl. And she sounds familiar.

  “Who is this?” I ask, but I think I know.

  “Her sister. Amelia. Amy.”

  I sit down. “Where the hell are you, Amelia? Helena’s been worried sick.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I couldn’t call until I was settled and sure. I didn’t want her to try to send me back.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Philadelphia.”

  “What are you doing in Philadelphia?”

  “Are you going to let her talk to me or are you going to bully me over the phone?”

  I chuckle.

  “Is this Sebastian?” she asks cautiously. She must have stored my number when Gregory gave Helena my phone to call her that time. I’d made sure he’d used my phone and not his.

  “Yes.”

  She goes quiet.

  “Is this your new number, Amelia?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me where you are exactly,” I say, picking up a pen and finding a blank piece of paper. “I need an address.”

  She hesitates.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not getting on a plane to Philadelphia and I won’t force you back to the Willow house.”

  “Okay.” She gives me the address of one of the swankiest hotels in the city which immediately sends up flags.

  “That’s a hotel.”

  “It’s an apartment in the hotel.”

  “How are you affording that?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “I just made it my business.”

  “Look, I just wanted to call to set Helena’s mind at ease, not play twenty questions with you. And besides, I have a job.”

  “A job? Must be a hell of a job to afford that place.”

  “I’m modeling. I met this man and he thought I had the right look—”

  “What man?”

  She goes silent.

  I wait.

  “Is my sister there?” she asks, sounding suddenly years younger than Helena.

  “What man, Amelia?”

  “No one. Just a new friend I met in the city. It’s not like what you’re thinking.”

  “What am I thinking?”

  “Can I talk to my sister please?”

  “What am I thinking?” I ask again.

  No reply.

  “I hope you’re not doing something stupid, Amelia. If you need money, I’ll send some before we get there—”

  “I don’t want you to come. And I don’t need your money. I don’t need anything from you but my sister. Is she locked up somewhere? Is that why I can’t talk to her?”

  There’s a knock on my door and Remy pushes it open. Dr. Price is standing beside him.

  “Hold on,” I tell Amelia.

  “I think you should go upstairs,” Dr. Price says.

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine. She’s waiting for you.”

  I nod, stand up. “I’ll be right there,” I tell the doctor.

  She nods and leaves the room.

  “Helena’s safe and sound. I don’t need to keep her locked up. Are you going to be at this number for a little bit?”

  “Yes. I’ll be here. Look, don’t tell her…let me tell her everything, okay?”

  “You just stay put, understand?”

  “Yes.”

  I hang up the phone and climb the stairs to Helena’s room. She’s sitting up in her bed and the color has drained from her face.

  I tuck the phone into my pocket and go to her.

  “What’s going on?”

  She looks up at me.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  29

  Helena

  “Pregnant?”

  Pregnant. To hear the word out loud, it’s strange. Foreign.

  “How?” he asks.

  “How?”

  “You had the shot.”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m that one percent.”

  “Fuck.”

  He sits down on the edge of the bed.

  I can guess what he’s thinking. I’m thinking the same thing.

  “They can do a paternity test in a few weeks.”

  Sebastian nods.

  I cover my face, take a deep breath, exhale.

  “Can we talk about something else? Please? I can’t do this right now. I have to wrap my brain around it.”

  “Yeah.” He looks at me. “We can talk about your sister.”

  “Amy?”

  “That was her calling.”

  “How did she get your phone number?”

  “It’s the phone you used to call her. That wasn’t Gregory’s. It was mine.”

  “How…is she okay?”

  “She sounds fine.” He reaches into his pocket to retrieve his phone. “Here. Call her back. I saved the number. I’m going to go get some air.”

  I nod, take the phone and watch him go, then call the number back and a moment later, Amy’s on the line and I’m too relieved to be angry. I don’t tell her my news but that’s only because I’m having a hard time believing it myself just yet. And I need to make sure she’s okay.

  She’s apparently in Philadelphia. Sebastian has the address. And she’s found a job with a modeling agency.

  “But how did you get an apartment? A phone? You need money for those things.”

  “Oh, the agency fronted it,” she says, but she says it too quickly, almost tripping over the words and I think she’s lying.

  “Amy?”

  “Look, I have to go. It’s okay, Helena. I’m fine. I have everything under control.”

  “Are you sure? This whole thing seems too good to be true. I mean, the apartment, a phone, and clothes?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll be working to earn it back. But, are you okay? Sebastian sounds really bossy, Helena.”

  “Bossy?” I almost laugh.

