by Lake, D. K.
"They found the secret stash of sweets and the sugar has gone to their heads." Tammy informed us.
"Oh, it's ok, let them wear themselves out now. Maybe you'll get a good night's sleep." Ellie said, sorting the food out for the children.
Everyone settled down and Lainey did a good job of trying to feed all the boys, making sure they all ate their dinner. She was so responsible. Drew had been hinting at having another one. I think he secretly wanted a little boy. He had come around to the idea since I'd had Lainey because of her immunity which meant he didn't need to worry about her so much.
As we sat around eating and enjoying each other's company, I caught Drew looking at me. I turned to him and he leaned closer.
"You look beautiful." he whispered.
"I'm still wearing the same dirty shorts from this afternoon and look, I even spilled sauce on my top." I laughed.
"You're still beautiful." He held my face and nibbled my neck, and thankfully everyone was distracted, talking and eating their food to notice us.
"Stop it." I playfully smacked his chest and he chuckled.
"Do you want to know what's for dessert?" he asked.
"No." I said with a smirk.
"You."
"Stop." I giggled.
"Tonight you're my dessert."
"Shh."
"And I'm not pulling out." he whispered, tickling my back with his fingers.
I was pretty sure my cheeks matched the tomatoes on my plate.
"You're not funny." I said, moving the food around on my plate.
"I wasn't joking."
"Really? You really want another one?" I said, the excitement bubbling up inside of me because I had secretly been thinking about it for a while. Having Lainey had been one of the best decisions I had ever made, and I always wanted her to have a little brother or sister. But I knew having Lainey freaked Drew out the first time so I never thought he'd agree to have another.
I turned to look at Drew and frowned, feeling unsure. "Are you teasing me right now?"
"No. I'm very serious." he said, reaching out and grabbing onto the moon necklace around my neck, not breaking eye contact as he pulled me closer, and suddenly his lips were on mine.
"Guys, please...We're eating! I don't want to see tongue at the table." Ellie said playfully.
I giggled and Drew leaned back in his chair, playing with the ends of my hair that now hung halfway down my back.
I couldn't keep the stupid grin off my face. I couldn't believe we were here and this was our life. After all the shit we had been through I never thought we'd ever get to this point, surrounded by friends and family, good food, good weather, what more could I ask for? Well, maybe another baby.
Life was crazy but in a good way. We were the human leftovers and I planned to enjoy every second of it.
The End.
Alternative Ending...
(This is an alternative ending and things play out a little differently.)
It had been nearly two weeks since we arrived at the White House. Lane was back to his normal self. And Drew was his usual miserable self. He was so homesick and it showed. We had said goodbye to Sophie, Hutch, and the others a few days ago. Margo had insisted on staying but Lane had sent her away, and I overheard him telling her that he'd had fun but that was all it was for him. She was devastated and it made me think she really cared for him. I had been getting along with Lane a lot better the past few days. It made a nice change, but I had noticed Drew slipping away. He was spending more and more time on his own and some days I wouldn't see him until he crawled into our bed late at night but even then he would ignore me. Nick had had me in the lab taking samples but it was a lot less work than I thought it would be and the rest of the time Lane and I had been hanging out because we didn't really know anyone else here to hang out with. I would have liked to have spent more time with Drew but he was off wandering the grounds most of the day.
I jogged down the stairwell to Nick's lab and knocked on the door.
I couldn't put it off anymore. I needed to tell him. And show him.
The little Chinese man opened the door and poked his head out and I smiled. He said something in Chinese and I just smiled again having no idea what he was saying.
"Nick?" I said.
He nodded and waved me inside. Nick was busy at the back of the lab, deep in conversation with his colleagues. The Chinese man hurried over to Nick and tapped him on the shoulder and Nick turned to look at me and I gave him a little wave.
Nick handed his notepad to the female scientist that couldn't stop batting her eyelashes at him or fiddling with her hair when he looked at her, of course, he was totally oblivious of her affection towards him. Someone should really clue him in.
"Alex, what brings you down here? I don't need you today." Nick said.
"I know, but I needed to talk to you." I nodded my head at him to follow me so we were out of hearing distance.
"Ok, what's wrong?" Nick asked.
"This." I lifted my sweatshirt and showed him the small bump that was starting to form.
I had been throwing up more and more and in the past few weeks there had been a noticeable change and I was starting to show, growing a little more every day now.
"You're bloated?" Nick asked, unsure.
"No, I am definitely not bloated, this doesn't go away, and don't tell me I put weight on."
"Huh. When did this happen?" Nick asked.
"I've only just noticed, but I've been getting sick for a while now and I didn't put two and two together until now. The bump has only just started to show."
"Ok, what we're going to do is...you're going to take one of these and go and fill it up for me." Nick handed me a plastic tube. "Then you're going to come back and we'll test it to find out if you definitely are."
"And if I am?"
"Then I will inform Mary and we'll get an ultrasound machine and a midwife down here to check you over, see if we can figure out the dates."
"Right." I said, slipping the tube into my pocket. "I'll be right back."
