by Cara Dee
Rock climbing and bouldering were things they'd enjoyed in their early twenties. Ash had nearly dropped his jaw when Tennyson had suggested it last month.
Sophie seemed surprised, too. "Holy…something." Her smile became a little wobbly. "I don’t know enough about you."
Tennyson hugged her to him again and spoke quietly for only her to hear. "I don’t know enough about me, Sophie. Then I met you, and I wanted to find out."
A couple weeks after they had wrapped in Vancouver, Tennyson had found himself in a hotel room, beyond exhausted and drowning in post-production work. He'd been severely depressed, and his idea of "back to normal" suddenly made him sick. Then he'd thought about Sophie, how she was starting her life, and he'd taken a page from her book.
"Don’t be a stranger, okay?" He touched her cheek, seeing Noah approaching with drinks. "I'll be off the grid for a while, but I'll check my phone every now and then."
"I'll call," Sophie promised, and this time Tennyson believed her. Unlike last time at the wrap party when he'd told her to keep in touch. The wounds had simply been too raw.
"I can't leave you alone for two minutes, Pierce," Noah joked as he reached them. "Good to see ya, boss." He grinned and held out his hand after giving Sophie her drink.
Tennyson smiled back and shook Noah's hand firmly. "You too, Noah. I hear you're off to Italy soon."
"Next week." Noah nodded. "Asshole director, but I managed to recruit Steph, so I'll live."
"…And fuck to tell about it," Sophie quipped with a laugh.
"Dude. I'm classy," Noah told her.
Tennyson laughed quietly, and then it was time to get going. "Okay, we have a movie to watch."
"Which ending did you go with?" Sophie asked curiously.
"You'll see. Take care." Tennyson winked and then left to find Claire and his brother.
*
"You two are impossible," Claire whispered in the darkness, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
Tennyson and Asher exchanged sheepish smirks and tried to keep their commentary to a minimum. But it wasn’t easy. Even in a packed theater, they couldn’t stop from speaking about the film, albeit quietly.
"I'm glad you won on the score," Ash said under his breath.
Tennyson nodded, watching the screen where the camera flew over a forest and a pass that slithered through it. A rusty Ford sped down the road, toward the little town where the Millers had last heard Kelly was. Then it switched to Sophie, seated in the back of the car, tracing raindrops on the window. Lost in thought. Lost in her life. Pissed at her parents.
With filters and digital enhancement, the entire film had become darker, and Tennyson was satisfied with the end result.
He was also satisfied with the reactions around him.
When one of the last scenes started, he sank a bit lower in his seat and tented his fingers in front of his mouth. The Millers had tracked down the house where they thought Kelly was, and Sophie's character stalked up the littered pathway and banged on the door.
A middle-aged man with a beer gut opened the door and looked Sophie up and down. "Yeah?"
"Is my sister here? Josephine Miller?" Sophie asked impatiently. So impatiently that she ignored the man's response and barged into the house, shouting for her sister. "Jo! Where are you!"
Tennyson rubbed his jaw, waiting for the scene he'd fought for. The studio execs had wanted a happier ending, but he'd pleaded his case. He'd explained his vision and why this was better. It made Sophie's departure more powerful. Not to mention realistic.
In the next scene, Claire and Chris ran in after their daughter, also ignoring the man who lived there.
"Jo, honey?" Claire called out.
"You're enjoying this," Asher whispered.
Tennyson cracked a grin. "Maybe."
He'd never experimented with drugs, but he guessed this was close to being high. Having an entire movie theater on the edge of their seats, waiting to see if Kelly was alive or not…priceless.
Tennyson could practically hear the collective breath the audience took as Anna, the girl Sophie portrayed, opened the door to a bedroom.
And there was Kelly—in ruins. Lying on a bed, half-naked and dying.
Sophie let out a choked cry and rushed over to the bed, tearing away a needle from Kelly's arm. "Jo. Wake up, Jo." She shook Kelly, removed the rubber strip tied around her arm, and scanned her beaten-up body. "Oh my God—Jo! Wake the fuck up!"