  “Yeah. I only talked to him for like two minutes and I can tell.”

  “Bossy is an understatement. But he’s fine. Things are…different now.” I put a hand on my belly.

  “You sound different than the last time. Better.”

  “I am better.”

  “Do you think he’ll let you come visit me?”

  “I think I can convince him we need to take a trip to Philadelphia. Have you talked to mom and dad? Told them where you are?”

  “I don’t want to talk to them. They’re not just going to let me go.”

  “You’re twenty-one years old. You’re an adult. It’s not up to them.”

  “You know how they are.”

  “Yeah, I know. Maybe at least send some word that you’re safe.” />
  “Like they care about our safety.”

  “Just do it, okay?” Sometimes I feel like a big sister, like I’m years older than her. It’s always been that way with us.

  “Have you called them, Helena? Told them off? Told them to go to hell for what they did to you?”

  “No.”

  “Do you hate them?”

  “No. I don’t know. Things turned out differently than I thought they would. Sebastian…I love him.”

  “Helena!”

  “I know. It’s crazy. But, well, all of this has been crazy.”

  “You’re in love. With him. A Scafoni. Oh my God.”

  “I’m worried about you, Amy.”

  “I know and I’m sorry for making you worry, but I need to do this my way. I need to come to terms with everything. Okay?”

  I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Okay. I understand.”

  “Thanks, Helena. You can call me anytime now, okay?”

  “I will and same. Take care and I love you, sis.” I feel tears warm my eyes.

  “I love you. And you be careful.”

  We hang up the phone and I go into the bathroom and wash my face. I look at myself in the mirror, lift my shirt a little to look at my belly. It’s still flat, but it’s early. Just four to six weeks, the doctor though. My breasts are already a little fuller and tender. I hadn’t even noticed. But then again, there has been a lot going on.

  I’m not ready to have a baby.

  I’m not ready to have one with him.

  And then there’s the other thing.

  What if it’s not his?

  What if it’s Gregory’s?

  30

  Sebastian

  The next few weeks are tense. Helena is still having trouble keeping food down and the stress of it all is weighing on her.

  Hell, it’s sitting on me like a ton of bricks.

  A baby.

  She’s fucking pregnant.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t part of the plan.

  Although what is the plan? What the hell has it ever been?

  Take the Willow Girl.

  Break her.

  That was the plan.

  Destroy a life like we Scafoni men do.

  Destroy our own in the process.

  I wasn’t ever supposed to fall in love with her.

  I don’t even know when it happened. How it happened. But I did fall in love, and now, she’s carrying my baby.

  Or my brother’s baby.

  What the hell are we going to do if it’s his? What will she want to do?

  I just can’t think about it yet. Not until we get the results of the paternity test which will be today. They took blood from Helena and swabbed my cheek earlier in the week. Dr. Price received the results of the test this morning.

  Helena’s been quieter than normal, and we haven’t talked about what we’re going to do. I don’t have a clue what she’s thinking or where her head is.

  When we arrive, the nurse takes us into the doctor’s office right away. I don’t know what Dr. Price thinks about this paternity test and quite frankly, could give a fuck, but once we’re settled, she opens a folder and takes out the envelope that holds the results. She smiles at us a little awkwardly and I realize I’m sitting on the edge of my seat when Helena slides her hand across to touch me.

  We exchange a look and I slip her hand between mine as the doctor adjusts her glasses and reads the results.

  “Well?” I ask anxiously.

  She smiles, turns it over and pushes it toward us.

  “You’re the father, Sebastian.”

  Helena lets out an audible exhale.

  I turn to her, smile, not realizing how tense I’ve been. And I’m surprised at the excitement I feel.

  “Now, Helena, your blood also showed higher than usual levels of hCG—”

  “What’s that?” I ask. “Is that a problem?”

  “A hormone produced during pregnancy, and no, not a problem,” she replies with a smile. She turns back to Helena. “Given the history of multiples in your family, I’d feel better if we did an Ultrasound.”

  “Multiples?” Helena asks, sounding lost.

  “It could be nothing. Some women have higher levels of this hormone and they carry a single child. We’d need to do the Ultrasound to be sure.”

  Helena’s lost a little color.

  I turn to the doctor.

  “Why don’t you give us a few minutes,” I say.

  The doctor nods and vacates the room.

  A tear slides from Helena’s eye and she wipes it away.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “I’m relieved it’s yours but...”

  “Are you happy?”

  She looks at me. “It’s really fast. Not normal.”

  “Yeah. Well, what’s been normal about any of this?”

  “Nothing.” She looks at her lap and worry creases her brow.