I left the lab and hurried to the toilet and filled the tube, peeing on my fingers in the process. Ugh.
I left the bathroom and spotted Lane down the hallway, so I quickly ducked out of view and made my way back to the lab. Nick was waiting for me and the female scientist was with him, and I spotted her name on her name badge was Mira. I handed the tube over and took a seat in the scary-looking dentist chair where Nick liked to poke needles into me.
I fiddled with a frayed thread on my skinny jeans while Nick and Mira whispered to each other as they tested my sample.
"I can't believe we missed this." Nick said.
"Missed what?" I asked nervously.
"It's positive." Mira informed me.
I'd had a few days to process this already. I already guessed I was pregnant so it wasn't a big shock or anything, but still finding out you're pregnant isn't something that happens every day.
I swallowed and just nodded.
"Isn't this exciting, it will be interesting to see if the baby has the same immunity." Mira said getting all excited over my baby.
My eyes snapped to hers and I sent her a warning glare.
"My baby is not your science experiment!"
"Alex, that's not what she meant-" Nick said.
"I don't care. I don't want to hear it. How soon can you get someone to look me over and find out how far along I am?"
"I will send for someone right away." Nick said, sending Mira on her way and she quietly left the lab.
I was dreading this. I felt sick again just thinking about how Drew would react. I knew he wanted to go home, back to Louisiana but if I had this baby it would mean we would have to stay here longer. I didn't want him to leave but I felt this news would drive him away. But it's not like this was all my fault, he came onto me too. We should have been more careful but it was too late now.
I stayed out of the way for the rest of the day and tried to avoid Lane. I didn't want to
have this conversation with him either. I didn't attend dinner and Nick sent someone to find me and they escorted me down to the lab where there was a large woman with short bouncy brown hair waiting next to an ultrasound machine. Nick had cleared the lab and it was only the midwife, Mary, and himself.
"Alex, honey! Why didn't you tell any of us?" Mary said, putting an arm around my shoulders and guiding me over to the chair that was in a flat position so I could lay down.
"I think I was hoping it wasn't real and I was getting sick because of my diet or something."
"Let's get you all gelled up." the midwife said with a large smile as I slid onto the chair and rolled up my sweatshirt.
She squeezed cold gel onto my tummy and pressed the ultrasound device to my stomach and moved it around.
"Let's see if we can find this little one." she said.
I watched the screen nervously, biting my lip.
"There's the baby." She pointed at the screen and Mary was so intrigued, leaning over me and looking at the screen.
"Aww, it's so cute." Mary said.
Cute? I couldn't tell what I was looking at. It looked like a blob to me.
"Can you see how far she is?" Nick asked.
"Yes, let me just take some measurements of the little one." We waited patiently. "Ok, I put this little one at nearly five months, but I can't be certain, the baby might be underweight because of the lack of nutrients, but if the measurements are right..." the midwife trailed off, sounding a little unsure but I was freaking out.
"What?" I gasped, doing the math in my head.
If I was that far along it would mean I had fallen pregnant before I even got to Nick's lab...before I even met Drew. OMG.
"How can that be?" I turned my head to look at Nick. "How did you miss this?" I asked.
"I'm not quite sure, but it's not something I was looking for."
"So can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" Mary asked. She was so excited you would think she was the one in the chair.
"I already took a little peek." the midwife said.
"And?" Mary asked excitedly.
Um, wasn't this my baby? What if I didn't want to know the sex of the baby?
"It's a...boy!" the midwife replied.
A boy. I was having a baby boy and it belonged to Lane.
How was I going to explain this to Drew?
"Ok, enough. Get this crap off of me. I need to get out of this room, I feel like I'm suffocating." I said, and Mary handed me some tissue to wipe myself up.
"She's going to need prenatal vitamins. I have a list of foods that she can and can't eat." the midwife started rattling off all sorts of stuff about pregnancy and talking to Nick and Mary as though I wasn't even in the room. I climbed off the chair and headed for the door.
"Alex, sweetie, where are you going?" Mary called but I was already outside the room where I bumped straight into Lane.
"Hey, there you are. I've been looking for you. Everything all right?" he asked.
"No." I simply replied and dragged him into the nearest room that happened to be the library.
"Whoa, slow down. You nearly pulled my arm off." Lane said.
I got right to the point. "Do you remember back in Utah, the night we got drunk and everything went wrong?"
"Uhh...yeah, why?" Lane looked so confused.
So would I be? He must wonder why I'm bringing it up now.
"We used a condom, right?" I was so sure we had used one.
He looked so puzzled. "Yeah, we used a condom, like we always do but..."
"But? There's a but?"
"I think it split. I can't really remember, I was really drunk, but I remember taking it off and there was a big hole in it."
"What?! Why are you only telling me this now?"
"Because you only just asked. And after everything that happened that night, I guess I forgot. Anyway, why does it matter?" Lane asked, his eyes searching mine and I didn't know how to respond.
"What? Noooo. You can't be?" Lane said, shocked.
"Well, I am."