Then Kelly—or Jo—started convulsing.
Sophie's screams faded, and the scene slowed down.
The instrumental music flowed through the speakers as everything happened in slow motion on the screen. Sophie ran outside, Chris dropped to the floor in defeat, Claire wept, medical personnel arrived, the blue lights from police cars flashed…
Claire followed Sophie and reached for her, but she wrenched away with murder in her young eyes.
Filmed from Claire's point of view, the sound of Sophie's fury was drowned out by Claire's dizziness. A ringing noise joined the music, slowly gaining volume.
"Rot in hell!" Sophie's words went unheard, but they were still clear as day from reading them on her lips. "I'm out." She bit out the last line, tears streaming down her face, before she began walking away.
Alone on the side of the road. Rain fell. Her demons would haunt her for a long time, but she was free.
The ringing took over as Claire stumbled back into the house, a hand covering her mouth as she watched the EMTs wheeling out Kelly's body in a black bag.
The second she dropped to the floor next to Chris, everything went silent on screen except for the sound of a heartbeat.
Beyond redemption, or too weak to find it, Claire and Chris would never recover. One daughter was lost. Another had fled to find life.
The heartbeat silenced, and the screen went black before the credits started rolling.
Tennyson barely heard the applause surrounding him, but he did feel his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out to see a text from Sophie, who was sitting several rows behind him.
I hate you for choosing that ending and making me think it was brilliant. Xoxo.
Tennyson smiled and typed back. Hope lives on in the person who broke free.
Sophie's response was instant. Broke free from her shell, or her prison?
She understood it, Tennyson was certain.
Does it matter? She's flying now.
Chapter 3
Sophie had to cancel her trip to New York the following day because she was sick as a dog. She ended up spending Saturday and Sunday in bed, and she couldn’t wait for the doctor's results tomorrow morning.
Thankfully, Noah was sweet enough to spend Sunday night with her, and he brought over Thai food from her favorite place.
It was funny, 'cause Noah was literally holding his breath until the food passed inspection. These days, Sophie could never be sure, but this ended up being delicious as always.
"What do you wanna watch?" Noah sprawled out on the plush rug with his food and grabbed the remote.
"I don’t care. You can go with hockey if you want." Sophie got comfortable in the corner of the couch and drew a blanket over her lower body.
"The Penguins aren't playing today," Noah said, as if that was an incredibly sad thing. He started flipping through the channels. "So what's wrong today? I didn’t hear from you yesterday. Daniel just texted me and said you canceled New York."
Sophie shrugged and chewed on a piece of curry chicken. "I can't hold much down. Something has to be wrong." Yet, this meal she devoured. "God, this is good." The green beans were perfect, too.
Noah hummed, pausing at some action movie that had recently started. "Throwing up, gaining weight, moody…"
"I haven't been moody." Sophie got defensive.
He chuckled. "Uh-huh. That’s what my sister said before she found out she was pregnant."
That was funny. "How did I not know you have a sister?"
It was Noah's turn to shrug a little, which made him drop a spr
ing roll on the floor. "Where's Cujo? Shit." He licked some sauce from his T-shirt. "Shit, shit, sorry about that."
Men.
"Pick it up," Sophie laughed. "Max isn't eating that crap. Now, about your sister?"
"Oh, right." He picked up the roll and shoved it into his mouth. "She lives in Berlin, so we don’t see each other often. We text and Skype and stuff. She's got two cute kids, but I hate when they visit our parents in Pittsburgh. Makes my folks wonder when I'm gonna settle down."
"Poor you," Sophie mocked. "So you don’t want kids of your own?"
"Fuck no, I'd ruin them." Noah went back to flipping channels. "Unless they pop out as hockey fans. Then we're good."
She snorted a giggle and ate some more.
"Seriously, though." He pointed his fork at her. "You sure you're not pregnant?"
"Oh my God, yes." Sophie rolled her eyes. "I think I'd know if I was growing a person. Besides, I haven't had sex since July—whatever date the wrap party was."
It was mid-November now.