  “Helena?”

  She shifts her gaze up at mine. “I’m not ready for this.”

  I feel my jaw tense. “We can talk about it.”

  “What if…what if it’s four? Four girls?”

  I wipe the tears off her face with my thumbs and lift her onto my lap.

  “What if it’s already happening again?” she asks into my chest. “The cycle starting already.”

  “It’s not. It’s over.”

  She gives a small shake of her head.

  “It’s over, Helena. There won’t be another Willow Girl reaping.” I tilt her face up so she looks at me. “I swear it. This is us finishing it. With this birth, whether it’s one or four, it’s finished. The Willow Girl Legacy, it’s over. And what has it done over centuries? Destroyed both families. Turned brother against brother. Daughter against mother. And caused too much pain and suffering.”

  She rests her head against my chest and touches my face with her fingertips.

  “The families will be united again, but this time, it’ll be out of love, not greed,” I say. “I love you and I’ll have one baby with you or four babies or a dozen. I don’t care. I love you. And whatever this is, we’re doing it together, you and me.”

  She nods.

  “Ready?”

  Her smile wavers but I stand her up and squeeze her arms. I’ll be strong enough for both of us.

  “Doctor,” I call out.

  Dr. Price re-enters and a few moments later, Helena is lying on the table and we’re all staring into the monitor and hearing the echo, a whooshing sound, as the doctor finds the baby.

  The babies.

  All four of them.

  Epilogue 1

  Helena

  One Month Later

  * * *

  Sebastian is right. My aunt Helena was right.

  We’re ending this, he and I.

  I’ll be the last Willow Girl.

  We’re sitting in Joseph Gallo’s office as he talks through the contract on his desk. It’s a new one Sebastian had drawn up that signs over the deed of the Willow estate and land to me. It also marks a symbolic end of the taking of the Willow Girls.

  I talked to my parents a few days after the doctor’s visit. I didn’t tell them about the pregnancy. I didn’t tell them about Sebastian and me. After my conversation with Amy, when she asked me if I hated them, I couldn’t get the question out of my head.

  They know the house is being transferred to my name. They also know I plan on demolishing it before I sell the land.

  It’s the house Marius Willow took his bride, Anabelle Scafoni. It’s where all of this began. And I’m ending it.

  Once the land is sold, I’ll give them the money, split it between my parents and sisters because I don’t want a penny of it. I don’t want anything to do with it or with them because I am angry. I’m angry at all of them.

  My parents sold me. They would have sold any of us. And my sisters lived off that money. I can’t forgive them, not yet. Maybe not ever.

  But I don’t think I hate them.
>
  Sebastian offers to destroy the heavy tome that contains the records of the Willow Girls, but I take it, instead. I want to keep it. A Willow should keep it. Should remember them because they were cast aside by their families too. Sold. Their lives destroyed.

  And having it under my arm as we walk out of that building, it’s like a sisterhood almost. And it’s right. As right as that bone-ring was wrong.

  “Lunch?” Sebastian asks.

  “I’m starving,” I say. It seems I’m always starving ever since I found out I was pregnant.

  Pregnant with quadruplets.

  We can find out the sex of the babies in a few more months, but I already know. I think he does too. We’ll have four girls.

  He takes my hand and we walk to the same restaurant we came to the last time we were here. And we take the same table except that today, we appear to be the only customers. Once he has a glass of wine and I sparkling water, he leans in toward me.

  “How are you feeling about things? The babies?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want to keep them?”

  I look at him. “That’s never been a question for me.”

  “Good. I feel the same way.” He sips from his wine then reaches into his pocket and takes out a small, black-velvet box and sets it on the table between us.

  I look at it and it takes my brain a minute to process even though my heart knows.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him as he opens the box.

  I turn my gaze up to his and he’s smiling but it’s a different sort of smile than I usually see on him. This one, it’s happy and a little unsure, maybe.

  “In the short time I’ve known you, you have gotten under my skin, Helena Willow. You have turned my life upside-down, and I’m…happy. In spite of all the crap we’ve been through, I’m happy. I don’t know if I deserve to be, but I am. I love you and I want to marry you. So, this is me telling you I plan to keep you forever. Marry me, Helena.”

  “Sebastian—”

  “Now. Marry me now.”

  Epilogue 2

  Sebastian

  “What if I’d said no?” she asks as I lead her up to my room—our room—once we’re back on the island after the civil ceremony. I’d arranged for the ceremony before we went to Gallo’s office to sign that paperwork and not once did it occur to me she might say no.