"You're pregnant?"
"Yes." I hissed.
"How do you know it's not Drew's?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Because I'm too far along for it to be Drew's. He's definitely yours."
"He?"
"It's a boy." I deadpanned, and a smile swept over Lane's face. "Why are you so happy?" I asked.
"Because we're having a baby together. What, you're not happy?"
"No! It's not exactly the right time, and have you forgotten the part where I'm with Drew now."
Lane rolled his eyes. "You may be with Drew but you're having my baby. I can't wait to see how he takes the wonderful news."
"This isn't a game. Be serious. Having a baby now would be stupid, it's not safe, why would you want to bring a baby into this shitty world?"
"Because it's our baby. You can't get rid of our baby!" Lane said firmly.
"This is so annoying! I don't want to have a baby, and I especially don't want one with you!" I groaned and fell into the cream couch.
"Well, I don't think you get a choice anymore."
I knew he was right. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to get rid of it anyhow, but to be honest, I didn't want to get rid of it.
"So does Nick know?" Lane asked.
"Yes, I just came from there, they did an ultrasound."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't think it was yours so why would I tell you?" I snapped and he looked so hurt. "I really thought it was Drew's baby. I'm so mad you let this happen!"
"Me? You had sex with me!"
"Yes, but you could have told me about the condom. I could have got the morning after pill. Now it means I can't leave this place for at least another year, maybe even more. I'm stuck here." I cried.
"Alex, it will be ok." Lane came over to comfort me and sat on the couch next to me.
"Ok? How is this ok?"
I wasn't ready to be a mother. I couldn't do this.
"Because I'm here. We'll do this together. I'll be here for you and the baby." Lane said, taking my hand in his.
"Baby?" Drew's voice made me jump away from Lane.
Drew was standing in the doorway with his crossbow on his back.
"Alex, what baby?" Drew asked, staring at me.
"Um...Lane, can you give us a minute?"
"No way. I'm not leaving you and my unborn child alone with this psycho."
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Did he really just say that?
"Alex, look at me," Drew growled. "What is he talking about?"
"I-I'm pregnant." I stuttered.
"What she's trying to say is she's pregnant with my child and we've decided to give it another go-"
"What, no!" I shook my head.
"Aren't you going to congratulate us?" Lane sneered.
Drew looked back at me with a blank expression before leaving the room.
"Lane! Why'd you have to say that?" I yelled.
I ran out of the room and chased Drew down the hallway. He wouldn't slow down or stop so I had to keep up.
"It's not what you think. I fell pregnant before I even met you. Nick somehow missed it and I only found out for sure a little while ago."
"So you went and found Lane straightaway to tell him the good news?" Drew mocked.
"No, I bumped into him. Anyway, I never know where to find you, you're never around when I want you. You're always outside and you're so aloof no one ever knows where you are when I ask."
"You must have known about this before today? You've had plenty of time to tell me." Drew said, storming up the stairs.
"No, you're never around. Like always."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're good at taking off and not telling me where you are...you still haven't told me why you went into town when we were back in Eden?"
Drew laughed. "That's still bugging you? Why do you have to know everything? I told Sophie I was going into town to look fo
r new arrows."
"She never told me that."
"Sophie likes to stir the pot." Drew grunted, throwing the door to our room wide open and storming in. "So you and Lane are having a baby. So where does that leave us, Alex?" He threw his arms in the air.
"What do you mean? Nothing has changed between us."
"Nothing has changed? You're having another guy's baby."
"So? That doesn't mean anything has to change between us."
"Wake up, Alex! You're never going to be able to get away from him now. Do you really think he'll let you leave and just take his baby? No. He's never going to let you leave. I don't want to stay here any longer. I hate this place. I hate the people. I hate the food. I hate the uncomfortable bed. And I hate the fucking curtains too."
"So what are you saying?"
"If you want to keep this baby then we're leaving, you and me."
"I can't just leave, Drew. Nick needs me still, and I can't be traveling while I'm pregnant. I need to be close to someone that knows what they are doing, like a midwife. What if there are complications? I can't just leave with you."
"Look, I'm gonna make this real simple for you. I want to be with you. Only you. Not Lane too. If you stay and have the baby here then he'll never let you go, but if we leave now we can get out of here and get to someplace safe before you have the baby. I mean if that's what you're planning to do, keep it?" I nodded dumbly in response. "Ok. Simple. We'll leave tonight."
"To-night?" I croaked.
"I need to get some supplies. I'll meet you by the back door at midnight."
"Why midnight?"
"The guards change shifts, they won't see us leaving, and I know a place we can sneak out." Of course he does.
"What if I don't want to leave?" I asked.
"Then I won't wait for you. I'll wait until ten past twelve and if you're not there, I'll know you don't want to leave and I'll go without you. I can't stay in this place any longer." he said, grabbing his backpack that was already packed and ready to go.
"How can you do this to me?" I was almost in tears but I held it together. Barely.
"I want to be with you, but I can't spend another day in this place with Lane breathing down my neck. It's only a matter of time before he steals you away."
