But I haven’t forgotten the reason I’m here. Don’t worry. Left on my own, I would never be here. Or at least that’s what I’m telling you right now. But who knows? Because now that I'm here, I wonder why I didn’t come before. If only to gaze at the man I love. At the father of the baby I’m carrying.
If I do nothing else today, I should tell him that he’s going to be a father. Because despite the danger that I’m in, and the hurt that he’s caused me, I somehow still love this man.
“Lucien, I need to tell you something…” I begin, but this time he interrupts me.
“I need to tell you something first,” he says and this time he doesn’t stop or give me a chance to say anything. “I know why you’re here. Are you okay?”
That takes me by surprise. Was he a part of this? No, it can’t be.
“The Deputy Marshall,” Lucien says, leaning closer to me, as if whispering, while actually talking into the phone. “He’s dirty, right?”
I nod. I don’t know if they’re recording this. Lucien glances at the guard to see if he’s gotten any reaction. But the guard simply sits there, watching us. Of course they have the power to tap our conversation, but apparently they aren’t giving any credence to what Lucien is saying. Deputy Marshall must have realized that when he brought me here. He just didn't care.
“Are you okay?” Lucien asks.
I nod again. I wonder if Lucien is part of this.
“Those fuckers,” Lucien growls to himself and I start to think that he had no control over me sitting here. “If I ever get a chance to I’ll kill them myself.”
That’s when I start to believe that most likely Lucien had no intention of bringing me back to this place.
“I need to tell you something…” I try again, but again he interrupts me.
Remind me if I ever get out of this place to tell Lucien how much I hate it when he interrupts me. It’s almost as if I wasn’t—
“I love you so much, Kerri Curtis,” Lucien says, looking at me. His fingers touch the wall that separates us. “I fucking love you so fucking much.”
Well, that s
tops me short.
I remain silent. Thinking of all the feelings of betrayal. The anger. The Ben & Jerry’s.
“Baby,” I say slowly, not looking at his face. I pause and take a deep breath. Here goes fucking nothing, as Lucien would put it. “I’m pregnant.”
I look up at him to see his reaction. Will it be anger? Joy? Despair at being behind bars?
“We’re pregnant,” I say again to him as his face registers no surprise. “You and I. It’s your baby.”
There’s nothing from Lucien. I start to worry. I mean, most men would have some reaction, right?
Finally, Lucien speaks.
“I know,” he says simply.
I’m silent for a moment.
Okay, that was not really what I was expecting. Not one bit. I mean, am I getting fat already?
“I saw the ultrasound the other day when we were together,” he says simply, his eyes looking into mine. “And when you didn't listen to me about getting out of here, I had to do the only thing I could to make sure I was protecting you. Protecting both of you.”
If he had reached over and walked through the glass, I couldn’t have been more surprised.
Lucien…knew?
That’s why he came forward and confessed our relationship and got me fired?
To protect me?