"The twenty-fifth," he murmured, pensive. "So…that would make Tennyson the dad."
She ignored the pregnancy crap and stared intently at her food. She'd never said anything out loud to Noah about her and Tennyson, though most people had their suspicions.
"I'm not pregnant, Noah."
*
"You're pregnant, Ms. Pierce."
Sophie sat in her doctor's office and stared, waiting for the punch line.
The doctor went on with a nod. "That’s what's been causing your body to change so quickly. You are pregnant."
Sophie waited some more, and then she let out a nervous laugh. "Be serious, please. What's wrong with me?"
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you," he told her patiently. "You are simply pregnant. Now, since I know you have a demanding schedule, I took the liberty and made you an appointment with a colleague for an ultrasound—right after we're done here."
She pursed her lips. Her brain was completely blank aside from the word "pregnant" going on a loop.
There was no way.
She was only twenty-one. She hadn't had sex in…almost four months. Four fucking months.
"I imagine this is coming as a surprise for you." The doctor went through a stack of papers that sat on his desk. "I have the records here from your doctor in Vancouver, and you've said your period's been irregular?" With every word the doctor spoke, more color drained from Sophie's face. "Due to your previous condition with undernourishment, that can obviously affect your ability to get pregnant, but it's far from impossible—"
"I'm on the pill!" she blurted out.
All of a sudden, her breaths came out fast and shallow.
Holy shit, this couldn’t be happening.
She and Tennyson had been protected, goddammit. They'd used condoms until they'd spoken about safety. They'd both been clean, and she was on the pill.
"Did you ever miss taking one?" the doctor asked gently. "Remember, birth control is never one hundred percent."
"Oh my God," Sophie whimpered. At least she thought it was her. It sounded like her. Had she missed taking a pill? Maybe. She had a busy life. She couldn’t be sure. "I'm pregnant?"
"A clear positive."
Sophie covered her face with her hands. Pregnant. Impossible to process, though her tears were streaming as if her brain already knew on some level how screwed up this was.
"Would you like a minute alone, Ms. Pierce?"
Wiping her cheeks, her world fucking shattering, she shook her head. "I need answers."
The doctor nodded in understanding. "Follow me, please. I'll introduce you to Dr. Mitchell. She's very good."
*
Half an hour later, she was in another part of the private practice, and a woman in her forties was smearing cold gel on Sophie's exposed stomach.
A couple more words had joined the loop in her head. Along with pregnant, pregnant, pregnant, she now heard Tennyson, Tennyson, Tennyson and baby, baby, baby, too.
How…? Why…? God. Another wave of emotions surged forward, and she cried silently while Dr. Mitchell paused what she was doing and squeezed Sophie's hand gently.
"I've never even thought about children," Sophie wept.
Dr. Mitchell offered a look of concern. "Is there anyone I can call for you?"
Yes. No. Yes, but no. No one felt right. Daniel had brought her, and he was running errands while she was here. She'd text him when she was done. But other than Daniel, whom was she supposed to call? Honestly. Brooklyn was working, and as close as Sophie had gotten to Noah, this was too much. She couldn’t ask him to come down here, nor did she feel like it.
For a second, she cried because her parents weren't there for her, but that was a box she shut and locked as fast as she could. She was on her own, end of story.
Christ, she couldn’t imagine calling Tennyson about this, though she'd have little choice in the matter.
"Just get it over with," she croaked, wiping fruitlessly at her cheeks. And then she cried some more because now she felt bad for saying it like that. There was supposedly a baby in her belly, and she was being a bitch toward it. "I'm sorry—I didn’t mean it like that."
She was grateful it was a doctor with her and not a technician. Due to her fame, she was a "delicate case," and she could trust the confidentiality of the doctor. This clinic wouldn’t be a source for gossip.
"It's quite all right. I know it's a shock." Dr. Mitchell smiled sympathetically before resuming with the gel. "Do you know who the father is?" Sophie nodded miserably and watched as Dr. Mitchell pulled forward a machine with a screen. "That’s good. Do you have any idea when you conceived?"
