“Everyone out. I’m going to look at my patient,” Doc announces, and I feel my dad tense.
“I’m not leaving.”
“I doubt Lyla wants you fuckers around when I’m poking and prodding her,” Doc mutters. “You can step outside while I—”
“No one needs to go outside,” I breathe out with a sigh.
“Are you sure?” Doc asks, and I nod, but before I can say anything else, he mutters under his breath and pulls his glasses from the top of his head to his eyes. “Okay, your choice. Let’s pull your shirt up and let me listen to your gut.”
“Listen to her gut? What the hell, Doc? What will that show?”
“I love Lyla, but if I see her tits, Ford will flip his shit,” King grouses in his deep voice.
“Don’t talk about my daughter’s tits, motherfucker,” Dad hisses, giving a stare down that King mostly ignores.
“I warned you both—” Doc starts, and I know I’ve run out of time.
“No one needs to do anything,” I tell them. “I know what’s wrong with me.”
“Shit, if you know, then why didn’t you tell us?” Dad hollers. “Damn it, Lyla, did you go to the doctor without me? What did they tell you?”
“I didn’t go to the doctor,” I try to explain.
“Then, you don’t know. You either let Doc do his thing—even if it is asinine—”
“Dad, stop. I don’t need to go to the doctor because I took a test this morning—”
“You haven’t been in school in a month. All you’ve been doing is moping around here like you’re dying. There’s no way you will get me to believe that a test at school is the cause—”
“Will you stop!” I snap, exasperated. This is hard enough, but he’s not letting me get a word in. Dad goes silent, studying me. I hardly ever yell, so I know that got his attention.
“I took a home pregnancy test.”
The room goes silent. I feel all their eyes on me, but I stare down at my lap.
“Lyla?” Dad says, his voice gruff.
“I’m pregnant, Dad. I’m having a baby,” I whisper, and I wish I could stop them, but it’s impossible. The tears begin, and there’s no way to hold them back. The pain is just too much….
I’m having Thomas’s baby. I’m having a baby all alone because its father is in love with someone else and didn’t want me around.
I’m having a baby…
The End for Now!