"That’s the thing," Sophie said, sniffling. "It's been almost four months. Shouldn’t I have noticed sooner?"
"Most do, but every pregnancy is different," Dr. Mitchell reasoned. "Chances are you've played off certain things, too. Have you been ill?"
Well, yeah. While the doctor prepared the ultrasound, Sophie explained everything that had changed with her body. But since she'd thought it was because of her new diet and getting healthy…she hadn't considered pregnancy even once.
Now that she had the answer, she thought back on other things she'd simply brushed off. "My breasts have been sore at times. That’s common, right?"
"Definitely."
"And my belly button," Sophie added. "It's not as…in…anymore."
Dr. Mitchell nodded. "Understandable. The fetus shifts upward as it grows." The machine was switched on, and she approached with some weird wand. "Have you had any bleeding?"
Sophie turned to the screen. "Not really. Spotting at the most. I've had cramps, though."
"Well, we'll see how the baby's doing right now." She patted Sophie's arm and then pressed the wand to her belly. "Some women have their periods throughout their pregnancies, so it's nothing alarming."
A butterfly sound filled the room, and Sophie's eyes remained glued to the monitor on the right side of her bed. Her throat closed up because she wasn’t prepared. Not for this. She'd seen ultrasounds on TV, but this wasn’t a fetus. This was a baby. She saw it. It had arms and legs and a head and a body.
"Oh—" She choked up and covered her mouth. If it was impossible to stop the tears before, it had nothing on now.
Dr. Mitchell smiled. "Everything looks great, Sophie. Would you like to know the sex?"
At this point, Sophie was going for broke. She'd woken up today, worried she'd contracted some Mediterranean bug in Barcelona, and now she was gonna be a mother.
"Sure." Why not? This was surreal to the point where it was almost funny.
"You're having a boy. Congratulations."
A boy. There was a baby boy growing inside Sophie. She didn’t know how to react, so she both laughed and cried. Hysteria had officially taken over.
"Let me know if you want some privacy," Dr. Mitchell told her soothingly. "I'm sure it's a lot to process."
You don’t know the half of it, lady.
Sophie waved a hand and tried to calm down. "It's okay. Go on."
So the doctor did. "He's a little on the small side, but I think he's about to hit a growth spurt. You're about twenty weeks along, so I'll check your iron levels. But everything looks very good, Sophie. He's healthy."
That was when Sophie checked out. She nodded and mumbled short responses, but her brain had had enough. It was as if her mind told her it was okay to relax once she'd heard the word "healthy." She'd get the rest on paper. She could call. Whatever. Whatever.
Pregnant. Boy. Tennyson.
*
Sophie cried a lot that day.
Daniel had been stunned into silence, and that silence had stretched on until they'd gotten back to her loft. She had changed into pajamas and collapsed on the couch, and Daniel had sat next to her while texting a whole lot.
That was where they were now. Sophie didn’t know how many hours had passed.
"I can't believe it," Daniel whispered, picking up one of the sonogram pictures from the coffee table. "You're gonna be a mom, Sophie."
Naturally, she started weeping again.
She didn’t know what she was feeling—not an inkling whatsoever—but her body reacted as if she did. If she had to guess, though…tears of shock, tears of confusion, tears of…sadness? No, that felt misplaced. Happiness? Oh, too soon.
"I don’t know what to do," she wailed.
"We'll work it out, darling." Daniel hugged her to him and stroked her back. "I promise."
She had so, so many fears, questions, and worries. How would she tell Tennyson about this? How would he react? What if he got pissed? How would Sophie work? Being in an animated movie helped, she supposed. She could look like an ogre in the recording studio. But after that, how was she supposed to land more movies if she had a baby?
A human life, innocent and sweet, depending on her. Sophie Pierce. Former party princess of Hollywood.
She could not be more screwed.
Imagine the reactions from the outside world…
Oh God, the comments online.
She wanted to vomit.
The door flew open at that point, and Max came growling from Sophie's bedroom. But when he noticed it was only Noah, Max chuffed and returned to his peace and quiet.
